The Sophtware Slump [Bonus CD]

• Artist: Grandaddy
• Rating:
• Release Date: May 29, 2000
• Genre: Rock

Review

Picking up where their Signal to Snow Ratio EP left off, Grandaddy's wittily named second album The Sophtware Slump upgrades the group's wry, country-tinged rock with electronic flourishes that run through the album like fiber-optic lines. Arpeggiated keyboards sparkle on "Hewlett's Daughter" and "The Crystal Lake," and wind, birds, and transmissions hover around the songs' peripheries, suggesting a Silicone Valley landscape. Jason Lytle's frail, poignant vocals provide a bittersweet counterpoint to the chugging guitars and shiny electronics that envelop him like a cockpit or a cubicle on "Chartsengrafs" and "Broken Household Appliance National Forest" and set the tone for melancholy ballads like "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot," "Miner at the Dial-a-View," and "Jed the Humanoid," the story of a forgotten, alcoholic android. Lost pilots, robots, miners, and programmers try to find their way on The Sophtware Slump, an album that shares a spacy sadness with Sparklehorse's Good Morning Spider and Radiohead's OK Computer. Though it's a little more self-conscious and not quite as accomplished as either of those albums, it is Grandaddy's most impressive work yet and one of 2000's first worthwhile releases. [There is also a special edition that was released in the US with a bonus CD attached, featuring six bonus tracks: "First Movement/Message Fade," "Our Dying Brains," "What Can't Be Erased," "Wives of Farmers," "Street Bunny," and "XD-Data II"] ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot (Lyrics)	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(8:52)
Hewlett's Daughter (Lyrics)	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(3:06)
Jed the Humanoid	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(4:18)
The Crystal Lake	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(5:00)
Chartsengrafs	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(2:51)
Underneath the Weeping Willow	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(2:40)
Broken Household Appliance National Forest	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(4:34)
Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(3:25)
E. Knievel Interlude (The Perils of Keeping It Real)	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(1:57)
Miner at the Dial-A-View	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(5:21)
So You'll Aim Toward the Sky (Lyrics)	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(4:45)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
First Movement/Message Fade [#][*]	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(3:48)
Our Dying Brains [#][*]	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(4:43)
What Can't Be Erased [#][*]	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(4:21)
Wives of Farmers [#][*]	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(3:38)
Street Bunny [#][*]	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(2:01)
XD-Data II [#][*]	Jason Lytle	Grandaddy	(4:53)

Credits

Gary Young (Engineer), Jason Lytle (Producer)