The book of love is long and boring
Hello! I’ve got some shows to tell you about (upcoming live events) and a show to tell you about (a tv recommendation).
First: the shows. This week, I have a special Song Exploder live event on Wednesday, followed by concerts I’m playing on Thursday and Friday — the first shows of mine on the west coast in a couple years.
Wednesday, July 24
Los Angeles, CA, at the Ford Amphitheater | tickets
Song Exploder live, with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields
I’ll be talking to one of the greatest songwriters around, Stephin Merritt, about The Magnetic Fields’ masterpiece album, 69 Love Songs. We’ll be looking closely at a couple of songs specifically, followed by a solo performance by Stephin. The Ford is an open-air venue that’s a beautiful setting for a summer night. This is a special event that won’t be recorded or released as an episode of the podcast.
And then, I’m going to be playing songs—some old ones and some brand new ones—opening for Mike Kinsella, aka Owen. Mike is also the singer and guitarist of the band American Football. You can hear a remix I did for Owen here.
Thursday, July 25
Los Angeles, CA, at The Echo | tickets
Friday, July 26
San Francisco, CA, at Bottom of the Hill | tickets
And, if you’re in the Pacific Northwest, Mike and I will be headed there in early August.
Monday, August 5
Portland, OR, at Mississippi Studios | tickets
Tuesday, August 6
Seattle, WA, at Madame Lou’s | tickets
Next: the show. It’s called Drops of God, and I couldn’t be more surprised that I’m recommending a show about wine. I’m a non-drinker with no appreciation for its various qualities and flavors (Me at a wine tasting: “I’m getting hints of wine”) . But, as a nerd, I was intrigued when I learned that it was based on a manga.
The plot centers around two people who are competing to inherit the world’s most storied wine collection. The former owner of the collection, the late Alexandre Léger, has devised a set of labyrinthine puzzles as part of his will. Rather than simply leave the wine collection to someone, the two main characters have to solve those puzzles in order to prove who has the superior understanding of wine.
Central to the thesis of the show (and the competition) is the idea that every bottle of wine is an intricate time capsule, and within its contents, you can read a history of weather, people, geography, and culture. That sort of anthropological investigation ends up revealing secrets about the two main characters as well as Léger. The contest allows him to pull puppet strings from beyond the grave.
The show is gorgeous to look at. It takes place in France, Japan, and Italy, and provides some great couch tourism. I also very much appreciate the fact that the characters speak the appropriate language – the French characters speak French, the Japanese characters speak Japanese, with English serving as a lingua franca when needed. (It’s a pet peeve for me when characters in shows all only speak English, even when two of them share a non-English native language.)
Apple recently announced that they’ve acquired a second season of the show, but the first season is perfectly satisfying as a complete mini-series.
Let me know if you watch it. And I hope to see you at one of the events in the coming days.
Hrishikesh
