Jandek

[dave9199]

Follow Your Footsteps, album # 13, starts with a sounds-like-were-testing-the levels instrumental called Honey which kicks into a nice melody two-thirds of the way through when Jandek stops drumming. Definitely another guitar player on this one as it's regular chords being played. The female singer, which I'll call Nancy #2, makes a one line appearence on this album by saying the title of the second song: What Do You Want To Sing. I find that humorous as she isn't on the rest of the album. The next song, Jaws Of Murmur, is the same chords as the last song except it has lyrics sung by the guitarist which are not too audible unfortunately. The reverb of the drums covers over his singing. Jandek's drumming a constant tribal beat which suits the feel & the title of the song, I feel, ominous & acoustic. Preacher has a great quick sliding guitar riff on acoustic along with Jandek chiming in on electric and some great vocals. He sings an actual melody though it's stark, but it's there. Reverb-drenched vocals really suit the breathiness of his voice. The next song, Didn't Ask Why, is another great one. Again acoustic, but the lyrics seem personal & heartfelt.

Didn’t Ask Why

You didn’t ask me why

You just watched me cry

Well, you were so sad

Oh, then you were so bad

Now back on the street

My own two feet

But you didn’t ask me why

I Know You Well has a similar feel but is not a repeat of Didn't Ask Why. It's just as great.

I Know You Well

Can’t come around the way you do

Say that you’re somebody new

I knew you from before

That’s the way you are once more

Can’t come ’round here

Say you’re somebody new

’Cause I know you

I know you well

Well, well, well

I know you well

And it’s been tough

You’ve been around

I know you well

Time won’t tell

What you’ve been doing

Time won’t tell

I know you well

Well

I know you well

The album then loses it's way a bit for the next 3 songs. Dearly Need Some Words (the only lyric sung by the other guitarist) has acoustic & Jandek picking out notes on electric around it. Straight Thirty Seconds (which is 2:40 long) has Jandek on electric and the second guitarist on drums on this & Bring On Fatima. I'm certain it's not Jandek, as the drummer uses his hi-hat to keep time in one spot and...well, you can't mistake the guitar playing now, could you? These 3 songs being the weakest part of the album, yet they don't take that much away from it. The last 3 songs are acoustic Jandek. For Today has possibly been done before under another title, but I'm not totally sure. He has done that before (i.e. Spanish In Me/River To Madrid both on Foreign Keys). It's quite an outrageous chord that runs through the song Collection. The album ends with, so far, my favorite last minute fill-the-tape songs called We're All Through. A very rhythmic and simple rhyme with the title, almost like a kid's song by which I mean playful.

We’re All Through

All together now

One, two

All together now

One, two, we’re all through

I've mentioned almost every song from this album and when I do that, you know I think it's a great album. Again a mix of acoustic and electric with 2 (or more!) very touching songs and some instrumentals to add to the quirk factor. The lesser songs don't take away at all from the overall quality of this album. Great!

Edited October 23, 2004 by dave9199

[dave9199]

Modern Dances is a crazy album like Telegraph Melts. #14 in the Corwood series starts with a second version of a song from Telegraph Melts called Painted My Teeth. So far, his wildest performance is this song in either version. Nancy#2 is in on this album and song. Jandek on guitar and a third person on drums. The title is pretty much the whole lyric delivered in a tone that makes you believe, he's serious about wanting to do said activity and all the more power to him. Another yelping song follows called Twelve Minutes Since February 32nd (not a typo!) which he states: everybody dies. The drummers name is possibly Tom because in Hand For Harry Idle, Nancy#2 sings to give a hand to Harry & Tom. Then she says, "Tom doesn't want a hand!". Number 512 seems to get to Nancy#2 as during the slow pace she tries to get the others to go faster with no result which annoys her more:

What we need very quickly is a change

A real change, okay?

And immediately we will change the pace

Because we’re tired of this one

Okay? Let us change the pace

Oh boy did you ride?

Don’t got a ride that night

All I heard about drummers must be true

To stand there lookin’ at you

Fast, somebody’s got to go fast with me

Because oh god, I get so bored

On Nothing Is Better Than God (not a song you'll find in any hymn book at any time) Jandek sings the word God for 14 seconds while a little later Nancy#2 holds it for 15 seconds while Jandek samples various notes with the same word all around Nancy#2's held note. All of this is in the foreground of the speakers. I would go to any church if they were doing this song just to see it done. Spanish In Me makes a reappearence titled Spanish In Me 003. I Want To Know Why is another back & forth between Jandek & Nancy#2 with the most humorous part being the following:

[woman] Why did I ever leave Ohio

[Jandek] I’ll tell you why

[woman] Why?

[Jandek] I’ll tell you why

[woman] Why?

[Jandek] Oh this is why, this is why

[woman] Why

[Jandek] You want to know why?

[woman] Yeah, I want to

[Jandek] You want to know why?

[woman] Yeah why?

[Jandek] The cows came home [2x]

The last 3 songs, again, are acoustic solo Jandek. They recall the pick-a-string-not-strum guitar playing of his earlier albums.

This is a good & definitley fun album. Not as varied as Telegraph Melts, but keep the aspirin nearby. The VU meters hardly come out of the red, even on the acoustic songs his vocals hit the right frequencies to keep the meters pinned. A good album to drive through the city with & blare out the hatchback to all unsuspecting listeners.

[dave9199]

This is usually agreed upon as the best Jandek album so far, Blue Corpse, album #15. John B, I know I said I liked You Walk Alone better at first, but I think because I listened to this with an expectation the first time. When I listened again, I liked it a whole lot more & agree with you're comment. The reason this album can be called possibly his best (or at least one of his best) is because...wait for it...it is. Let's walk through it together alright?

I haven't talked about the covers of his albums, but this has a black & white in motion shot of him walking outside (shirtless, no less), but what looks odd is the possibly evil looking grin he has and the blurred right part of his face which looks like his face is extented. It's a creepy shot.

This album has only two players: Jandek (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica & drums) & Eddie (acoustic guitar, vocals). Great albums start with great songs. I Passed By Your Building has Jandek on acoustic & Eddie singing the lyrics. His voice is lower & can search for notes just like Jandek, but finds those notes more easily. Yet when he searches for those notes, it adds to the feeling of this song. It's a breakup song and I wonder if Eddie maybe wrote the lyrics because when someone else sings a Jandek song, Jandek will usually redo it later on with himself on vocals, but I don't have all the cds yet.

I Passed by the Building

I passed by the building you were working in

I wanted to step inside it

I wanted to lie in your arms again

I passed by the building that you live in

And I wanted to die

I just stood there and cried

For then the way I felt

For the way I was gonna cry

For loving you

I passed by the building where you sleep

And I wanted to sigh

At the sweet smell of your loving

But I just weep at the morning

I just weep

Even with Jandek strumming a tuned guitar & playing it all open, the vocal & lyrics carry this song. The next 2 songs also feature Eddie on vocals; C F has Jandek playing an actual C chord through it! Definately improvised, but enjoyable. Variant has Jandek on a G chord and is as enjoyable as the last song. The songs aren't great, but Eddie's voice is soothing. They then switch and Jandek is on vocals which, unfortunately, drown out the acoustic guitar a lot more. Part II is the next song and sounds like a jam in progress. Actually it sounds like a earlier try of a later song (& highlight) on the album.

Your Other Man sits along side any of Jandek greatest & most heartaching songs.

Your Other Man

Well, I guess your mind’s made up

Well, I guess there’s not much left to do

Go on, see your other man

Walk up the stairs

That’s where the stars are

Go on, see your other man

Well, you wouldn’t believe it tastes like candy

Gimme a fork, yeah a gimme a fork

Eat some potato

Shades are falling

Shades are falling

This songs mainly revolves around a chord progression of Em-D-C & with heavily reverbed vocals creates a perfect feel, especially when Jandek moans. Not a usual long, lingering moan, but a moan of frustration or even resignation at the topic of the lyrics. Long Way is a :58 second jam that actually breaks the mood with a bit of laughter, and it's placement actually works! Down At The Ball Park has Eddie working in mostly an E7-A7 progression & Jandek free associating over the top. This is where we find out Eddie's name as Jandek says: "Take it Eddie". You know it's a great album when on it is a 5-and-a-half minute song called Harmonica that is just that, and it still can not take away from the stronger songs. Phew! Again, like Long Way, the playing feels more nostalgic or at least sentimental when in the context of the best songs on this album. If it were on another album, I might not look at it like this. Eddie strums quietly in the background. Next is (as far as I know) Jandek's only released cover song, House Of The Rising Sun. If you didn't know it, you wouldn't realize it's this song. Jandek sings the lyrics in a slow, dragging improvisational way against Eddie's strumming which he puts his own spin on. I didn't know it was this song until the guitar drops out & Jandek sings the last verse a cappella. Fits the feel of the whole album. Next is the biggest highlight of the album; Only Lover.

Only Lover

You never smoke a cigarette when you are doing something

Only when your are half doing it

You are a teenage runt with a lot of cream, sparky

Gone floating down a river to Madrid

And a car pull in softly

Waiting for the footsteps

How has as she followed me here?

The tent I went to wasn’t mine, it was a cantaloupe’s

Cantaloupes are so good to eat

When you dream of your ??? in a shower

Gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

I love you my lady

I love you like I do

Why you make me so blue?

A-kill me, kill me, kill me

Achilles, kill me

I think I’m a goner

When I see one of your shoes

Gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

You’re the reason I live

You’re the cause of my death

I love what I can’t help

You took my success

Will you take my failure?

After Arny (?) took a pill from the bottom

He wasn’t n’er the same

You ought to be gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

I hear you bought a new dress

A red the color of your kiss

Darlin’ are you with me now?

A-kiss me, kiss me, kiss me

Ahh it’s my time to die

When I think of your black lips

Gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

Found a painted pony in your breast

Can I tell you the rest?

I love you goddess

Listen mister, can you be my monkey?

Feel my pulse take a stab at my arm

I was meant to have a garden

Gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

Jezebel, you’re my favorite — in your country I roam

Listen to me now, lady

Worst I had to tell you was I followed you here

First you made me promise that I wouldn’t leave

Then I found my freedom

Gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

Lost some lovely on the way

You gave them back I heard you say

You’re my only lover

Like a kangaroo I’m only half doing what I do

Jesus stares at me from the wall

And I think I like your bosom

Aww gone floatin’ down a river to Madrid

Ahh, you hear my music

Oh, lord I think it’s hard to tell how she followed me here

At 10-and-a-half minutes this songs gets more intense as it goes along. Jandek on vocals & drums at the very end, Eddie on acoustic. The concensis on the Jandek board is it's about a break up with Nancy#2. I agree since the words River To Madrid get repeated a few times recalling the song of that title, which is aka Spanish In Me, both done with Nancy #2. The best songs are all about that same thing. This song hits it's peak 7-and-a-half minutes in with Eddie doubling the tempo of the same Em-D-C chords used in Your Other Man and Jandek tapping his foot with heavy reverb. This part is used in the trailer to the documentary & looped to great effect. Quinn Boys comes next and is done to better effect on a later album. The album ends with One Minute and starts with Eddie saying, "Looks like about a minute to me." Jandek then proceeds to bash away on drums until the tape runs out with Eddie saying the following:

Just relax folks, just relax

That’s right, settle back in your chair

Listen to the music

Close your eyes and watch the pretty colors dancing around in your hair

Follow the music

The tape cuts off and with that one of the best Jandek album ends. Yeah, I think this beats Chair Beside A Window. What makes this album is it's packed with feeling lyrically & that comes across musically just as much. Seth Tisue, who runs the Jandek site, said to Irwin Chusid in his book Songs In The Key Of Z that he's listened to all of the albums at least 20 times, but has listened to Blue Corpse 100+ times at least. Well, now you know why. What's amazing is that an album that has 7 out of 12 songs under 2-and-a-half minutes with 2 of those songs being things being literal throwaways (Long Way & One Minute) and and 5-and-a-half minutes of Harmonica, this is still an incredibly strong album. Without having heard the next 20 or so albums, I'd wager if you want only one Jandek album, get this one...NOW!

[Jim Dye]

The site is down for a few days and BAM, new Jandek!

The Door Behind

What a hairball!

BTW...my first 11 discs should be here tomorrow!!

[Guest Chaney]

Enjoying your reviews, Dave!

I'm up to Telegraph Melts and I hope to post some nonsense on it, Nine-Thirty and Foreign Keys this weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim: What a hairball INDEED!

Seth notes that The Door Behind is Jandek's third release this year. I really have to wonder if Sterl is picking up the pace, possibly in anticipaton of a goodly number of folks springing for the second 20, once he hits release number 40.

[Chrome]

From www.dustedmagazine.com via disinfo:

Jandek On Corwood: Defiant Ambiguity and Psychological Projection

Compared to singer/guitarist Jandek, Swans are Doves and Charles Manson is a poor man’s Leonard Cohen. The mysterious Houston performer has pumped out dozens of albums over the last few decades, each profoundly devoid of structure. Like a gifted, isolated adolescent fresh from having his palm pressed to a hot stove, he bangs artlessly on his mistuned instrument and freestyles the loneliest lyrics in the world. His music is incomparable. It’s also some of the most abysmally depressing shit I’ve ever heard.

Among oddity-drunk hipsters, it’s his persona, or lack thereof, that gets him most of his meager attention. Until recently, he never performed live. Although he’s always been super-cordial to anyone who mails his enigmatic label Corwood Industries, he’s never been at all forthcoming with background info. He doesn’t elucidate his creative process. When rock writer Katy Vine successfully sought him out in his hometown, he behaved so strangely that the resulting profile only doubled the stakes.

Through its first two acts, the elegantly spare but laughably pretentious documentary Jandek On Corwood does likewise. Seldom have I seen a film that strained to hard to be moody. We get extended shots of beaches, bombed-out shacks, and all the other hallmarks of the quietly creepy world the filmmakers imagine for Jandek. All the while, his lack of input – or any presence at all – rings out like a scream. At one point, our absent hero’s face appears in a full moon, and it’s hard not to groan aloud.

Music nerds are masters of psychological projection. As his music bears no kinship with anything else out there – and as he’s little more than a blank screen in public life – Jandek is perhaps the most apt performer for this treatment, ever. So long as the man himself remains AWOL, the film revolves around interviews with DJs, critics and record store clerks eager to smother Jandek in their own half-formed ideas and theories. Some posit intriguing thoughts on what attracts people to music as inaccessible as this, but whenever talk turns to the artist, no one has much to say that applies outside his or her head, but it’s all slapped straight onto Jandek. Would you sit through a movie that consisted of drunks talking about how much that one Bob Mould record helped them when they got dumped? Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

After awhile, the chats descend into some conspiratorial “Paul Is Dead” type shit. When one guy describes phoning a woman in Indiana he thinks might be Jandek’s ex-wife, I want to punch him.

Then, near the end, Jandek appears, via telephone, to wipe away a lot of his mystique. He comes off as well-adjusted and self-aware, if inexplicably reluctant to pass along some seemingly minor details. He gladly spills what beans he has on Corwood’s history an sales figures. (They’re practically non-existent, which makes me wonder if there’s a single Jandek “fan” who doesn’t get all his albums gratis.) However, he offers nothing on his rotating cast of collaborators, which might be more polite than disturbing. Oddly, the man behind some of the world’s emptiest music doesn’t seem nearly as hung-up on art or suffering as most of his fans.

All the sadness and weirdness and sundry psychic shit on a Jandek record comes from inside the listener. No matter how blatantly the man’s whole scheme waves this in front of them, most of the talking heads in Jandek On Corwood confine their fascination to the shadowy creator, and seldom pause for introspection or own up to their own roles in the symbiosis of fandom.

The most soulful thing on this DVD is a special feature: A long interview with Songs In the Key of Z author Irwin Chusid, conducted by a pair of sadistic college radio jocks as they play Jandek records, back to back, for hours on end. Chusid both dismisses Jandek’s music and makes the strongest, most honest case for its appeal you’ll hear here, as he describes isolating himself during KoZ’s writing process and feeling his “inner outsider” emerge, to his horror. The average “outsider music” wonk should be so blessed.

By Emerson Dameron

[Guest Chaney]

Thanks for the article, Chrome.

Here's one from Bagatellen: Unplanned Obsolescence

[jon abbey]

I'm never watching that movie. and in an unrelated note, that Dusted review is awful.

[Guest Chaney]

I'm never watching that movie. and in an unrelated note, that Dusted review is awful.

Can I ask why you'll not watch Jandek on Corwood?

I have a slight problem with the makers of the documentary as, from what I've read, they seem to have picked Jandek as a topic for their filmmaking efforts not because they were fans of his music but because he seemed an interesting topic. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but I still find it troubling. (Maybe I'm wrong but I suspect it'll be more of the Jandek and fans as freaks thing.)

As I've read it described, their filmmaking technique also sounds pretty ludicrous.

I ordered a copy using a $5 off coupon but I can't say that I'm expecting it to be very good. What does interest me is the phone interview with Smith.

As for the the Dusted article, it's more of the Jandek as freak crap and those who listen are poseurs, in it for the angst and cool. Of course, Dameron goes on to write, "Oddly, the man behind some of the world’s emptiest music doesn’t seem nearly as hung-up on art or suffering as most of his fans." Then why paint Smith as such an oddball?

Cripes, I'm 44 years old! I really do believe that I'm beyond caring whether or not I'm cool. Sheesh!

[dave9199]

I bet he'll put out another studio album, then put out the live set as album #40. I said before that when I spoke to him and guessed his 40th album would be out the first half of 2006, he said something like, "It'll probably be sooner". Now I figure by June 2005 latest, me & Chaney will be able to order our 2nd box o' 20!

[Guest Chaney]

You know what can be done? Order CDs 21 through 38, order two copies of Blue Corpse and then sell those two Blue Corpses ( -_- ) on eBay. That way, no need to wait for CD 40.

[Jim Dye]

...or just split a box with someone!

[jon abbey]

Can I ask why you'll not watch Jandek on Corwood?

sure, from all reports from serious fans who have seen it, it's worthless. I have zero interest in anything more than listening to his music. he clearly doesn't want people forming any sort of cult of personality around him, unfortunately that's eventually led to exactly what he was trying to avoid. I think he's an interesting musician, I enjoy listening to his discs, and I'll keep buying them until I don't enjoy them anymore. all the other baggage that listeners like to bring in, I don't care about. just let the guy make music, listen, and enjoy (or don't, either way).

[dave9199]

Here's my ranking for the third set of 5:

KEEPERS

1. Blue Corpse

2. Follow Your Footsteps

PERSONAL OPINION

3. Telegraph Melts

FOR COMPLETISTS ONLY

4. Modern Dances

5. Foreign Keys

The personal opinion & completists were a bit harder to rank as I really liked Telegraph Melts, but for someone who isn't aware of it's sound, it could be a harrowing experience. And though Modern Dances is a lot like Telegraph Melts, it doesn't have the interesting songs (that's right, I said it) that are scattered throughout Telegraph. If nothing really jumps out at me (coming from a songwriters point of view), I put that album under completist. If you just want Sonic Youth-type scratchiness & abrasivness, go with either Telegraph or Modern Dances. Keepers, to me, are the albums with more melody & variety on them. I will say if I felt all 5 were keepers, I'd list them as such.

[Guest Chaney]

Wrong Time

It’s not the right time

Something’s wrong, but I’m gonna do it anyway

You can put your bloody mind in a paper bag and eat it for lunch

What is God?

What are you doing here? Or there?

I am a fool

Forgive me

If a door is open

I should be back soon

There's the lyrics to my favorite song off of album #10: Nine-Thirty. It's all acoustic and he sounds very inspired in his lyrics & his playing, which is very energetic. I find myself, no matter how repetative, leaning towards his acoustic albums which have a more intimate, emotional pull. One song called Faye, is practically a lyrical lift (for the first 2 verses) of Jimmy Reed's Honest I Do, which I know through The Rolling Stones version on their first album, which also has an out of tune guitar all the way through. Hmmm... This Is A Death Dream is good for his spoken words. Even the one instrumental, Tumblings, is energetic, though not much in terms of "song", but if I expected that, I wouldn't be listening to Jandek anyway, right?  This is his idea of SONGS! That's why it's interesting. He re-does Oh Jenny which I believe was from Later On originally. I'd have to listen to the first version again, but I don't hear an immediate difference. So, on the whole, I like this album quite a bit even though I wouldn't say there are any great songs on it. Think of it as an entire piece; a progression from the pieces called Ready For The House and Six & Six.

Nine-Thirty

I've listened to Nine-Thirty several times but find myself unable to say much as it mainly just bores me. The whole travelogue thang just doesn't interest me. Not good, not bad; it's as you say, Dave: there aren't any great songs on this one. I get the feeling though that you like Nine-Thirty more than I do.

Favorite tunes: Voices in the Dark and Green Dreams.

Later On's Oh Jenny makes a second appearance. The Nine-Thirty version sounds more than a bit perfunctory; filler and little more. One problem: the sound of Jandek's voice and guitar blend too well and the contrast that's present in the first version is greatly missed.

The version on Later On reeks of remorse, with Jandek's guitar playing sounding more deliberate and the presence of an icey, nearly one note, harmonica adding an appropriate chill.

The first version of Oh Jenny -- for me -- is one of the stand-out tunes amongst Jandek's first ten albums.

[dave9199]

Wow Chaney, I can't second guess you at all. I figured you'd like it because of it being acoustic. Can't wait to see what you think about Telegraph Melts & Modern Dances. I'm also wondering what your take on Blue Corpse will be.

[Guest Chaney]

Listening to:

"Foreign Keys" (1985)

the MASSIVE "Put it Away" is on as I type, someone needs to extol the genius of Nancy too--

great great stuff & serious dark lyrics on this one too.

best line in the Coley interview from the Kurt Anderson radio show thing goes like I don't what you can say about people that don't get it-- they're just squares.

a-fuckin'-men, brother.

Corwood Clem

Foreign Keys is album #11. It's all electric with (I believe), a live drummer.The first half has Jandek singing with most of the second half sung by Nancy (I'm assuming). The first name to pop into my head with regards to her singing was Grace Slick. I'm having a harder time reviewing these as he seems to have gone all improv since Living In A Moon So Blue. Maybe that's why you don't like it Chaney? He seems to be able to guide a jam session into an album that is fun to listen to. Nothing jumps out at me songwise except for the first and last songs. The album is bookended by the same song in 2 versions & 2 different titles: Spanish In Me & River To Madrid. The latter has both singers ("Broke my neck until 3/Broke my neck until 4/Broke my neck until 5!"). Some Of Your Peace has Nancy holding a note on the word "peace" for about 8 seconds & the word "glad" for 19 seconds, sounding a bit like Yoko Ono. She has a particular bluesy scale she sings in a few songs & she helps to add some melody to Needs No Sun while Jandek takes it all away with Ballad Of Robert. His vocal gymnastics are right in the room with ya sounding (and even looking) a lot like Thurston Moore at times. This is the first album where the vocals are pretty much peaked on the VU meters, especially when Jandek jumps on the mike. Overall o.k.

Foreign Keys

Remember that last album? The dull one? Well, this one sure ain't dull! A sharp rebound for Jandek!

First, the vocalists. River to Madrid is the last track on the album. I was following along with a printout of the lyrics from Tisue’s site and was comfortable in my belief that a second male vocalist was on hand for much of side two; didn’t even occur to me to question that belief. I was literally shocked (Whaaaat?!, I yelled) when I saw Seth attributing the male vocals on River to Madrid to Jandek. I’m not sure of what’s to follow on subsequent recordings but as of this moment, I can not believe that the chest thumping male vocalist on much of side two is Jandek as the sound is / would be very out of character for him; very extroverted, not at all what I’d imagine Jandek being capable of. And I don’t mean to paint him a freak. It’s just that, while I know he’s not incapable of raising his voice, I’ve never heard him roar in quite this way. (I'm an introvert and I know I'd have a hard time doing that almost new wave, rock star thing.)

I'm not yet convinced that we have a Nancy 2. While the female vocalist on this one is very different in stye from that of the singer of Nancy Sings, both (if there are two) share a very similar, tight vibrato. I believe it's plausible that as some time had passed, Nancy decided to adopt the Grace Slick sound. Then again, listening to No Break from Chair Beside a Window, there's a liquidity (is that the right worrd?) to the voice that's missing in the dry, much more muscular voice of Nancy 2. Hmmm... Anyway, note to Nancy-whoever-you-are: step AWAY from the microphone. No need to gobble the darn thing.

I'm pretty sure that there's a second guitarist on side two, who might also be the mystery singer. (How the heck would I know?) The new guitar has a secret agent type sound: full of intrigue. Q: Is it generally believed that Jandek has a guest guitarist on this one? I could be wrong as that secret agent sound first appears fleetingly at the very end of Caper, and I know that Jandek plays solo on that one.

Better use of percussion on this one. I like the distinctive, almost metallic sounding drum used on a few of the tracks on side one. Q: Why is it that the drumming is so steady on Oh No but elsewhere, it’s the usual Amateur Nite performance? Very odd.

There’s one common element to the Jandek albums that I consider KEEPERS: as they end, I smile and want more. OH BABY, this one has that... frisson!

Edited October 30, 2004 by Chaney

[dave9199]

I can not believe that the chest thumping male vocalist on much of side two is Jandek as the sound is / would be very out of character for him; very extroverted, not at all what I’d imagine Jandek being capable of. And I don’t mean to paint him a freak. It’s just that, while I know he’s not incapable of raising his voice, I’ve never heard him roar in quite this way.

It's him. You've got to believe Chaney. Believe. Just wait to Telegraph Melts. AHAHAHAHAHA!

[Guest Chaney]

Dave: Is it also Jandek on the secret agent guitar?

I listened to Telegraph Melts this morning. Can't say that I have high hopes for this one. We'll see...

[dave9199]

(I'm an introvert and I know I'd have a hard time doing that almost new wave, rock star thing.)

Uh-oh, emotional projection onto Jandek. Happens to everyone. If you sing along with screaming Jandek, record it & listen to it, you'd be surprised at how different your voice sounds. I think you have the tools for a breakthrough Chaney & with the Jandek method, I think you can move forward.

Secret agent guitar? Oh yeah, that's him.

[Guest Chaney]

D'oh! Damn emotional projection!

So it's only Jandek and Nancy 2 on Foreign Keys. (I'm guessing that you're not with me as to there being -- up to this point -- one Nancy? I can't say that I have much faith in my position on this. DAVE! You've thrown my mind into turmoil!)

[dave9199]

(DAVE! You've thrown my mind into turmoil!)

Ahhh, the first step of the Jandek method. Don't be scared Chaney, I'm here for you!

As for Nancy; with only one song from Nancy #1, and a lot from Nancy #2, I can see how anyone might think it's the same person, but I'm still sticking to the #1, #2 theory. You never hear #2 sound like #1, ever. She's a lot louder & more extroverted a singer than #1. I also think there's a #3 on Somebody In The Snow & she sounds more like #1 than #2 does. I predict more confusion in your future; $10 please.

[Guest Chaney]

Thank you, Doctor. I feel better now. Your fee is on the way.

Regarding Nancy #1, you must admit, here voice is sweetness and little else; it really has little character so I'd not go too far in assigning her alone the coveted position of Nancy #1. Could be true but I'm not yet convinced.

[Guest Chaney]

Album #12; Telegraph Melts; seems like a continuation of Foreign Keys. Electric, drums & Nancy, but has a number of interesting twists & turns that the previous album doesn't have. Starts out with a fast-paced near instrumental called You which I like. Go To Bed continues with the same drum pattern as You but with Nancy singing so I liked that one also. Reverb becomes a member of the band again along with a special appearance from Feedback on Ace Of Diamonds and I really liked that! Absolutely chaotic drums! Only slightly less chaotic on the next song; Twenty-Four. Another title track song, Telegraph Melts, foregoes drums in favor of harmonica with Nancy's bluesy vocals & a toned down vocal verse from Jandek. Definately sounds like the lyrics were written out beforehand. The most interesting & different song on the album is Governor Rhodes. It's got nothing to do with anyone, but has Jandek saying (not yelling) phrases like, "Chant with love, chant with magic...", in a commanding & ritualistic tone with Nancy backing him up. The drums focus on the floor tom to complete the tribal feel. Different, even for Jandek, and quite good. Star Up In The Sky has Jandek holding notes for 13 seconds, then again immediately after that for an excruciating 17 seconds (almost tying Nancy's 19 second record),  along with some more howling on either side of those notes. It's a tough minute to get through, but just then...the next song starts, You Painted Your Teeth. A hysterical vocal & song if you can stand it. Mothers Day Card is a total 180. It's a lyrical ode, in Jandekian sing-songy style, to his mom. Someone from the Jandek list says she sings this song to her mother every Mothers Day & has taught younger cousins the lyrics so they all can sing it. She finds it a bit humorous knowing where it came from. The Fly has another 30 second series of backup vocals by Jandek (overdubbing over his main vocal); up & down like a fucking distorted roller-coaster, along with a few just plain screams.

This is a great album if you can stand the distorted vocals & the headache you get every damn time you listen to it.. It has more songs rather than jams. But even if they are all jams, everyone is focused and playing together (sic!). A great example of electric Jandek.

Dave:  Is it also Jandek on the secret agent guitar?

I listened to Telegraph Melts this morning.  Can't say that I have high hopes for this one.  We'll see...

Telegraph Melts

Dave, I agree with your every word. (Well said / described, by the way.) I might just vary slightly on Mothers Day Card. A lyrical ode? Perhaps. To me, I'd guess that the lyric was lifted straight from a mother's day card and as it's sung in such a silly, loopy manner, I'm having trouble getting to its lyrical side. Might also mention House Up On A Hill and its musically quasi-spiritual nature. I thought that was kind of new for Jandek.

Listening to this one, all I could think was: That vocalist is not Jandek. Early on, it’s obviously him so I paid more attention to the secret agent guitar. Hmmm... Manner of playing is... Jandek! But then the deep-voiced vocals start up on side two. No, that’s not Jandek. Or so I smugly thought until The Fly. Right at the line: I said I work inside my cabinet, the fog lifted and...

I can not believe that the chest thumping male vocalist on much of side two is Jandek as the sound is / would be very out of character for him; very extroverted, not at all what I’d imagine Jandek being capable of. And I don’t mean to paint him a freak. It’s just that, while I know he’s not incapable of raising his voice, I’ve never heard him roar in quite this way.

It's him. You've got to believe Chaney. Believe. Just wait to Telegraph Melts. AHAHAHAHAHA!

DAVE! Dave, you devious bastard! You knew! God damn it, you knew! It’s IS Jandek! It was even there in the past with his AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Anyway, some tasty guitar and harmonica playing with some neatly hidden guitar work. (Am I hearing a bass?) Nancy #2 is in fine voice.

Dave: Is Jandek obtaining two different sounds -- his usual and what I describe as secret agent -- from using the same guitar? Funny that he should discover the low end of his electric guitar's range just as he does the same with his singing voice. Very confusing. Doubly so as he doesn't really sing in that low voice; he mostly talks. (Reminds me somewhat of Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady and his non-singing vocal style.) (I'm guessing that I'm the first person ever to make a comparison between Rex Harrison and Jandek.)

Not a CD to listen to while you’re doing something else and not a good idea to listen to this one at full volume.

On to Follow Your Footsteps and Modern Dances.

[Guest Chaney]

did any of you notice this link to a Jandek merchandise (unofficial) webpage on the Jandek list?

The coffee mug would be a great gift for a coworker who has no clue who Jandek is. Someone on the list replied with the idea of adding "Jandek World Tour 2004" to the back of the shirts, which is pretty funny, if you know the back story.

Who's laughin' now?