Jandek

[Guest Chaney]

Dave: On the two above, you mention two electric guitars and you note that it's difficult to identify Eddie. Is Jandek playing one of the two electric guitars? (I haven't gone past Blue Corpse so I'm wondering if we might have a new guitarist.)

[dave9199]

It's definitely not Jandek on guitar so yes on another guitarist. Jandek doesn't play regular chords & this person is.

[Guest Chaney]

From the Jandek List:

From: "Bill Camarata" <bill.camarata@gmail.com>

Subject: [Jandek] I just bought 37 CDs and boy are my ears tired.

Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 00:31:00 -0500

To: jandek@mylist.net

I just got a package in the mail... Jandek's entire catalog.

I intend to review one a day on my blog:

http://blastinator.blogspot.com/

Oh, my.....Jandek.

Nowhere as good as Seth's site, I know, but I have high hopes.

[Jim Dye]

Also from the mailing list...

[Guest Chaney]

Just received the Jandek on Corwood DVD!

[dave9199]

I was just about to post that! I've never seen the whole skit, just clips.

[Guest Chaney]

I was just about to post that! I've never seen the whole skit, just clips.

I'm at work so I can't really tell if this is the complete cowbell skit, but I believe it can be found on THIS page.

[dave9199]

I couldn't get it to work. Could be my computer though.

[Guest Chaney]

I couldn't get it to work. Could be my computer though.

I think it's your computer.

Do a search for MORE COWBELL and you're bound to find one you're able to play.

Blue Öyster Cult lead singer Eric Bloom knows exactly where he was the night of April 9, 2000: Like many Americans, he was in front of the television, watching another episode of "Saturday Night Live."...

[dave9199]

Alright. #20: One Foot In The North, starts with a song called Yellow Pages and has Jandek solo on electric tuned to an E chord. The lyrics have a small melody that catches your ear. The same follows with the next 2 songs except it's the guitar that has a small melody running throughout. Think About Your Lady changes tuning to a more Jandek style. Real Fine Movement has drums, but they are way in the background. Jandek plays both drums & guitar. It sounds like when he overdubs, the track already recorded lose a chunk of volume. Next is a change of lineup on Alehouse Blues: two guitarists playing the blues & Jandek on drums & vocals. I've never thought of it until now, but I guess it could be just one guitarist overdubbing the leads. Upon The Grandeur is (again) the same chords from I Sit Alone... off of On The Way (#17) & Pastimes off of Somebody In The Snow (#19). The main difference is there is a minor chord bit thrown in which is a nice touch. Jandek singing quietly on this (another nice touch) with the lead guitar too loud for the feel of this song. On the last 4 songs of the album, Jandek's back on electric guitar but someone else (the guitarist I'm assuming; Eddie I assume even further) is on drums as there is a constant steady rhythm going throughout the songs. The lead guitar playing is totally disconnected from the vocals and the drums, but they all sound like Jandek's style of playing. Another tape filler rounds out the album; Honey, which appeared on Follow Your Footsteps (#13). This is just a jam with the lyric from the song.

Again, nothing songwise really sticks out (except for Upon The Grandeur & Alehouse Blues), though I think it's more inspired than The Living End which I said the same thing about. But there's something I like about this album. It's on the quieter side musically & lyrically. Whoever plays drums on the last few songs adds to that by keeping a steady beat mostly on the toms. Enjoyable.

Edited November 11, 2004 by dave9199

[dave9199]

Here's my ranking of the fourth set of 5:

KEEPERS

1. You Walk Alone

PERSONAL OPINION

2. Somebody In The Snow

3. One Foot In The North

FOR COMPLETISTS ONLY

4. On The Way

5. The Living End

You Walk Alone is every bit as good as Blue Corpse, but in a more enjoyable fashion. Hearing that album first could be misleading, but so could Blue Corpse, though not as much. I thought about putting Snow in the keepers, but it comes no way near the quality of Alone. Snow would be if you've heard all of my keepers and wanted more. Quite a bit of blues playing in these five which gave them more variety all around. If you wanted just one cd out of the second 10, you have to get two: Blue Corpse & You Walk Alone.

[John B]

After listening to You Walk Alone the other day jumping back into Jandek with Telegraph Melts was a real mindf@ck. I like this album quite a bit, but I'm still having trouble adjusting to the ensemble albums. As much as I enjoy these tracks I do prefer the solo stuff.

[dave9199]

Chaney! I got the DVD last night in the mail. Did you get yours yet? I watched the whole thing & most of the extras. I'm assuming your on the Jandek list so look for my post that will be there today or tomorrow called DVD. You ready to review Blue Corpse yet?

Edited November 13, 2004 by dave9199

[Guest Chaney]

Pretty soon, Dave.

(I've been on a short listening hiatus as my mind's in a bit of a funk.)

[John B]

both of you already bought the Jandek on Corwood dvd, so this won't be of any use to you, but deepdiscountdvd has it for $13.16, no shipping cost, and they are running a 20% off sale right now. Total cost - $10.53, shipping included.

[dave9199]

That's cheaper than what I paid, but like the cds, I got my DVD direct from the creators with a $5 discount I got for going to see it in the theater. So mine was $14.95 with no shipping. Not much difference (regular price anyway, good price with their sale though). The producers aren't charging shipping at all, so it's $19.95.

Edited November 15, 2004 by dave9199

[dave9199]

I re-read the Jandek chapter in Songs In The Key Of Z and in a letter to Chusid from Smith, he states Nancy is featured in many future cuts, mostly electric. So Nancy#2 IS Nancy#1. I'm still going with the possibility of a Nancy#3 (now Nancy#2) on On The Way & Somebody In The Snow.

[dave9199]

So here's how I rank the first 5:

KEEPERS

1. Chair Beside A Window

PERSONAL OPINION

2. Later On

3. Ready For The House

4. Six & Six

FOR COMPLETISTS ONLY

5. Living In A Moon So Blue

Keepers are, obviously, the best ones; personal opinion are the middle ground that vary from person to person (these are in my opinion order of good to lesser, but that doesn't mean Six & Six is horrible); and for completists only, well, you know. I still enjoyed them all. And I did hear what you heard on Jessica, Chaney. Just when you think it can't sound any more creepier...

So now that I've finished reviewing for now, I'm listening all over again & something has always bugged me. I couldn't seperate Ready For The House from Six & Six since they're stylistically so similar, but finally I feel I've accomplished that and with that, I must change my ranking so here's my updated ranking of the first 5:

KEEPERS

1. Chair Beside A Window

PERSONAL OPINION

2. Later On

3. Ready For The House

FOR COMPLETISTS ONLY

4. Living In A Moon So Blue

5. Six & Six

I moved Six & Six because it's just like Ready For The House...only less so. House is tough to get through, but following it with Six & Six can be too much to some. But more songs stuck out to me on House and while a couple stuck out on Six & Six, they don't hold my attention the way the ones on House do. Though House is hard to digest, it's a must buy because as someone else in this thread said: It's the alpha!

Edit the next day: (Dedicated to Chaney) I moved Moon to #4 & Six & Six to #5. I hadn't relistened to Moon when I posted this and when I did, it held my attention more than Six. His singing on Moon is all over the place & I like it whereas Six is more spoken.

Edited November 20, 2004 by dave9199

[Guest Chaney]

Way back on page one of this thread is a ranking according to a poster on the Jandek List. He sets Ready For The House aside and on its own as it is the alpha. I think I'd do the same.

[brownie]

Quite a fascinating thread, this one! Have yet to listen to this Jandek. Not sure I'll be interested. Besides I have a growing number of purchased CDs by interesting musicians to listen to. These get priority!

Anyway caught this film review in The New York Times today. Thought I'ld bring it to the attention of the participants in this thread.

November 19, 2004

MOVIE REVIEW | 'JANDEK ON CORWOOD'

A Reclusive Rocker Who Prefers to Be Heard Rather Than Seen

By NED MARTEL

Somewhere in the vine-covered old houses of Houston, there is a man strumming a guitar and letting out some plaintive wails into a microphone. For 26 years he has issued dirges and love songs on vinyl and let little else be known about him. Music aficionados have found this tantalizing. Jandek, as he calls himself, has become the indie-rock Sasquatch. The eerie documentary "Jandek on Corwood" lays out all the evidence that this musician is a genius, at least in keeping his fame fresh through a minimum of publicity.

The film is a canny look at both sides of a musical experiment. Jandek plucks out his atonal efforts, and the record-store obsessives speculate about every subtlety. Theories abound about his love life, his mental stability, his reasons for reclusiveness. Is he friendless? Is he on the lam? Is he bipolar? Maybe he works in a record factory, stealing time on the presses for this moonlighting gig.

Then there is the metaquestion hinted at by the shrewd, moody direction of a first-time filmmaker, Chad Freidrichs: Is Jandek's musical oeuvre his greatest achievement, or is he messing with the minds of these interpreters for an even greater feat? Mr. Freidrichs takes the perspective that Jandek is an enigma but hardly a hoax, and makes the most of the few images that the musician provides. Seen together, Jandek's album covers show a man-child aging, beginning as a sexier Richie Cunningham and ending up as someone sadder. There are lonely shots of a sofa left outside, a vanity without a mirror. A white house evokes all the forlorn places of William Eggleston's neglected Dixie.

Mr. Freidrichs adds his own still-life images of a rotary phone, a guitar on a stripped bed and the post-office box of Corwood Industries, a mysterious business at which Jandek receives his mail. This numbered door is called a portal to another realm, and many imaginations seek to unlock it. Jandek is a presence more heard than seen, so the movie dwells on the theorists, who sometimes sound like know-it-alls and then revert to a studied casualness. There is a longhaired Evergreen State College academic in a polo shirt with a Yamaha logo, then a bearded D.J. with a red bow tie and top hat. My favorite is a fanzine editor who resembles Jesus, except that he wears a trench coat open to the winds; he tosses a rock in his palm to make his labored points seem offhand. Another editor, Jake Austen, of Roctober magazine, is stubborn about his vision of who the singer is, down to the smallest detail: "It's hard for me to believe that it's not 'YAHN-dek.' " (The singer pronounces his name JAN-dek.) One man in a straw hat, interviewed in front of a factory, says, "I was a Jandek fan before he was even Jandek."

These people seem desperate for status-proving information, for V.I.P. access. Jandek is disciplined at providing just enough to anoint some and disappoint others. He grants some interviewers a phone chat, while others get a polite refusal. At some point, a viewer needs to decide whether this music is really any good or whether it is merely esoterica for quibblers. There is the standard complaint that a child could duplicate Jandek's random pluckings. The music critic Byron Coley insists that dismissal is "an argument that goes back to when anyone breaks away from representational art."

The more you hear Jandek's creepy musical pleas, the more they seem finely wrought. Clearly he is some kind of theorist, breaking down bands into instruments, chords into notes, words into croaks. All year, rockumentarians have done superb work tracking the careers of Metallica, Jay-Z, the Ramones and the rivalrous rockers in the film "Dig!" The life story of Jandek is, like the musician himself, somber where these others are loud, and minor where they are major. "Jandek on Corwood" is a quiet epilogue to those amped-up successes, a coda that pounds rock into its emotional pieces.

'Jandek on Corwood'

Opens today in Manhattan.

Directed and edited by Chad Freidrichs; director of photography, Mr. Freidrichs; music by Jandek; produced by Mr. Freidrichs and Paul Fehler. At the Anthology Film Archives, 32-34 Second Avenue, at Second Street, East Village. Running time: 88 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Jake Austen, Nils Bernstein, Byron Coley, Dr. Demento, Ben Edmonds, John Foster, Gary Pig Gold, Toni Holm, Calvin Johnson, Amy Frushour Kelly, Brooks Martin, George Parsons, David Rauh, Angela Sawyer, Eric Schlittler, Dana Squires, John Trubee, Richie Unterberger, Katy Vine and Douglas Wolk.

[Guest Chaney]

Thanks Brownie! I'm glad you spotted that as I would not have.

[Jim Dye]

Guys,

I have been trying, but I haven't been warming up to the CD's. I'm going to continue to try, but as of now, I just don't connect with anything other than the mystery. It's a great story, but as for the music...i don't know. Maybe the light will go on for me, maybe not. We'll see. It's been a challenge!

[dave9199]

'Taint for everyone. Hey your member #4! I just noticed that.

[Brandon Burke]

I'm still absolutely baffled that there's a 256-long thread aabout Jandek on this board. Wild...

I only have one LP, Lost Cause from 1992 and I'll admit that I don't listen to it very often. My best buddy in Brooklyn was obsessed with Jandek about three years ago and he gave me this becasue he had doubles. I'm glad I've got it, of course, but I'd be lying if I said I'd actively sought any of the others out.

Edited November 23, 2004 by Brandon Burke

[Guest Chaney]

I can't say that I'd scratch my head wondering why anyone would not like Jandek. I sometimes wonder why exactly I like his act.

I'll post some thoughts on the DVD and other releases sometime in the future as I'm a bit burnt out right now as regards Mr. Smith. My mood is also none too great and listening to Jandek just doesn't help. Amazing, but true!

I am in the habit though of checking Seth's site every day, looking for release number 39, to be followed by...