Sunday, November 05, 2006

DFSBP nod # 1




maybe this will be a semiregular feature of this webspace, a bite-sized tribute to a morsel of culture that might be a song, a paragraph, a scene in a movie, a dessert item, etc.

would like now to acknowledge the scene in "The Royal Tenenbaums" that replays Richie's on-court meltdown as one of the funniest and most poignant movie-parts i can think of. basically, it's got the look of an old ESPN tape and we see him deliberately mis-hitting, serving underhand, sitting down on the court and just generally tanking as the announcers say incredibly announcer-like stuff such as "I've never seen anything like this before: He's taken off both shoes and one of his socks...," etc. and we find out it's because his adopted sister, who he's in love with, has just gotten married. anyway, most of you probably know this scene well, so i'll spare you the further analysis and simply bestow upon the scene the inaugural DFSBP nod.

***

key album of the moment for me is still "Pony Express Record" by Shudder to Think. it contains countless examples of the amazing phenomenon of the incredibly strange hook, i.e., a melody that's at once remarkably twisted and impossible to get out of your head. please, please dig this album and especially the weird, winding chorus of "Gang of $," the sexy main hook of "Chakka," and the "holding up for high scores" refrain in "Earthquakes Come Home." the ambition displayed by this music is hella life-affirming. hail!

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