Pinklon

mp3: The Mountain Goats - Pinklon

Melodrama gets a bad rap, and no one does it better these days than John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. I love the vivid imagery in this song:

Let the bright colors come blushing gently back
to the cherry blossom trees around Pontiac
and guys in powder blue Starter jackets down on the street
let them come up from the corners, so light on their feet

Let the ticker tape come cascading down
above the Greyhound station out at the edge of town
and at the schoolyard fences where the children shout
let the chains fall away and let 'em all rush out

And though all good things in time will melt away
Pinklon Thomas is getting out of prison today

Out to the curbside let the grandmothers come
and stand in red gingham dresses in the afternoon sun
and from the windows high above the street, let the trumpets sound
and let confetti fill the air and gather on the ground

Let the guys all hurry on down to the gym
and throw the doors wide open and clear a space for him
let messages from strangers, spray painted on cheap drapes
hang from all the fire escapes

Let them spell it out on marquees and on window displays
Pinklon Thomas is getting out of prison today

You can get this and two other songs at the Daytrotter website, where Mr. Darnielle writes a paragraph on each. The rendition of Red River Valley is particularly of note. The fourth song is no longer available, but was the least worthwhile anyway.

I sincerely doubt that this is the last time you'll see the Mountain Goats mentioned around here.

No Surprises

The World Series begins tonight, and I cannot think of a single outcome that would surprise me. The way the last six weeks have gone for the Rockies, it seems perfectly feasible for them to be outscored in a game and somehow pull out a win.

Honestly, would it shock anyone if Colorado continues their astounding run and sweeps the Red Sox? Or if they drop a game or two and still claim the title (even at Fenway)? Does it seem unlikely that the Sox will blast the Rockies' mediocre pitching into oblivion? That the Rockies will put up a hell of a fight, but ultimately fall to a decidedly superior Boston roster?

My answers: no, no, no, and no. Luckily, the fun is in getting to the finish. Let's hope for an exciting, well-played series, and maybe some snow.

Inside & Out

Feist's "Inside and Out". A slinky little number. Bee Gees cover (1979's "Love You Inside Out"). Outstanding start to finish, but beginning with a dissonant hum, grooving bass, sharp piano, and broken up sax sample, the 20 second intro is sublimity on a whole other level.
mp3: Feist - Inside and Out

Go home, kid

A disturbing pattern which had emerged in the last few months propagated itself once again Sunday evening. Ghostface Killah, east coast hip-hopper extraordinaire and creator of Fishscale, one of 2006's finest records, was scheduled to play a free(!) show at the University of Oklahoma. This was to take place outdoors on the east lawn of the student union. Clouds began threatening a few hours before showtime, but three acts took the stage with occasional sprinkles and far distant lightning causing no worry. So of course, as you have probably surmised by now, the heavens poured forth upon completion of the third opener's set. The crowd was advised to head indoors so as not to be struck by the not-so-distant lightning. 20 minutes later, security made the rounds, informing us that Ghostface would not be taking the stage that evening. Who needs an inclement weather backup plan, anyway? It's not like there was a huge building with several large gathering spaces thirty feet away.

At least I didn't pay for this one.

Neko Case, who also released an outstanding album last year with Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, had planned a stop in Oklahoma City in April of this year. I made the short drive and paid the Bricktown parking fees only to discover upon arrival that she and her band had decided the sound equipment was poor enough to warrant a cancellation. From what I hear, they had been a little unreasonable about this, but it was a huge disappointment whatever the circumstances.

Not through yet!

of Montreal stopped by Norman to play a free show in February. A few songs into their set, the power in the auditorium (indoors? this is possible?) cut out. Order was restored in a few minutes, but they couldn't get through one song before it was lost again. After the second outage, the band was forced to abandon their elaborate stage show and play an acoustic set. Kind of a fun change of pace, especially for those of us who had seen them before, but it's always embarrassing when your venues can't get simple things right like, you know, electricity.

This forehead-slapping series of '07 shows had precedent back in October of 2004. Ben Folds, my personal object of superfandom at the time, was playing at Lloyd Noble Center on campus. Why they decided to put someone like Folds in a full-size NCAA basketball arena is beyond me, but digression, etc. Long story short, the sound check exposed the equipment as inadequate (sound familiar?) and the show was cancelled. This was especially great news for my four friends who had driven in from Kansas that afternoon.

Something in the water? Am I just catching all the bad nights? Whatever it is, I'd sure like to see the percentage of shows with no major problems go way up around here.

Renaissance on basic cable

After five days of playoff baseball this is no longer a novel or unique insight among fans, but goshdarnit, it's sincere: TBS is a hell of a station to watch a ballgame on.

As if it weren't already hard enough to sit through a Fox-broadcasted game of even moderate importance, TBS has to go and render Fox all but unwatchable with their competent announcing crews and understated production values. Ted Turner & Friends mercifully realize that the following features are unnecessary when presenting playoff-quality baseball to the masses:

//computer-animated baseball-playing robots next to the line score
//cameras embedded in the ground in front of home plate
//melodramatic, overlong montages during pregame
//planting stars of the network's original programming in the crowd for convenient plugs
//calling players of central importance by the wrong name
//Jeanne Zelasko in any significant role

And that's just off the top of my head. TBS ain't flawless; the lead-off graphic at first base strikes me as redundant, the incessant Frank TV ads almost make me think they couldn't find enough sponsors to fill the air, and as my sister hilariously pointed out a few weeks ago, their logo looks kinda like a pair of briefs. They were also frighteningly quick with a Steve Bartman flashback when a foul pop drifted to that area of Wrigley Field in tonight's NLDS game 3.

But that's all small potatoes when compared with the technology-fueled disaster that is MLB on Fox. TBS keeps it simple and smart. I guess to hope that other networks will follow suit is naive.