I Must Be In The Front Row

Posted on June 29, 2006 by Tito

How bout another roundup…

One off my favorite times of year is the NBA draft. Not because I watch the draft, but because Bill Simmon’s draft diaries (from before liveblog was a “word”) are reliably awesome.

And that brings us to our featured attraction of the evening …

“THE KNICKS ARE ON THE CLOCK!”

ESPN wisely works the MSG crowd into a hostile frenzy by showing the obligatory “KNICKS UNDER ISIAH THOMAS” graphic. Has there ever been rioting at an NBA draft before?

9:34 — Stephen A. on the No. 20 pick: “I’M A BORN AND RAISED NEW YORKER, OK? YOU HAVE GOT TO GET A DOG ON THIS ROSTER, I DON’T CARE WHERE YOU FIND HIM. I DON’T CARE, YOU GOT TO GET SOMEONE WHO WILL BE IN PEOPLE’S FACE, SOMEONE WHO’S HARDCORE. YOU LOOK AT ISIAH THOMAS AND HIS DRAFT HISTORY … YOU KNOW THAT HE KNOWS TALENT … THIS PICK HAS GOT TO WORK. IT’S GOT TO WORK!”

(Translation: The Knicks need to pick someone good.)

9:36 — There are those moments in sports when you expect something great, and then it actually happens. And then there are those rare moments in sports when you expect something great, and something even greater happens. This was one of those moments: The Knicks on the clock, the crowd pushing for Marcus Williams, and then …

–Stern: “With the 20th pick, the New York Knicks select … Renaldo Balkman.”

(Crowd explodes in horror.)

–Stern (over the boos): “Renaldo is not here.”

–Patrick (without missing a beat): “And it’s probably a good thing.”

(Shot of a beaten-down Spike Lee laughing hysterically.)

Bob Ueker has a stalker.

Tim McMahan with his early take on Cursive’s Happy Hollow (due Aug 22nd - but apparently widely leaked)

Along with Domestica — the band’s career-setting high-water mark — Happy Hollow is hands down the best thing Cursive has released in their storied career. It is a pop, punk, drunk, funk achievement. An adventure in brash swagger that shines like a gold lamÃ© suit on a street bum pushing a shopping cart full of garbage through the snow. It is (shall I say it?) a dance album. Yes, Cursive has created music that the masses can actually move to without thinking about it.

Add to that Kasher’s down-to-earth lyrics. No longer reaching for strange or introspective “I’m a songwriter writing about songwriting” lyrics, Kasher is now content examining questions that are on all our minds. I won’t get into the concept here other than to say it involves things like Faith and hope and confusion and uncertainty and anger and Faith. And I’m still not sure I know where he comes down on all of it. I have to listen to it more before I can figure it out.

I already “get” the music part, the swinging “Dorothy at Forty,” the bombastic “Big Bang,” the strutting “So-So Gigolo” the propulsive “Rise Up! Rise Up!” All worthy of your critical ears. Oh, and did I forget to mention the horns? There are horns, kids. Oh yes, lots of them.

And no, it doesn’t sound like any other Cursive album. They’ve already done that. Why would they do it again? If you miss their angular, jangular edgeworks, go listen to Storms of Early Summer (a disc I never liked) or Domestica. They’re still on your iPod.

WFMU bring us a Bill Hicks/Government Issue mix for your listening pleasure

The fact that the proposal was defeated by only one vote (no thanks to California’s often bewildering Democrat Diane Feinstein) is disturbing, however, and it got me thinking of comedian Bill Hicks’ infamous rant about flag burning from years back. Hicks’ words resonate strongly in the current political climate, and for today’s review, I’ve remixed the classic monologue with some strident guitar jams courtesy of the one and only Government Issue, the results of which I humbly offer to you now.

Salon has an MP3 of Kurt Vonnegut reading from Slaughterhouse Five

Daniel Radosh has the goods on Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Woods’ labia. Why is he still on my fantasy roster. Oh yeah, because he’s always on the DL, so why not?

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