Jandek Catch-All

[FreddyKnuckles]

Jeb is a
douche

[FreddyKnuckles]

like petals on a wet back bough

[jebreject]

racist

[Greg Nog]

I don't mind the line breaks, but it makes grammatical mistakes stick out way more than they otherwise would.

[Bernard]

I assume you guys have all seen this: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16778590

[Andrew_TSKS]

i seriously think dylan thomas is just posting from a super obsolete computer that does that to his posts.

maybe i'm wrong though.

and by the way, i gotta go ahead and interject here about reasons for liking jandek--i like lots of atonal, dissonant, unstructured music that is just plain weird and harsh and hard to listen to. i like the first few swans albums, for god's sake. hell, i like them better than anything else gira's ever done. haha. i think that sort of noise crap just appeals to some people. after all, there's a decent-sized audience for merzbow, which just sounds like really loud radio static to me, so that should prove it right there.

in that npr piece, douglas wolk describes jandek's music as "It's like somebody making music from a description of what songs are without ever actually having heard any." i don't know about anyone else here, but i would love to hear a record of that. that's probably a lot of why i like jandek.

[FreddyKnuckles]

racist

hahaahaha shouldn't post lines of poetry when crunk I spose

[Danen]

in that npr piece, douglas wolk describes jandek's music as "It's like somebody making music from a description of what songs are without ever actually having heard any." i don't know about anyone else here, but i would love to hear a record of that. that's probably a lot of why i like jandek.

Man, that's sweet. I think that says it nicely. For what it's worth, one thing I like about Jandek is that you never know quite what you're going to get (either from album or show), but you know it's gonna be honest. More than anything, I just hope people are willing to give the music a chance. And if you don't like the old stuff, try the new stuff. If not the new stuff, try the middle period. Or the vocal albums. Loud and noisy or mellow and neo-classical. It takes guts to do this kind of music, to expose yourself like this and then refuse to interview about it. And the man tours without a demographic, never mining what few songs he could from his catalog, but instead writes a brand new show for every concert, and lines up a new band with a new lineup to take it on each time. Not to mention, he's personally funded 51 fucking albums and counting, putting the stuff out whether people are lined up to buy it or not, and until a few years ago the answer was undeniably "not." The mystery IS interesting, but what keeps me around is the genuine depth to the music.

[jebreject]

I don't know, I think I couldn't really care less whether Janky is being "honest" or not.

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

I agree with Jeb.  In the unlikely event that Jandek's been playing a huge practical joke on everyone for decades, I don't care.  The music (and the mystery, which I can't divorce from the music no matter how I try, even though it really enhances the music) has a desolate, disconnected, atonal beauty that simply gels really well with my taste.  That don't have anything to do with whether or not he's honest.

[Andrew_TSKS]

i agree with that too. i just like what he's doing. one thing that sam and i talked about after we saw him play was that there's no way he isn't making his guitar playing sound like absolute atonal noise on purpose, because by now he would have learned how to make melodic figures and is just undoubtedly not interested in doing so. that's why i like what he's doing, because he's making dissonant noise on purpose.

[Greg Nog]

More than anything, I just hope people are willing to give the music a chance. And if you don't like the old stuff, try the new stuff. If not the new stuff, try the middle period. Or the vocal albums.

[jebreject]

that's why i like what he's doing, because he's making dissonant noise on purpose.

there are plenty of people making dissonant noise on purpose. i think you might be leaving out some factors.

[Andrew_TSKS]

yeah, well, i like most of those people too. hah.

but i see your point.

[Nick Ink]

I always thought he was just someone made up by members of this board as I don't think I've ever heard him mentioned anywhere else. And I consider myself a fairly committed obscurist too.

[elpollodiablo]

My old roommate purports to like him. Though like many people I believe he bought the documentary without ever having owned a record.

[SPACERACE]

I always thought he was just someone made up by members of this board as I don't think I've ever heard him mentioned anywhere else. And I consider myself a fairly committed obscurist too.

i have to ask, did you ever check?

[Andrew_TSKS]

back when the documentary was happening and paul was posting on moc about it, a whole bunch of people on moc were convinced that paul and chad had made the guy up, and that their movie was an elaborate hoax. people were digging up things like the kurt cobain quote about jandek not being pretentious but only pretentious people listened to him, and etc. i was all "dudes, i saw a jandek lp in a record store in 1991!" but of course no one believed me.

[Nick Ink]

I always thought he was just someone made up by members of this board as I don't think I've ever heard him mentioned anywhere else. And I consider myself a fairly committed obscurist too.

i have to ask, did you ever check?

Not really. I'm too worried I'd really like him and have to spend an inordinate amount of time searching out his 51 albums.

[Andrew_TSKS]

well, it would only actually take an inordinate amount of money, because i'm pretty sure all of them are in print from corwood, who are easy to order from. in fact, won't he sell you any 20 for $80? that's $4 an album!

[diesel_powered]

corwood, who are easy to order from.

I've always wondered if the whole Corwood thing is just him and a P.O. Box or if there are other people who help him out with fulfilling orders and stuff.

[Andrew_TSKS]

i might be wrong but i very strongly suspect the former.

[diesel_powered]

That's kind of what I would assume, but you never know what with his current world tour of sold-out shows.

[guanajuato]

corwood, who are easy to order from.

I've always wondered if the whole Corwood thing is just him and a P.O. Box or if there are other people who help him out with fulfilling orders and stuff.

well, in the past jandek has had other folks playing on his albums, and from the jandek documentary, there's a lady giving up an anecdote about jandek at a bar, hanging out with a couple people dressed entirely like himself. but, could be, it's just him and a po box. either way, the entire thing is sinister, in a GOOD way.

[Andrew_TSKS]

That's kind of what I would assume, but you never know what with his current world tour of sold-out shows.

yeah, but i mean, i went to one of those shows. there were maybe 150 seats, and people traveled from all over the world to fill them. granted, i'm local, but my friend sam, who is the only other jandek fan i know, drove down from delaware to attend.