Jandek

[Nine Black Poppies]

Searched back a few pages and didn't see anything on him, was curious if anyone else was a fan. It's certainly not to everyone's taste--at first I just listened to him out of intellectual curiosity ("Well, this is different...") but I find myself actually really enjoying the "music" itself at this point.

He's playing in Portland in April, with Thurston Moore(!)--I'm kinda thrilled at the chance to see him again. The last time was pretty much unlike anything I've ever seen. (I wrote up a little review of it at the time here.)

For the uninitiated, I found this--clips from various songs (the dude has about 570 on 59 self-released albums) that gives one a good overall impression (although it focuses on the more melodic/formal ones)--



The man himself (from his first live show ever, after 26 years of almost total anonymity):

[DeadShotKeen]

Oh wow, that's a name I'd heard a lot but not followed up on, thanks for this. For some reason I always assumed he was a techno/drum n' bass artist, has that sort of name I suppose.

I played the bulk of those introductory pieces, very varied, seems to lurch from Lou Reed-esque rock to Dylan to more abstract stuff, always a hint of country twang in there though I suppose.

Interesting but just a bit too raw and loose for me I think.

[Nine Black Poppies]

Yeah, it's definitely kind of an acquired taste--calling his music alienating is being somewhat generous (a few of his albums from around the turn of the century are like... 2 tracks of half-hour long spoken word pieces, for example).

If you do decide to check him out a little more thoroughly, I'd recommend the album You Walk Alone (1988) as a starting point. Unlike most of his work, it has all basically standard chords and progressions (whether it's a second person playing guitar or he just decided to do something different, who knows), which makes it a slightly more accessible starting point.

[Sneer]

Blue Corpse is my favourite album, what I've gathered from the 6 or 7 albums I've got is that he's very hit and miss, but I suppose that's to be expected of a guy who's released as many albums as he has turds.

[TockTockTock]

Originally Posted by Stu

Blue Corpse is my favourite album, what I've gathered from the 6 or 7 albums I've got is that he's very hit and miss, but I suppose that's to be expected of a guy who's released as many albums as he has turds.

Eh... you should listen to some of his A Capella records then. If you want to talk about hit and miss... well, I'd have to say that most of them are a miss.

Blue Corpse is a wonderful album, and it's a great starting point for people wanting to get into his music. I would have to say, though, that Telegraph Melts and his debut are my favorites from him.

Here's something from Telegraph Melts:



Such a morbid song...

[Unicr0n]

I'm an avid Jandek fan -- saw him live back in 06, and it was a trip. Still waiting for the release of that performance, by my account, keeping track of the live albums he's released, it should be out pretty soon.

I, for one, love his spoken word albums. They're definitely challenging to get through, and feel hours longer than they actually are, but I feel they're some of his most emotional and raw output.

Favorite albums include The Place (as it was the first of his I'd ever heard), Telegraph Melts, Manhattan Tuesday and Foreign Keys, though I love them all, and regularly listen to his entire catalog in release order (I call it OPERATION: TOTAL JANDEK.) It usually takes me about three to four days. And my head feels like mush at the end of it all.

[Frownland]

I've only recently gotten into Jandek, but he has definitely left a strong impact upon my life, music taste, and my disposition since he has become an artist that I regularly fall back upon. My favourite albums are Blues Corpse (of course), Ready for the House (another obvious choice), Foreign Keys, Chair Beside the Window, Graven Image, I Threw You Away, and Interstellar Discussion. I need to have a talk with my mother, for I feel that his music strikes so deeply to my heart and that my guitar style resembles a barren Jandek so vivdly, that I feel I may be this man's bastard child.

Anyways, I recently found Put My Dream On This Planet in my journey (that is hindered from experience and lengthened to a journey due to lack of appropriations) to ascertain the entirety of Jandek's discography from start to finish. I believe that it may be his most challenging piece--apart from the early period and post I Threw You Away period--and at the same time, this composition strikes me as the most rewarding of Jandek's lugubrious albums.

This man has changed my life, even if it is through acting as my foil for I am generally not depressed, and his influence upon my music taste has been quite significant.

[Euronomus]

I've tried to get into him multiple times with multiple albums, but I just can't seem to "get" it. On paper it sounds like something I'd love but it's just too out there I guess.

[Frownland]

Originally Posted by Euronomus

I've tried to get into him multiple times with multiple albums, but I just can't seem to "get" it. On paper it sounds like something I'd love but it's just too out there I guess.

Blue Corpse is usually the prime album that draws people who aren't ready for the house but they still want to get into his music.

[Unicr0n]

Blue Corpse is definitely a good starting place. Easily one of his most 'accessible' albums, in terms of not being COMPLETELY in outer space.

Also I would agree with the earlier post about 'Put My Dream On This Planet'. It's a VERY challenging album. But something about 'I Need Your Life' resonates with me in a very deep way. Something about the alternation between desperation and almost...joy in his voice, at times. It's a tough record, but very fulfilling when you make it to the end.