I don't think I've waxed (poetically) about director Phil Morrison and Yo La Tengo in a long time, so let's fix that right here and now. Phil and YLT made the definitive music biz parody videos — "Tom Courtenay" and one of my alltime faves, "Sugarcube" — if you're a fan of Tom Scharpling and his string of comedic videos (and you should be) then you should be a fan of Phil and Yo La Tengo.
"I'll Be Around" is a totally different tack. It's a true story. It's about heartbreak. And Tortilla Soup. And it stars Superchunk's Mac McCaughan*. And it ends with even more heartbreak, especially if you always assumed that James . Also there's a lot of text to read. But the recipe seems to be solid.
*There's a deep thread connecting all these people — McCaughan, Morrison, David Cross, Scharpling — that's perhaps of interest. Phil hails from North Carolina, which is also home to Superchunk, for whom he directed their video parody "Watery Hands" (which stars David Cross, who also appears in YLT's "Sugarcube" clip). Superchunk's drummer, Jon Wurster, is Tom Scharpling's comedy partner in the aptly titled Scharpling And Wurster. And don't get me started on the Scharpling + Yo La Tengo connections, because I'll be here all day. Also, if you've read this far, you really need to pay more attention to your work too. Or go looking for work. Because I am deep in the weeds here. Very deep.
