To begin the week, a shout-out to my grandfather, my Zaidie:

HI ZAIDIE!

Zaidie found out about this site a few weeks ago and has, I'm told, been dutifully reading it every day. You can, for instance, read his comment on yesterday's post:

"i STILL DONT UNDERSTAND IT !!

ZAIDIE"

In some ways my Zaidie's incomprehension is a relief. Still, I appreciate very much his interest - and I love him very much. If you leave a comment today, please consider saying hi to my Zaidie. Thank-you.

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The Cribs - "Another Number (Rollercoaster Project remix)". Mike sends us this gangly and broken-open remix of a song by The Cribs. Of that band, he says "The Cribs have unfairly been lumped in with the whole Gang of Four revival crap and tour with the likes of Bloc Party. This does them a disservice, since they're much more interestingly melodic and poppy than most of that scene. They are from Leeds in Yorkshire." The Rollercoaster Project, meanwhile, is from Sheffield. The original "Another Number" was a bow-legged electric guitar tune, with a little stamp and twirl. The Rollercoaster Project's made it even more awkward, that guitar riff at the center, voices ducky as they fold and overlap. I imagine an empty dance-floor with various dancers slowly stepping away from the wall, each breaking into their own special dance, the smooth-and-perfect representation of everything in their soul. If Air were more fun and had teamed with Spiral Stairs, they might sound like this. [buy Cribs stuff]

Cat Power - "Leopard and the Lamb". This is a recording from a Cat Power White Session on French radio in December, 1998. (It's very strange to think I sat in on the Arcade Fire's White Session a month and a half ago...) I saw Cat Power last night, in Edinburgh. It's the second time I've seen her, and once again I was entranced, moved, made sad and serene. She played "Good Woman", "I Don't Blame You", some covers (including "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" and "Satisfaction" [with chorus]), but mostly it was new stuff. They were sad and beautifully-written songs, some of them about true love, some of them about heartbreak. She played the Pink Panther theme. She played "Names". She played me like a fiddle.

And she looked pretty ok, I thought.

"Leopard and the Lamb" is a lovely song, peacefully nestled in that curl of guitar, the slow set of dusk. From this Splendid interview it seems it was maybe-hopefully going to be on You Are Free, but (clearly) it wasn't. Instead I listen to it here, trying to burrow into and hide in it, trying to pull the guitar's glitter, Chan's longing, over my head. Taking shelter.

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Okay, the contest.

Thank you all for your suggestions about the form our Rilo Kiley/Idiot Jed contest should take. I was hard-pressed to decide. At first I was extremely tempted by Kurtie's suggestion that we make it about cute cats. But I don't actually like cats very much, and not everyone's got one (thank god), so it wouldn't be fair. Drew's polar-bear-wrestling idea was appealing as well, and so was the "web-based dance-off", but I decided they weren't practical.

I also didn't want to make the contest something that would take too much work, because these are just CDs by Rilo Kiley and Idiot Jed, and I certainly wouldn't go to much effort over them.

BUT - the winner is jgriz. (please email me along with which CD you would prefer.)

To win a copy of a recent CD by Rilo Kiley or Idiot Jed, so long as the record company actually sends them out...

You must draw a picture using rudimentary computer art software (MS Paint, Graphic Converter, etc.), or using PhotoShop but with one hand tied behind your back, which incorporates the words "SAID THE GRAMOPHONE". These pictures will be judged entirely on awesomeness - that is to say, neither the best, the worst, the funniest or the disgustingest pictures will win, merely the awesomest.

Depending on how many good submissions we receive, winners will either earn copies of both CDs, or the top entries will get the CDs of their choice and the rest will receive what's left. (Something tells me Rilo Kiley is in higher demand than Idiot Jed.)

Email submissions to: contest@saidthegramophone.com.

Contest deadline is Friday, May 6th, at Midnight, Scottish time. Good luck!