“This is the most upbeat song I’ve ever written. It’s about death from cancer.”

If you browse the movie section of Hulu.com, nestled between The Giant Gila Monster and Who’s Harry Crumb, you’ll stumble on Storefront Hitchcock, Jonathan Demme’s intimate acoustic concert film starring Robyn Hitchcock and his guitar.  In 1998, Mister Demme dropped Robyn into an empty furniture store in Manhattan and filmed him as he played selections from his massive back catalog of brilliance.

In addition to a stellar lineup of songs, the supporting cast includes Robyn’s signature between-tune banter, where he riffs on everything from politics to the pointlessness of song titles, my favorite bit that closes with the phrase “spleens a-go-go”, which makes me wish I had a bowling team because that would look AWESOME embroidered on a shirt.

Storefront—while beautifully filmed and perfectly executed—isn’t necessarily Robyn 101; If his studio albums serve as the Intro, this flick is more like one of the 300-level courses that decorate your transcript after you’ve declared a major. I still highly recommend it, for the interludes, for the songs, and for the hauntingly beautiful version of “Airscape” that begins at about the 57-minute mark…right after he’s given a mock-angry aside about cutting his legs off for God.

Right there, that pairing of surreal and sublime, that is Robyn Hitchcock.

After 11 years, I still can’t get enough of it.