Sinister: Erm, this may or may not be my first post...

[green]

*WARNING- ENTIRE POST ABOUT GRANDADDY (LIST RELEVANT I SWEAR!)*

hey (this is sent to the entire list, as opposed to just Popboy, cos i've
heard people enquire about my lovely Grandaddy before)
Grandaddy eh?  lovely.
you like Jed the Humanoid.  well, my favourite is the 'sequel'... which is
called "Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)" and is also on "The Sophtware
Slump" along with "Jed the Humanoid".
  I own this album as well as the first full-length, called "Under the Great
Western Freeway".

Under the Great Western Freeway has a few more obvious pop tunes... just. in
my opinion.  (it has a couple of weezer-ish hit singles in "am180" and
"summer here kids").
but the songs still drag on in a lovely fashion, and nothing is rushed.
the songs combine the innocence of an Amish farmer with the purest indie
love stories with (in a couple of tracks) sometimes vague sometimes full-on
sci-fi.  in a romantic fashion of course ("go progress chrome/they paint the
moon today"... "he'd seen plenty of mirages and imaginary visitors [since
the shuttle had crashed] so he wasn't sure what to think when he saw swans
they were wading on the shores of a pale white lake that he'd never seen
there before"... "everything beautiful is far away").  excellent and very
interesting production.

The Sophtware Slump has all these things, with the following differences.
it is more cohesive (the singer/producer fellow played the whole thing thru
on piano before recording).  it has more sci-fi (how beautiful is a song
about a national forest for broken down household appliances?  or an
alcoholic robot?  or the hero- he's simple, he's dumb, he's the pilot-
"don't give in 2000 man".  or the song about a miner at the "dial-a-view"
from which he searches for his loved ones).  it has less references to
country/farm life.  it is even more fragile sounding.  the songs are more
stretched out.  there is more music.  there is more piano, less lovely tinny
keyboards.  it could possibly be a concept album.  it has more lastability,
and also took longer for me to get into.  it has at  least two songs about
jed the humanoid.  i was disappointed, however, that  the singer didn't do
his lovely high-pitched flaming lips style voice as much on this album.
it's still a nice voice that sounds on the edge of crying, but it's not as
high-pitched.

there's my advice.  (Why took my advice?).  of course, both albums are
DEFINITELY worth getting if one of them is.
they also have "the broken down comforter collection", but i don't.
apparently it compiles a couple of old EP's/b-sides.

by the way, there was a big debate in my local street press letters section
earlier this year about he surly, hipper-than-thou indie record store
attendant.  some thought they should learn manners.  others thought they
were an integral part of the "scene".  i like 'em... if you can "earn" their
respect for a few brief moments, you feel really special.  and at other
times they're just plain amusing.  of course, the fact that these mangy
bad-mannered ego-trippers are employed, and i am not, is a worry.

sorry.
not sorry.
good luck.
ben

----- Original Message -----
From: Popboy Atlanta <popboyatlanta at xxx.com>
To: <sinister at missprint.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2000 1:46 AM
Subject: Sinister: Erm, this may or may not be my first post...

[edited]
> My dilemma: I'm in love with Grandaddy's song "Jed the Humanoid." It makes
> me well up because it's so sad and simply amazing. See, I've always had a
> soft spot for robots, I think they're shiny and sleek, and advanced, and
> misunderstood. Humans blame them for things they themselves programmed
into
> the robot. Robots throughout history have provided physical proof that
> humans are consistently blame someone else for their very own mistakes.
That
> makes me sad. And now that it's Xmas (I will from here on out refer to it
as
> Xmas, because I was always yelled at as a child for calling it Xmas, as it
> took the "true meaning" out of the holiday, AS IF THERE EVER WAS ANY!!?!
> XMAS XMAS XMAS, so there!), I'm once again reminded of my favorite
> stop-action animation specials like Frosty and Rudolph. You know the one
> with the last-year's-forgotten-xmas-toys? They always put a dull ache in
my
> heart and a lump in my throat. The song Jed The Humanoid makes me feel
just
> that. It blends the two realms of sadness in a tale of a forgotten,
> neglected past toy robot. With all kinds of great bleepy noises. And nice
> lyrical phrasings. On with my story...
>
> Now that I've heard one of Grandaddy's songs, I'd love to buy something
from
> them, but I don't know where to start. The local indie shop I used to
> frequent for information and help in these kinds of situations simply
turns
> up its collective nose (as they are a collective, y'see) at me anymore
when
> I ask questions -  since I've stopped going in there every other day and
> spending my life savings with them they have no time for me, not to
mention
> that if I do ever make it in, I have to go on my lunch hour from work
which
> means I'm in a suit'n'tie and therefore not hip enough to warrant
attention.
> So I've had no help from them. My newfound trusty friend CDNow turns up a
> fair amount of stuff when I search on Grandaddy, and I don't know which
one
> to buy to begin my collection.
>





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