Ordinary Time, the twinkling 2002 indie-pop gem from local-boy-made-good Bill Ricchini turns 10 this week. Back in the day, I wrote about the album for PW HERE. These days he performs and records under the name Summer Fiction, but his luminous debut still shines a light that never goes out. Rock on, Mr. Bill.
PREVIOUSLY: The dot com meltdown and subsequent layoffs have created a new leisure class of young people. And while many in this jilted demographic may 
spend their days shuffling freshly updated resumes like a Vegas card dealer, a precious few see unemployment as a gift. “I welcomed it as an opportunity to do something with my life that I really wanted,” says Bill Ricchini, who lost his job at verticalnet.com in Horsham over the summer. What Ricchini really wanted was to be the next Brian Wilson, or at least Elliott Smith. And Ricchini’s debut disc, Ordinary Time–a beatific, hushed-pop song cycle that details a history of amazing letdowns–finds him in the right neighborhood. (PW‘s Joey Sweeney recently declared Ordinary Time one of the best albums of the year in a 2001 pop music wrap-up for Salon.) A self-described “heart-on-my-sleeve guy going through some shit,” Ricchini says he lost his girl, his job and ultimately, his way, in the space of just a few short months. “The album is about being 27 and asking yourself, ‘Where do I go from here?'” he says. MORE
PREVIOUSLY: Summer Fiction is the new nom-de-rock for South Philly bedroom pop autuer Bill Ricchini who has recently returned from a five year hermitage of domesticity, home-improvement and crock pottery with a self-titled debut full of rumors and sighs and fallen lovers outlined in lipstick traces. Breezy, bright and eminently tuneful, Summer Fiction picks up where Ricchini’s previous releases — 2002’s Ordinary Time and 2005’s Tonight I Burn Brightly — left off. Lush with deftly-turned nods to Burt Bachrach, Brian Wilson and Ray Davies, Summer Fiction is pure pop for the kind of now people who sleep with copies of Village Green Preservation Society and Pet Sounds under their pillow in case of a fire. MORE
PREVIOUSLY: Eight years ago, Bill Ricchini released Ordinary Time, which still stands as one of the finest collections of pop music to ever emerge from the 215. After attempting to transition out of music and get some credit in the straight world, Bill wisely realized that he is a lifer and got back in the game with a new band, Summer Fiction, and a swell self-titled debut. You can check it out HERE. Bill will mark the CD’s release with rare appearance at Johnny Brendas tomorrow night. In the mean time, check out this groovy-cool video for the album’s catchy lead-off single “Chandeliers.”