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“The Yankee Flipper” – The Baseball Project
(Words/music: Scott McCaughey, available on The Baseball Project, Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, Yep Roc 2008)

I’m the first to admit that I take baseball for granted.  I don’t watch as many games as some of my friends, yet I’m always sad when there isn’t a game to watch.  I guess at this point in my life it’s one of those things that makes me happy just knowing that it’s there.  If I don’t always watch a game (and this year, watching Mets games wasn’t always a relaxing decision), I still like seeing Baseball Tonight or catching scores on the radio.  Even if I’m not actively watching games every night, I feel better knowing that somewhere a baseball game is going on.

So when I heard that Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, and Peter Buck (among others) collaborated on an album of baseball themed songs, I immediately wanted to hear it.  These songs lace together the type of power pop Wynn and McCaughey usually create with stories pulled from baseball lore.  In particular, “The Yankee Flipper” immediately stuck out because I remember watching Jack McDowell pitch for the White Sox and Yankees in the 1990s.  It turns out that the night before McDowell’s infamous incident where he flipped off Yankee fans, he was out drinking with McCaughey, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, and Dennis Diken from the Smithereens.  McCaughey claims that the story is true, and given McDowell’s own musical pursuits it’s entirely believable.  It’s also one of the few instances on The Baseball Project, an album culled from recalled moments of fandom, where the fans in question had an influence on the game itself.  Sure, it was ultimately McDowell’s lousy performance (and short fuse) that led to his back page infamy, but it’s also an instance where some diehard fans felt partly responsible.  I’m sure that the rock boys felt bad that their friend experienced the backlash (just imagine what that would have been like in the YouTube era!), yet McCaughey feels responsible without ever feeling remorse.  After all, it makes him a part of one of our era’s more colorful footnotes.

So tonight, as the Yankees appear on the verge of putting baseball to bed for the winter, consider this a salute (not necessarily the same salute as Black Jack, unless you’re a Philly / Boston fan) to baseball and a reminder that spring training can’t come soon enough.

More on The Baseball Project: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

TAGGED UNDER: the baseball project | scott mccaughey | steve wynn | peter buck | r.e.m. | the smithereens | yep roc | 2008 | 2000s | baseball |
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“Where Will You Go?” – The Minus 5 
(Words/music: Scott McCaughey, available on Down with Wilco, Yep Roc 2003)

Over the past decade, Wilco evolved from a critical underdog into a full-on rock juggernaut.  Still, while audiences at Wilco shows swelled in the past year, some fans started to long for their earlier, alt-country roots.  Yes, it’s hard to see that same band in the one routinely playing nine minute guitar epics, but Wilco have routinely worked in several different genres.  Their 1999 album Summerteeth encapsulated the band’s classic pop tendencies, melting down their folk, country, rock, and pop roots all into a well-orchestrated batch of songs.  These were the sort of songs Scott McCaughey writes in both the Young Fresh Fellows and the Minus 5 – songs that lean heavily on power-pop melodies often with a wry lyrical twist in them.  McCaughey collaborates with a different set of musicians on each Minus 5 album, and Wilco’s contribution on Down with Wilco seems like the perfect fit for all parties involved.  Wilco, stuck in that well-documented limbo between getting dropped by Reprise and landing on Nonesuch during Down with Wilco’s recording, could keep busy in the studio while McCaughey gained a backing band capable of a wide range of sonic textures.

“Where Will You Go?” would be a good song without Wilco’s help, but it’s percussionist Glenn Kotche who brings this song to another level for me.  Specifically, I love the marimba line that follows the guitars like its shadow.  It gives the song a unique feel and adds another melodic line that stays just enough out of the limelight.  Additionally, the non-melodic percussion suits the song perfectly too, as he integrates shakers and sleigh bells in with his traditional drum kit.  These are subtle differences, but they make each section of the song just different enough to take notice.  Most importantly, Kotche knows the difference between putting his skills to use and eclipsing the song’s best elements.  All of his work serves McCaughey’s song well, leaving the melody and backing harmonies alone in the spotlight.  It’s these subtle additions – Kotche’s percussion, the distinctively snarling guitars, and the quick changes in dynamics – that helps to maximize McCaughey’s pop sensibilities.

More on The Minus 5: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

TAGGED UNDER: the minus 5 | wilco | glenn kotche | scott mccaughey | 2003 | 2000s | yep roc records |
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