JANDEK: A Different Kind of Poll

A capella for the win, obv.

dude that a capella stuff is just terrifying. If it'd been one album, total dud move. Instead it was three in a row. Awesome.

Definitely electric mayhem as Modern Dances remains my fave.

But "pointillist" - I like that. Nicely gets at the little daubs of acoustica here and there in the early work. Apart from Six By Six, that is. I still think that's his scariest album, creepy a capella entires included.

Xpost to J0hn: Yeah, I wasn't kidding about that a capella stuff! Those records are GREAT. Takes some serious stamina to listen to them, as they're pretty hard to ignore when playing. After those records, I'd say "You Walk Alone" or "Lost Cause" are my favorites. "Lost Cause" has several different styles on it, and that would actually be the album I'd recommend for Janky beginners, over "Blue Corpse" or "Six & Six" (or "Foreign Keys" or "Interstellar Discussion" or...) Not that those aren't great albums (all of em are among my favorites) but they're pretty monochromatic in comparison.

And "You Walk Alone" is probably the prettiest Jandek record, for my money. Gorgeous spaced out, wintry blues.

Oops, that should be Six and Six above. Is anyone NOT scared shitless by this record?

I think glad to get away is my favorite... where does that fall?

people just pretend to like jandeks

You mean like Skip Spence? Kit Ream? D. R. Hooker?

I forget what it's called, but there's a semi-recent album with a song-cycle in which Jandek is getting ready for a second date with a woman that's pretty great.

--BUT apparent from the following albums this second date either didn't happen or went terribly.

Glasgow Monday is the only record I've found enjoyable after repeated listens, and its live, so I suppose the live records are my favorite.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

How come Jandek has never added female back-up singers (I mean an entire troupe of well-permed ladies in short skirts) and horns?

When he played in portland a couple years back he had two ladies singing one line repeatedly on one song. If I recall correctly the line was "Whose mister is this?"

You Walk Alone is definitely the "best" Jandek album, but I do love Glad To Get Away (which I believe was the first Jandek CD?), and I voted for "electric drone blues" because The Electric End - the one with "Janitor's Dead" on it - is my favorite. Where does "The Electric End" fit in to all this? As I see it, there are only three phases of Jandek - 1)acoustic blues Jandek, 2) electric Jandek with Nancy on occasional vocals and Steve on occasional drums (my favorite era), and 3) celebrity out-of-the-closet Jandek with all the guest stars, batshit accapella albums and cello shit.

Graven Image was the first CD.

nah, Ready for the House was the first

first album, but not first cd

rfth is his most overrated

i love the blue corpse/nancy period most

followed by the insane accapella

acapella

i dig the bass stuff. dude be jammin'. i guess i like the long-ass electric droney stuff best though.

I like the recent live collaborations with Alex Neilson the best.

Huh.

shame to see no votes for the bass stuff - it's certainly his most 'hi fi' non-live material

audiophiles don't listen to jandek, i think!
though it was pretty LOL when it came out that THIS cover (an all bass record) was a photoshop job:
http://tisue.net/jandek/images/covers/0774.jpg

I'll bet Jandek listens to Jandek on a pretty good system.

shame to see no votes for the bass stuff - it's certainly his most 'hi fi' non-live material

it's my 2nd favorite stuff.