dave9199

Well, hello again. It's time for the continuing story of Jandek. Album #21, Lost Cause. The cover is possibly the youngest picture of Sterling Smith (Chair Beside A Window #4 is also a possibility). A lot of people think the cover of Six & Six (#2) was taken in a photo booth, but I think they were taken in front of the same curtains also on this cover. The title of the album comes from the song Lost Cause on Foreign Keys (#11). Let's get to the music. This is a great album. It continues with someone else playing guitar (Eddie?, who knows) and Jandek on vocals. Green & Yellow is a slow bluesy song and moves really nice with a minimum of chords (just 2) with Jandek vocally subdued on it. I never expected to see a Jandek song called Babe I Love You, but there you go. Reminds me strongly of the Syd Barrett song Here I Go from The Madcap Laughs. I-IV-V chords, but stays on the I & IV mostly. A song you might be able to play all the way through without someone getting a chill down their spine. The short Cellar moves along in a jaunty fashion (I never thought I'd write jaunty) with the chords being picked a note at a time. How Many Places switches to a minor Jethro Tull-ish feel and everything is still nice & mellow. Crack A Smile is another minor key song with Jandek holding notes that tend to crack upward (no pun intended). The odd thing about this one is the guitar finishes and starts tuning while Jandek still sings for another minute. It's here that the album shifts quite suddenly. God Came Between Us goes back to the Jandek you know & love. Solitary, out of tune guitar & off kilter singing & yeah, I still like it. Mike stand used as slide at the end; nice touch. Just to show how a title shouldn't lead you to expect a certain sound, we already had Babe I Love You. This time it's I Love You Now It's True, but the guitar is the same playing style as the previous one. The last song is the coup de grace. The Electric End is 19:39 of random guitars, microphone feedback (you know, the really squealy kind) & Jandek on drums & yelping. It's definitely not an easy listen, but I like Coltrane's album Om so it's not too far away from that. The only annoying thing, for me, is the feedback. Now I love feedback, but for the last 14 or so minutes of this is someone shaking a mike in front of an amp. The only good thing about that is it's panned to one speaker along with the drums so I could listen to just the two guitars intertwining which gets drowned out by the feedback. At 18:30, for the first time, everyone drops out except a guitar playing random notes. It could've ended there, but Jandek isn't having any of that. He slowly brings everyone back in just in time for the tape to run out. This, until his live show in 2004, was the last time he played with electric instruments, though recently he's been using an electro-acoustic guitar. He does play with someone else on a future album, but otherwise from here on in, he's completely solo.

I'll be posting my reviews of the 2nd 20 soon...if anyone wants to chime in with their reviews, that would be great. I'm talking to you Chaney!

I didn't see it listed on their site, but if true, this will be the first show which was advertised beforehand. From his 2 most recent albums, it sounds like he's in love. Maybe that or turning 60 this year is bringing him outside of his house & telling people about it. Great time to be a Jandek fan...or at least a Representative From Corwood fan.

You want to see retarded message boards? Go to any rock band's board, particularly ones like The Ramones or Guided By Voices. While they are both favorite bands of mine, the fans get into such name calling and back & forth that it's not worth, at times, having message boards. God forbid you say something somebody doesn't like about "their band". I like the tone here much better, more relaxed and thoughtful.....well, most times it is.

My father went to Berkley in the late 50's/early 60's. Played trumpet. When I was 7 or 8, he would play some of his jazz albums and I liked the drums. That settled down and became non-existant as I listened to rock until 2001 when my wife, who has a few jazz records, kept playing her tape of A Love Supreme in the car. It's started on side 2 which starts with Jones's solo & I started to listen. We ended up going to the Newport festival because she wanted to see Dave Brubeck. That Xmas I asked for a Coltrane cd and she picked up Interstellar Space not knowing what it sounded like. I thought it was wild, but I was hooked at around the 3:40 mark of the first song; Mars. Coltrane starts playing these really fast scales & in mid-sentence, I stopped talking & was amazed. I had a visual of rain & thought it was fantastic. Interesting note: my father would buy the Berkley albums that came out at the end of the year. They have compositions on them from the students although he wasn't on any. He gave them to me recently and I think it's 1961 has a song by Josef Zawinul. I think Quincy Jones might've been there when my father started. I remember him saying Jones was already known, but whether that was just at Berkley or outside, I don't know. My wife & I know someone who worked at one time for a public station & they had a book on Berkley's history as prizes for something. We got one & gave it to my dad. He had a blast looking through it especially during his time. He was dating my mother at the time, they got married, a year later my brother came along, so my father gave up the idea of jazz as a living & played in local general business bands & the army band when he was drafted. Got out right before Vietnam escalated & they stopped letting people out in 1964. On another note; Che, I grew up in Rochdale, Massachusetts, which is part of the town of Leicester, which is next to Worcester. Neat, eh? Another ironic note: My father has the same name as a famous jazz photographer: Bob Parent.

Nico was also in a famous Italian movie who's name escapes me right now. She just happened to be around & the director used her in the movie.

God forbid anyone would make someone feel responsible for their actions!

The Coltrane 1965 Half Note recordings are listed for that same month also.

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

Don't get Chaney upset! Who will post in the Jandek thread with me?!?

I liked evrything while in my late teens & 20's, but now (35), I have only Piper & Saucerful along with bootlegs of the only 2 known complete shows with Syd. I also have stuck with Barretts solo albums. Floyd to me now are boring, mainly because you hear it everywhere, though I still think The Wall is a great piece of psychodrama & The Final Cut is the more tearful, warmer, what-the-Wall-was really-about album. A great album. Echoes is a great song (I like the Pompeii version more than the studio), but side 1 of Meddle never really grabbed me except for One Of These Days. Dark Side is a great album, but I've heard it enough in my lifetime to not miss it. I didn't like Wish You Were Here as much, but the same goes for that. Animals I liked more because it doesn't get airplay. Ummagumma is pretty good. I like Nick Mason's solo piece the best. Gilmour a second. I forget who said it, but to me it's true; Floyd have the most boring rhythm section. Are they important? You bet, but not for me anymore except for Syd's stuff.

Love the topic discription of this thread.

John. Did you see the link at the beginning of the thread?

So, back to the original question: Does anyone know if the Coltrane book is a heavy or a light read?

Do I need to get a moderator between you two? I like the Porter book, and I always go for the more in depth bio on a musician or group I like, but I also buy more than one book on an artist/group if I don't want to read the in depth one at that time. I'm aware there are errors, but thankfully don't care although I agree authors need to get the facts straight.

Got that one & one called Ascension which is an easier read than Porter's.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books

Got my 2nd box o' 20 today. #40 will be sent later. Yee-haw!

New D. Boon cd info http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_...t_id=1000837181

Yes, please post. I think Chaney's lost interest.

Are you sure you want to do that? Have you heard enough of his stuff for that kind of comittment? Jim Dye split a box of 20 with someone and while intrigued by the Jandek myth, said in a PM to me that he just couldn't get into it. I'd be happy to make you a sampler from the first 20 cds (which I just sent out a handful on a Guided By Voices board). PM me if you want one (or anyone else who reads this). It's just you really should know about his style before you jump in because it is NOT for everybody (and I'm a fan saying this!)

Hey Chaney, just read a post on the Jandek list from someone who talked to Sterling Smith & he said there's one more cd coming out (#41) and then the live one will come out on cd & dvd.

AfricaBrass, you brought back my favorite avatar!

For some reason, when I listen to Mingus Moves, from 1973, I play it over & over again. I just love this album. Even the title track which has vocals (I'm not a fan of jazz vocals normally) I love the melody line in it. Mingus wrote only 3 or so songs on it. I'd have to say, it's my favorite.

In case anyone missed this in the hathut thread: Look what been added at the Jazzmatazz upcoming releases for 2005 & beyond: Max Roach/Archie Shepp - The Long March Vol I & II - 2 CDs (Hatology 602) Now if someone would just re-release Roach/Shepp: Force from 1976