The circus came to town this summer. Elephants dumped in the streets of the CBD en route to their pedestals, and a brazen crier called for volunteers while a tamer of wilted lions grabbed a smoke in the parking lot. Like so many pre-television entertainments, the circus always promises sequins, ferocity, and wild variety. And each time it leaves, we still have the New Orleans Bingo! Show to amaze and terrify local audiences.

Like Bowie, Iggy, and Brecht—some of the influences on display here—Clint Maedgen is an artist ideally suited to his time and place, yet blessed with the unique ability to deliver its portent on his own terms. We live a wicked carnival here, and are flush with music that claims that influence. The difference is that, rather than another Waits-ian knock-off growl, Maegden’s voice is sweet with the hope and longing, even as he dances through the carnage.

The infamous live show is invisible on record. We might listen to Memory Parade as a sequence of scenes, directions for the clowns, but you’d need familiarity with their makeup and presence to appreciate that. Thought of as an album, we get jagged variety, gears grinding from the surly “I Wanna Fall in Love” to the uber-delicate “Goodnight Sunshine.” These are pieces of a tale, and of an ensemble that creates it in disparate shards. “15 Miles Past the Crossroads” stands out: a panicky menace, smeared eyeliner, the highway. By stringing together these distinct portraits of freaks and feats, the New Orleans Bingo! Show succeeds as both circus and chronicle, an impressive trick to keep turning.

Buy the New Orleans Bingo! Show’s Volume 3: Memory Parade on iTunes