Jandek

You're just as well off casting runes or rolling a 12-sided die to choose one as having one recommended to you. In my experience, anyhow.

really?!

You Walk Alone is a really good one if you like the blues. It sounds like Royal Trux.

Anyway, I'd try one of those before I'd get the recent, all-vocal, ones.

Also, if you haven't, take a look at this, a really well done site with little capsules about the records.

If you're gonna get one of his spoken albums, try This Narrow Road. The way the dictaphone (or whatever he's using to record) cuts in and out has a great effect.

If I remember correctly, the first half dozen or so albums are very similar in sound. So, as others have recommended, get Ready for the House and then skip ahead to the next period (drums! Nancy!).

I like The Living End and White Box Requiem. Also, most of the albums from the collaborative period (with Nancy et al) have some great songs. I don't really get into the first three or four albums quite so much, and the spoken word records are hard going (but very very interesting if you set them to your own music)..

Worthwhile URL: http:// www.jandekoncorwood.com and http://tisue.net/jandek

Ready For The House is absolutely soul-crushing, terrifying stuff. I'd definitely recommend it, but be prepared to be completely creeped out by it -- it's a seriously claustrophobic piece of work. As for the most recent stuff, I haven't heard the latest non-spoken-word CD, but the one before it, I Threw You Away, is pretty wild, full of moaning and howling. I'd say it's worth getting.

Oddly, I have yet to really be grabbed by Blue Corpse, which seems to be a favorite of many Jandek fans. I remember liking Telegraph Melts, though.

Alas and alack.

It's turned into something more involved and interesting than I expected, and is definitely no longer trying to be an exact portrait like the earliest chapters try and be. Somewhere between fanfic and psychological study, eventually. Or so I hope.

I'll have to set aside some time to read your stuff, Ned...

1)

Jandek is a box of smoke. Open it and...*poof*.

did you call me a poof?

Twenty years ago I came across Jandek records and was naturally pretty miffed. Then I read some short article in Option, I believe. Seemed like an interesting oddity. Then lost touch with it. Then ran across that Jandek on Corwood film, which I thought managed to express both a sincere appreciation and still keep its wits about the situation. I thought Doug Wolk did a very good job balancing his analysis, as opposed to the Half Japanese movie The Band That Would Be King where Cosloy and Coley came off like pompous assclowns (OK, Byron you don't own any Beatle records, you're really cool) and Half Japanese sounded like a bad joke.

But then I read that Jandek was out performing and it seemed so wrong. As if the concept finally ran its course and was now something else that didn't quite work. I dunno. I'd be curious how others see it.

That's my longwinded way of asking: how do you feel about Jandek in 2007?

I saw a show, it was fair, but ultimately kind of boring (though I am very glad I went). But I have been listening to Manhattan Tuesday though and it sounds pretty nice.

McJandek.

I'm fucking greater than Jandek, and I can't play much either. Here's a whole album on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVfydUa-I78

I don't get Jandek.

But then I read that Jandek was out performing and it seemed so wrong. As if the concept finally ran its course and was now something else that didn't quite work. I dunno. I'd be curious how others see it.

I agree, it would've been much cooler if the man just had quit at some point and enter total obscurity (again) (not even reprinting sold out records)

"cooler"

surely you are also greater than jackson pollock and william carlos williams

don't sell yourself short

xxp

"cooler"

:)

I'm humble by nature.

so much depends
on my
wallowing in
internal
whimsy
I
again

is this ilm jandek street team day or somethuing?

there are jandeks in my area. my favourite jandek lives in a house in the middle of nowhere with all the windows boarded up. there are rusty old instruments everwhere, red lights, the place stinks of chai tea. 100s (maybe 1000s?) of cassettes of stuff he's recorded. lovely guy. listens to a love supreme a lot.

Glasgow Monday is surprisingly good....some nice (dare I say pretty?) piano playing by Jandek, creepy bowed bass and percussion work for that "signature" skeletal Jandek sound

only record of his I find enjoyable to listen to, at least in certain contexts

Choice quotes from a recent Jandek concert review (appearing in full at
http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2008/07/29/jandek-the-bug-theatre/)

"He didn't seem like someone who enjoys humanity buzzing in his ear. When performing, it seemed as though he was unaware that he was standing in a roomful of people."

"The formula, if there was one, reminded me of childhood, when I would make up a tune with friends and we'd sing along in sentences, giggling because we weren't rhyming and weren't trying to. This was adult playtime, and with feeling: the scatterbrain rhythms and breathy backing vocals didn't make much sense, but they held a world-weariness that children can't fake."

"You should have seen the veins bulge and quiver in that skinny man's neck every time he prolonged a note. But the voice was just a voice, neither husky nor high, and the words hung dead in the air, chilly and flat against the fuss in the background. Suddenly, he began to smile and move in the direction of Ms. Gould, who I could see was also smiling. The two smiles became grins; they held for a moment, and dissolved as the slim figure slunk back to his post."

i like the "jandek vs. mariah" comment below the article.

jandek is awful. what is this guy's appeal? you know, beyond the 'mystery'

some of the best depression music i have ever heard!

Well he's not exactly a mystery anymore...

lol that comment should have ended with "you never her."

eh?

In a gray, discordant, and broken sort of way there's a lotta feeling here. If you're into gray, discordant, and broken music. There are times and places where I really enjoy that. Sometimes he reminds me of very early Fall, like some of the murkier bits on Dragnet, taken several steps farther.

this thread is helpful

anyone out there familiar w/ jandek?

eh?

i meant the mariah comment on the article page, not yours.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/2447563431_0548976d42.jpg?v=0

miniature family anecdotes

hoos how is that applicable here

twas a mere lol mam

lol

ready for the butt

Butts For Jandek

http://tisue.net/jandek/images/covers/0790.jpg

http://tisue.net/jandek/images/covers/0790.jpg
http://tisue.net/jandek/images/covers/0790.jpg
http://tisue.net/jandek/images/covers/0790.jpg

how is that btw

if i ever see jandek in person, i will likely beat him with a 2x4.

I saw him in a pub wearing his Jandek hat. I didn't beat him.

xposts. pretty good, although I find it hard to rate Jandek albums because I'm thrown when trying to find a criteria to judge them by. Except that I prefer the ones like this that are just him on acoustic guitar and vocals. also because i never listen to any of his albums extensively because i need to be in the right mood or it just jars.

that cover is really something tho.

He's an absolute genius with album covers-- such a singular, evocative aesthetic. He's never made a bad one in 40 or however the hell many releases.

yes. i particularly like the one that shows the side of his house. oh yeah, and the one with dingy old furniture.

Agreed.

Jandek = Boo Radley

did Jandek go to prison recently? because the covers to "Raining Down Diamonds" and "Khartoum" suggest that he has converted to Islam.

those albums came out in '05 but the pictures are a lot older, from the 80s or early 90s.

his recent photos kind of make him look like a cancer patient or something.

yes and there was speculation that he may have been suffering from sort of illness and that that may have been the catalyst by him playing his first live show in 2004.

Hmm, maybe he would have been a good death pool pick, it would have been another idol to condemn.

That is another classic cover for sure.

Saw him in Portland a couple years back with my nurse girlfriend who said he sure looked like a cancer survivor. To me he looked almost like a ghost, appropriately.

Seems as if Mandy Moore has become taken with Jandek. From her Twitter:

"jandek?? who are you?? i'm utterly fascinated. this grey sunday am is
fitting for a bit of his dissonance. off to find out more....7:59 AM
Aug 16th from web "

Guide to Jandek swami Seth Tisue found this possible connection:

"In addition to countless projects on his own Slang Sanctuary label,
[Brian Jones] played drums on Mandy Moore’s latest album and sat in with
obscure outsider musician Jandek for a show back in March."

also Ryan Adams, prolly.

Jandek getting love from Hollywood Disney (probably confusing her here with some other Herbie babe) chicks. this is going too far.

i bet Mandy didn't make it trough the end of the Ruins of Adventure (one of his recent outings, i hardly didn't and i heard his fkn entire oeuvre)

was liking Manhattan Tuesday and Brooklyn Wednesday on a Jandek marathon last weekend.

from up thread
He's an absolute genius with album covers-- such a singular, evocative aesthetic. He's never made a bad one in 40 or however the hell many releases.

actually hating the cover of Ruins of Adventure as WELL (it's just a zoom in, how uninspirational is that)

also, i can't be the only Jandek fan who thinks he should not have played Glasgow on Friday again, since he then had to put out a Glasgow Friday 2005 cd, which is stupid, should've just played on thursday.

So I've heard this guy's name mentioned over the years, yeah okay, dude releases a ton of albums, I never really investigated. I've been playing a ton of Keiji Haino and Loren Connors and Christina Carter and such lately, and I've heard the guy's name in the same circles enough now that I finally decided, what the hell, and picked up two albums -- Ready for the House, and Chair Beside a Window. Please tell me about these. How does the rest of his catalog compare? Do all the records sound like this? Or does his sound vary a bunch more than I am anticipating? I've heard talk of an electric Jandek, an acapella Jandek, etc. -- what's worth looking into if these first two stick (and so far, I'm not really sure)?

Thanks all.

It does vary and if you get into him hardcore you will never come back. (Says the guy who has close to fifty CDs...)

xpost Late-eighties/early-nineties are possibly the best. Yes, the sound varies, but Chair Beside a Window comes close to the blueprint for what people have thought of as a Jandek album. Faves:

On the Way
One Foot in the North
Lost Cause

I haven't heard most latter period Jandek (mid-nineties and on, which encompasses a capella and I think piano instrumentals), although I've heard enough to know that his voice deepens noticeably.

I don't know if he's still doing the $80 for 20 CDs thing (which included shipping). Has anyone seen the catalog lately? Seth Tisue's site probably says something. Used to be the only resource for news on him.

Mandy Moore! I <3 her.

Cool, thanks for the recommendations, bamcquern.

Ned, which albums are your favs?

we had a Jandek poll, but too bored to look it up.

anyway Chair Beside a Window is a classic, lots of variation.

Ready for the House is like the archetype.

Jandek had a bluesy band middle-period: Blue Corpse and You Walk Alone* are highly recommended as well.

*The Cat That Walked From Shelbyville is probably my favourite Jandek track ever.

Much appreciated!

Ready for the House and Chair Beside a Window are both very early Jandek, so you could check out a few more from that period before investigating other periods further.

I personally like The Rocks Crumble, Blue Corpse, One Foot In The North and Six And Six

Lots of guidance here (as mentioned before): http://tisue.net/jandek/discog.html

cd disc $8.00
* 2 disc cd $12.00
** dvd disc $16.00
*** box set $20.00
20 or more any mix 50% discount
international orders add $1.00 per item
prepaid only
shipping paid by corwood

***********

I ordered the discography for 100 or so dollars a few years ago.
came loosely tossed with a few sytrofoam chips in a half-empty box.
one of the greatest american novels ever written

the acapella albums are fucking amazing stuff.

Ned, which albums are your favs?

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor)

Thanks to everyone else as well, btw. This has been really helpful!

I was going to say, I didn't actually much about favorite albums! (I don't know if I have one -- it's all part of a great continuum.)

In Septembber he's playing in Europe! http://incubate.org/2009/act/115

And in October as well (in Vienna):

http://b72.at/?b72=programm&pid=3192

So, tonight I picked up my third and fourth Jandek Albums -- Six and Six, and Blue Corpse.

Blue Corpse is really good, interesting stuff. Fairly accessible too.

Haven't listened to Six and Six yet but I hear it's more "difficult," for what it's worth.

6+6 and RFTH probably my least two favourites of the early period tbh

Which are your favorites, or which would you recommend to a Jandek n00b?

I second the recommendation for 'You Walk Alone' ... fairly accessible, bluesy, it sounds kinda like early Royal Trux

some other fave tracks of mine so far not noted:

"Governor Rhodes" from Telegraph Melts (this is a good album as a whole)
"Jessica" from Later On
"This Is A Death Dream" from Nine-Thirty

but like Ned said these albums are best thought of as a continuum or narrative arc, they are pieces of a whole.

I would also put in another vote for the acapella Put My Dream On This Planet, that was my pick in the poll.

POLL Beside A Window: The Best Jandek Album poll!

I'm assuming this is fake. But hilarious nonetheless. Anyone here speak Portuguese?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGpqac9n0K8

What's the name of the first album by the North American musician Jandek.

Lol um yeah I figured that part out...

He's sold out:

http://www.corwoodindustries.com

That site's been around for eons.

Sorry but you're wrong, it's new and it's his own site.

Yeah, his music has gotten so commercial lately.

Hey at least somebody's pushing Bruno Mars and Katy Perry off the top of the charts...

xxpost Oh right. I was thinking of jandek.com. Still, that one has been around for years and that's his site too.

lol imagine losing the million dollar question on Jandek and when back home checking some mp3's! (RIP contestant)

my wife's thoughts:

"this person always comes up on shuffle...... FUCK this person's terrible.... i recognize it, but it's terrible, it sounds like this guitar is terribly out of tune, and secondly, the production on this is very bad... UGH jandek..... terrible"

she should hear this recent one Toronto Sunday - Duality of Self, Jandek does new age synth meditations. first disc is chill, second is dark, it's quite astounding.

thankfully a company has repressed a few of his early records, this should continue, more power to them

http://i52.tinypic.com/n6osg7.jpg

plus all new #0759 JANDEK EMOTICON for all your IM needs

http://i53.tinypic.com/5zfbq9.png

(credit to me)

Guessing the the idea that all shows will eventually been issued has been abandoned? Did I remember that right?

No he's still putting them out. The last one came out in December. The wait time is about four years though.

http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=blogs&ID=723

hahaha

This thread revival inspired me to pull out the copy of Portland Thursday I had fished out of the dollar bin but had yet to listen to. This is weird but strangely appealing.

with all this the best thing about that Wilson guy is that he made like 68 folk albums of his own atonal music. As well.

with those sealed vinyl records I tend to wonder, does he know if the proper lp is inside? They might be Herb Alpert lp's

will spin Your Turn To Fall this morning (no pun intended) in honor of Naythen

Jandek goes beard rock

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/assets_c/2012/07/Jandek%20July%2013%208-thumb-560x373.jpg

new theory -- garth hudson is jandek
http://www.richarddowdy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Garth-Hudson-The-Band1.jpg

has Jandek become a band with somebody else singing? I just picked up a live set from last week that has a female singer. & presumably the individual who I thought was called Jandek on guitar under the name Coorwood Rep.
I'm not that familiar with his previous work but I thought the Jandek ouevre was put out by an individual called Jandek with occasional augmentation by other players. & maybe occasional chord changes.

what's next the Jandek franchise?

well prior to the live shows everyone assumed that the guy on the covers was Jandek. it was a natural assumption to make but he never actually stated outright that he was Jandek. And since the live shows started happening he has never referred to himself by that name and neither have any of the promoters and whatnot who have been involved. he is "a representative of corwood industries". In theory Jandek is the name of the project. When the live CDs are released he stipulates no credits to individual musicians. In practice many people still refer to the person as Jandek and that's fine as well.

Jandek has had the odd collaborator in the past, perhaps most famously the classic Nancy Sings, one of the most beautiful Corwood songs.

his Country & Western Revue show in Easthampton, MA last year had a female singer who was great. duets w/ Jandek is a pretty awesome task

he played bass for that show, accompanied by full band w/ slide quitar.

New album Mazes Of The Phantom has become my new "background music to program to." A review out there references early-70s Euro-free-jazz and that's not too far off of a description. Can't wait for his Krautrock phase.

Happy 67th birthday to Sterling R. Smith!

super excited for this! jandek documentary about a show he played in minnesota, old friend of mine plays drums at the show being documented:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu_BbUk5uiY

obligatory RSD release:

http://www.jackpotrecords.com/events/2013/02/18/jandek-rsd-2013-box-set/

I wish he'd get faster at releasing the live shows. I'd kill to hear that Davis or Irvine show again.

I particularly love the songs from the Irvine show that sounded like fucked up Minutemen, where he'd say something serial killer-y like "I'm coming after you. Coming to get you. You can't get away" and then let Mike Watt do his thing.

It did nothing for me when he joined Kan Mikami & Alex Neilson on Friday night (except cause wishes that he'd not bothered), but the set as the original Glasgow live trio of Jandek with Alex Neilson and Richard Youngs last night was killer in a noisy, discordant, free-rock kind of way - I loved it! Some choice lyrics, especially the cupcakes song (seriously).

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8099/8626590915_79f2045f4e_z.jpg
Jandek with Alex Neilson and Richard Youngs at Counterflows 2013 by Crimson Glow Photography, on Flickr

it was good to see jandek getting down on the dance floor after the gig. he had some good moves.

I was sorry to have to leave straight after the set, but I was completely exhausted. Would have loved to have taken part in that.

Apparently Jandek's new album is a 9CD set (only $32!) - each disc is a single hour-long track.

This must be the "piano suites" there was talk about last fall...

who wants to do an ilx pre-cover of this album

As seen on Twitter http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BNs6AhWCUAAku1v.jpg

^^^ best party music

early word is it sounds exactly like bruce hornsby

I liked "The Beginning" (16-or so minute solo piano piece from the CD of the same name) but I don't need 9 hours' worth, thanks.

I do.

http://i.prs.to/t_200/ecm8430282.jpg

nocturne one is about morgan fairchild
nocturne two is about morgan spurlock

nocturne 6 is about captain morgan
nocturne 9 is about morgan freeman

would buy if the concept was morgan le fay meets mckinley morganfield

nocturne 3 is about tracy morgan
nocturne 4 is about morgan stanley

Of the recent "piano Jandek" recordings, Atlanta Saturday is worth a listen. It's straight up American classical avant-garde - would fit right in next to your Charles Ives records.

^^ really mad at myself for missing that performance too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S0TTH22zps

uploader "banksyknight" adds:

From 'Maze Of The Phantom' (Corwood 0808). The whole album sounds like this.
Alright then, Sterling. I give up. You win.

it sounds lovely

I know right? gonna get it

Hah that is great. Both the quote and the music. Sterling does win.

goddamn it this does sound good.

This is fucking amazing. Definitely gonna pick this up.

What is completely bizarre (and funny) is that THIS is the recording that would lead them to declare "I give up", unless the giving up just means giving up imagining what any given Jandek album will sound like. In which case, again, Sterling does indeed win, they're right.

Jandek has big ears, and this new era of his playing with really good musicians who are sympathetic to his sound is resulting in some very good music. He is raising his game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNXRWntGkNc

Y'all read the Wire interview? He comes across as Lou Reed meets Dale from King of the Hill. In a good way.

Going to wait to pick up a physical copy, I think, though that will take a while in the U.S.

Y'all read the Wire interview? He comes across as Lou Reed meets Dale from King of the Hill. In a good way.

lol

looking forward to reading this but my copies don't usually come in till the last week of the month

also, crazy to think how fifteen years ago the idea of Jandek on the cover of The Wire was unimaginable. "Right, Thomas Pynchon is going to speak at your commencement, just as soon as pigs fly and Jandek makes the cover of The Wire" etc. Strange future times

I'm convinced this kid I knew in college is his son. He's from Houston and looks identical to him. I remember his dad was an accountant and really wanted him to do the same thing. Isn't Jandek an accountant???

word on the street is "white collar", so that seems possible

now I am imagining what it would be like to be Jandek's kid...

this is gonna be the first copy of The Wire that I have ever bought new.

Investment banker, iirc - xposts. Wasn't there a mention of this on his wikipedia page?

yeah he's something in investment finance

Financial Advisor/Investment Services

There should be a no spoilers Jandek thread because I just don't want to know anything about the dude other than the records.

is there a place to read the jandek interview online without being a subscriber to the wire?

Jandek just appeared in my Instagram stream, having a pint.

http://distilleryimage4.ak.instagram.com/ed6788c291a211e3a22a0e609b214a58_8.jpg

Is that David Tibet he's with?

There's a guy down the pub, swears he's Tibet.

Listening to Blue Corpse for the very first time right now. A truly magnificent album. Some say it is a 'bummer', and I cannot disagree. But it also captures everything that is great about this guy. To think, some were worried that his music could not survive his decision to appear into the world and make himself public in some small way. They thought the mystery would be abandoned. If anything, I would say the mystery has deepened now. Top lad.

that is NOT david tibet... it's clint who runs de stijl records.

would kinda like to talk about the Wire interview but the 2nd part isn't out yet.. maybe on another thread in March?

i have a feeling a good chunk of what janky was spouting in that interview is bulllllllllshit, but hey, what do i know.

Oops yeah, it is Clint of De Stijl (was on his Instagram).

The Wire pt 2 is out now if u r a subscriber. Not sat down with it properly like the first part yet. The first part was very...readable

i have a feeling a good chunk of what janky was spouting in that interview is bulllllllllshit, but hey, what do i know.

― ian, Sunday, February 9, 2014 9:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yah i read this in the record store and it was disappointing but unsurprising that he was still performing througout

oh fucking weird to see clint pop on ilx

New Wire issue, with the second half of the interview, is out now. Available digitally at http://www.exacteditions.com (details about that at the end).

I'll say this: I think Sterling comes across as AT LEAST as enigmatic and inscrutable after having read an epic-length interview with him as he did previously. Sure, he talks a lot, and gives clarity and confirmation about some things. But to me, a lot of his comments and tangents are so non-linear and free-associative as to be opaque. (That's not a criticism.)

(Details on Exact Editions: for about $14 US you get a three-month digital subscription to the Wire, including online access to the entirety of every single issue they've ever published. Considering that the print copy goes for at least $10 per issue, it's not half bad. Beware: I got a "could not be completed" message after trying to subscribe the first time, and ended up subscribing twice by accident, but was able to get a pretty prompt refund once I contacted Exact Editions about it.)

second half of tonight's set was like a demonic B-52's, lots of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtVPTY13n1c

0.30 wait what!?

he's beginning to look like his own doppelganger in that last shot. don't know if the world needs another Jandek doc, but that's coming from someone who listened to Richmond Sunday today - "I DONT KNOW" - so... i am not REALLY complaining :)

Oh no I know what Jandek fans look like now.

I have to say I have really gotten to dislike music documentaries that feature fans going on and on about how much they love the band/artist in question.

otm. The Replacements one (hell, the trailer even) put me off them for good, I think.

I interviewed improvising pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh, who played bass on Jandek's tours of Northern Ireland and Australia, for Noisey. Good Jandek stories are contained within.

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/heather-leigh-interview-2015

Sure are lots of Jandek threads. Not as many as Jandek records (maybe), but lots.

nice read. saw her on the nz tour she mentions in there (sans jandek). didn't know it was susan alcorn who had introduced her to the pedal steel!

So obsessed lately. I really want to hear the new-ish piano box sets, I guess I'm gonna have to order them from Corwood.

Working through the back catalog, it's amazing how compressed the CDs are compared to the original LPs. I thought it would be a golden ears kinda thing but they are different beasts entirely. I still haven't ventured very far into the post-LP discography other than the spoken words CDs, which I think are pretty amazing, and some of the later instrumental/orchestral stuff (Where Do You Go From Here and Toronto Sunday. I also want to hear the Helsinki and Manhattan sets, and Portland cuz I was there, that funky set w/the Sugarhill dudes, and at least one of the fretless bass CDs. Any other recommendations?

I still think about how alien these records were in the pre-internet era, just no frame of reference at all.

I recently described the early records as "like hearing blues music made by someone who is actually dead"

I stand by that

sleeve i was also at that portland show hi-5

yes!

Too weird https://t.co/DNTCG1wAeD

— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) July 7, 2017

haha wow

his tweets are protected? sadly can't see what you're after/onto etc

oh, i guess the dude who asked him about jandek has his tweets protected

Hang on, I'm getting emails about a Jandek / Shackleton record. This can't be right, surely?

Jandackleton at last

Hi there. Your recent order on Corwood Industries has been completed. Your order details are shown below for your reference:

Order: #1776
0811
The Song Of Morgan

Shackleton's latest release is with Anika, who has worked with Jandek, I wouldn't rule it out

that Croz tweet has got me craving a Jandek cover of "Almost Cut My Hair"

plz C&P

I can't believe I never picked up on the Six And Six/Robert Johnson photo similarity

just recently discovered the Perfect Sound Forever article/overview, very entertaining

Jandek performs at The Festival of Endless Gratitude in Copenhagen at 8:00pm on Saturday, September 14, 2019.

In other news, my mom loved the 9-disc Songs Of Morgan set so much that she bought her own copy direct from Corwood.

luv u jandek. if i ever have a spare 300 quid im going to deck my mantelpiece with 0739 to 0769.

Wish I had known the dude had put out 15 hours of solo piano music when I was putting together pitches for the Wire's "excess" issue...

hahaha me too! I quite like it as Satie-esque background ambience

not sure if i've ever posted this one before. . .

https://i.imgur.com/LQGHApf.jpg

Happy 75th birthday today!

heavens, I didn't think of how old the representative of corwood industries is, but I did know he was in his mid 30s in 78 when "ready for the house" came out so I guess this shouldn't surprise me.

happy birthday

An early fave ever: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/jandek-and-me/

aw, HBD you freaky dude

The Representative was responsible for one of my favourite gig-going memories of all time.

Jandek have just played a successful set in a small disco, to be released as Camber Sands Sunday, as guests of Devendra Banhart as part of the Various US Curators of All Tomorrow's Parties. The Representative is joined on stage by Richard Youngs and Alex Neilson and the set is improv blues that veers at times into a distinct New Wave direction with a Talking Heads reference. It's neither particularly well received or attended, with many of those curious not lasting 10 minutes.

Some time after the set we are at the bar in the room while nothing is on there - I think Vashti Bunyan was playing an uninspired set upstairs with a drinks ban firmly in place - and the Representative comes out with David Keenan (who is the designated handler) and also stand at the bar next to us. It's not clear - as this is only about the second time he's performed in the modern era - how the Representative will interact with the public so we are chatting to David while the Representative listens in. In something of a relief, Ramblin' Jack Elliott (who had played earlier) comes out from backstage and strikes up a conversation with the Representative.

After about ten minutes, another person comes over. He goes to Jack and the Representative Android asks for a photo, holding out a camera. The Representative looks taken aback someone has asked for a photo with him, then a little panicked, before he realises it's Ramblin'Jack the punter wants a photo with and takes the proffered camera. He looks at it for what seems like an eternity before Keenan takes it from him, tales the picture and hands it back. The Representative then hands it on, acting as if he had done as requested himself, then goes backstage again after such sustained fan interaction.

one of his early drummers post-Neilson/Youngs was a former ILX poster who kept fairly mum about the gig.

I actually believe it was a 2-drummer lineup around that period (2005-2006?)

Happy birthday, guy least likely to perform in huge record store for free but who actually did

haha aldo that's great, thanks

I'm totally wrong, it was about the tenth time he'd played but before that sustained burst of shows in the US.

one of his early drummers post-Neilson/Youngs was a former ILX poster who kept fairly mum about the gig.

j0hn d.. also played with Jandek so I think there are two Jandek ILXors?

part of me wants to do a Jandek podcast, one ep per release. has anyone ever attempted this

i love that idea, simon h.

DO IT!

Damn man, I've been yelling on Twitter about wanting to do a Jandekcast for several years now. Sometimes I've been conceiving it seriously - or as something completely different while the Jandek album in question plays in the background.

Basically, the Jandekcast should be to podcasts what Jandek is to all other music. Or something.

Would be interesting doing track by track analysis with some of those albums,with snippets

Would definitely subscribe to the jandekcast patreon. Especially if elvis telecom made guest appearances.

At risk of liver damage, if our voices could make a Jandekcast work and worthy of the Rep - I'm in.

you need a separate podcast just for the LP covers. will never not be in awe of the countless non-chronological portraits captured of the rep throughout his life.

i think i could spend forever thinking about jandek.

I would 100% kickstart a moderately expensive coffee table/art book with good 12x12 reproductions of the original album covers

So one time the Rep from Corwood played a gig in Mankato, MN and his band featured some friends of mine so post-gig we end up at a little house party & the Rep himself was there, in all black, big hat, etc. And so obv no one is talking to him & it is all very awkward and weird, like this is a REALLY small place.

And we were kind of told by the host of the party that we probably shouldn't talk to him but one of my friends who I rode down with was like "we gotta talk to Jandek, but I don't know what to say" and my friend is not like a shy person at all but we were all a bit starstruck.

I decide, dude is from Texas, I know how to talk to someone from Texas, so I go up to him

"Hey, uh good show man"
Rep From Corward, totally stone faced: "..."
"Yeah...so, hey if I went to Houston where is the best place to get BBQ?"

At this point his eyes light up, he gets this little grin and sez: "huh, well I make the best BBQ in Texas" and from that point on I cannot get Jandek to shut up, we talk whiskey, hats, wild javelinas, BBQ, but anytime we even get close to music or anything he gets really quiet.

It was a weird night man, HBD weirdo

haha fucking brilliant. i feel like he's a normal bloke who doesn't want the spirits his house have given him. hank hill and the rep have a lot in common.

lmao that's an amazing story

perhaps it's just me but I really cooled on Jandek after that two-part interview in The Wire - like, I know he didn't actually say much but it was still kinda too much information

much preferred having a speculative relationship with the Jandek project

having said that the one time I saw him live (Melbourne, with David Keenan and Heather Leigh) was extraordinary

Was disappointed by the show I saw — he had an amazing band (Loren Mazzacane Connors, Matt Hecker, and Chris Corsano) but played synth and recited poetry all night instead of going improv noise-jam like you normally would if you had those three behind you. LMC got a couple of good solos off, though.

xp I'm pretty sure 90% of that interview was total BS

Saw three shows in the space of a week and were all very different from memory. Two Youngs/Neilsons bookended a Mick Flowers/Chris Corsano show which was probably the noisiest? Third show was most structured and had some definite angular/post punk tunes you could probably have hummed the tune to. One even had a dance routine of sorts, or at least defined arm waving.

Actually the thing I remember most is the Representative carrying around what seemed to be his musical wordly goods - lyrics sheets, song notes, strings - in a supermarket carrier bag that he held overly tightly.

I'm pretty sure 90% of that interview was total BS

BS as in it was deliberately trying to twist the tail of Wire-reading chins-strokers? Or BS as in made up?

Either way it was kind of a drag

completely made up, imo

he had an amazing band (Loren Mazzacane Connors, Matt Hecker, and Chris Corsano) but played synth and recited poetry all night instead of going improv noise-jam like you normally would if you had those three behind you.

this is the jandek way. he's not going to ride the wave, he's going to try to fuck it up and be alienating wherever possible. and recite poetry.

about to start marathon listening to entire corwood discography, one LP a week. groovy! who's in? ...anybody? ...

I'm in for a while, first 22 at least

I would be very down for a Jandek listening thread/discussion

I'm in

Jandek...the book.

Jandek New BOOK Release:

0127 The Rays Of Light That Did Not Illumine https://t.co/s2obsK93TT pic.twitter.com/SLwvEDCEIR

— Sheila Smith (@veganloca) May 17, 2021

I'm assuming poetry...but hoping for confessional autobiography.

Then it turns out it's just nothing but accounting figures.

"1990, good year."

Hoping for horror stories, expecting lyrics

hoping for political cartoons

given the title and shape I'm guessing LP cover photobook

friend of mine got it

20 page prose poem

only $10 on the website!

what does it mean when Jandek just sounds REALLY right to you? like, the planets are aligned and any album or live recording of his is just...right in your mental wheelhouse. all the chords and notes and riffs sound like the perfect way to play something. the singing and lyrics the perfect way to express life on earth.

it isn't always like this. by a long shot. should i call a doctor? or just roll with it while it lasts?

i mean this glasgow sunday live album right now is just hitting the spot in a big way. but i've been listening all morning and it just sounds righter and righter.

Just roll with it. That aphorism about everything finding an audience eventually is legitimate.

Too bad yr not in Los Angeles, Jandek is playing the Lodge Room tonight and there's still tickets available

sometimes when I’m listening to John Oswald’s Plexure I’m just like “I don’t need to listen to anything else again. can all music be like this?”

yeah in my experience listening to Jandek is this journey from "I'm too upright to not have to be thinking about the whole deal" to "I'm listening to music, but I'm also thinking about Jandek" to "I've internalized all the stuff about Corwood and his anonymity and his emergence and that's all background now and I'm just listening and it feels like music that is very alive, very human, very individual."

Telling my kids this was Primus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLwiYpSTFE

that is such a magical clip

Grab yrself a can o' Cor woo-da

I know I heard this late at night on KROQ in 1981

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgAdBibDVwE

call me crazy but jandek and his wife seem annoying af and im glad i didnt pay to see that haha

first of all - i am totally happy for him and them
but wow, given what Jandek represented way-back-when
(i was at that first glasgow gig)
it is hard to wrap my wee brain around the idea that he's in a long-term relationship with (married to?) someone who likes to post snaps of them both on instagram! such an inversion of the earlier anonymity. it's kinda nice.

https://www.instagram.com/veganloca/?hl=en

my brother took my nephews to that rudyards gig. they must have been 10 & 13 or so
apparently the encore started up exactly where the main set emded

wow i had no idea about mrs. jandek! so weird. she is a really big Smiths fan. what a world we live in.

call me crazy but jandek and his wife seem annoying af and im glad i didnt pay to see that haha

all the best Jandek stuff is pretty annoying! but it's for getting annoyed by in the privacy of your home

Don't paint your teeth

too late

It's wild looking back that all the speculation at the time was that Sterling was ill and close to death which was why he started playing shows, when now with hindsight it looks far more likely it was his wife's idea.

he had definitely been ill, at least according to my nurse wife who saw him play in like 2007-2008 and was struck by it

i.e. why not both?

sometimes a good relationship can change someone's life

every time i eat a cantaloupe i hear jandek singing "cantaloupes are SOOOOOO good to eat"