Oh! The Grandeur (1999)

AB says: “Oh! The Grandeur was a weird one. I could feel this conceptual thing getting beyond my control. Rather than fight it I tried to embrace it. The title was poking fun at this self-awareness, the delusions of ... required to follow an idea through to the finished product. It also contains some heavier subject matter, and bizarre intros and outros creating a sort of theatrical feel. Many songs are like character profiles: “Feetlips” is about an obnoxious sort who still gets ahead just because he’s always on the scene, “Vidalia” is about my grandfather, “Tea and Thorazine,” about my autistic brother. It was a hard record to make, but I’m proud of it. Even the moments when I can hear my mind melting. I was trying to create a sort of through line or narrative and I had forced myself to stick to one medium or era and see it through. I was ready to cut loose, though, and immediately started on The Swimming Hour.”

* The original Rykodisc package came with a tiny little booklet that you can view HERE