Jandek

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Could anyone tell me what the best Jandek albums are please? much appreciated. I havent heard any as yet.

― Henry Fowler, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:44 (10 years ago) Permalink

Save yourself some money by not buying any Jandek records, and simulating the experience of listening to one by plugging in an electric guitar and then picking up and dropping it on your own foot twice a minute for half an hour. Actually, this won't save you any money in gross, but it will be more pleasant per dollar.

― ara, Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:10 (10 years ago) Permalink

Your best bet, and I'm not being sarcastic here, is to order a box of them from Corwood. I think it's like 10 albums for $20 or something like that.

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.

― jodi shapiro (burun), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:11 (10 years ago) Permalink

''I think it's like 10 albums for $20 or something like that.''

really?!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:13 (10 years ago) Permalink

Pretty much, yes. And they're great!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:23 (10 years ago) Permalink

I would say actually the easiest way in might just be the first, Ready for the House. In any case, it's not that difficult of a listen. It's kind of neat and psychedelic and stoned in a Skip Spence kind of way. "European Jewel" is a great song and since it turns up in his catalog like three or four more times in different versions, you might as well hear the original.

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.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:38 (10 years ago) Permalink

20 albums for $80 is the cheapie deal. I, too, would say _Ready for the House_ is the best starting point--lays out his aesthetic neatly. _Telegraph Melts_ is pretty impressive-in-its-way too.

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 20 February 2003 19:11 (10 years ago) Permalink

I'm partial to the Foreign Keys/Telegraph Melts period, the latter of which has the terrifying "You Painted Your Teeth," which always freaks me out. I don't have it, but some people swear by Blue Corpse.

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!).

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Thursday, 20 February 2003 20:06 (10 years ago) Permalink

Telegraph Melts scares the shit out of me. He sounds really happy. It still scares the shit out of me. Ready For The House drags on a bit. I absolutely love Interstellar Discussion, though. It's really varied and there are some great songs on it. Basically just pick stuff out and see what you like. They're cheap enough that if you don't like something it's not like a big waste of your money.

― James Annett (jlannett), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:50 (10 years ago) Permalink

Ernest speaks truth. Blue Corpse was what I heard first and what hooked me in, and after the fourth or fifth listen I was a convert.

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)..

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:58 (10 years ago) Permalink

My favorites, for what it's worth, are Blue Corpse, You Walk Alone, and Interstellar Discussion. I haven't heard them, but from what I gather, the most recent two albums (both released in 2002 I think) abandon the spoken word aspect.

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

― Ian Johnson, Friday, 21 February 2003 01:48 (10 years ago) Permalink

I haven't heard the recent two non-accapella records but the impression I get from fans is that they have been received in a somewhat lukewarm manner.. has our Janky jumped the shark?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 21 February 2003 02:27 (10 years ago) Permalink

Of the dozen or so I've heard so far, Lost Cause is the one I find myself coming back to the most -- it starts out with some pretty memorable and surprisingly conventional tunes, then slowly becomes more and more Jandekian, finishing up with a side-long electric freakout of epic proportions. I'm surprised more people don't pick it as one of their favorites, I think it's a great summing-up of a lot of different Jandek sounds.

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.

― Phil (phil), Friday, 21 February 2003 04:42 (10 years ago) Permalink

I just had a discussion about how Jandek albums would up signed in a southern Ontario radio station library tonight. Now I am drinking water which I think is much more entertaining.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 21 February 2003 07:13 (10 years ago) Permalink

jandek>coke>water.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 21 February 2003 10:06 (10 years ago) Permalink

"Follow Your Fotsteps" and "Blus Corpse" do it for me.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 21 February 2003 10:47 (10 years ago) Permalink

c'mon... sombody out there has to know or have some sort of connection to the man himself. the music makes me so curious.

― chaki (chaki), Friday, 21 February 2003 13:38 (10 years ago) Permalink

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Gala/8418/jiview.html

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Friday, 21 February 2003 15:38 (10 years ago) Permalink

that didnt answer anything!

― chaki (chaki), Friday, 21 February 2003 21:19 (10 years ago) Permalink

yes it did! Jandek has nice cufflinks!!

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Friday, 21 February 2003 21:20 (10 years ago) Permalink

It means that guy in the interview is going to be what you see next to you in bed when you wake up some day. Strange, I know.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 February 2003 21:21 (10 years ago) Permalink

Jandek could be working at a bank near you. imagine that!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 21 February 2003 21:22 (10 years ago) Permalink

Jandeks cuffs are not unlinked.

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Friday, 21 February 2003 21:23 (10 years ago) Permalink

Six And Six, You Walk Alone, Telegraph Melts and Blue Corpse are my favs.Warning: Once you start you may never come back...Jandek will mess with your mind.

― brg30 (brg30), Saturday, 22 February 2003 23:02 (10 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

So now there's this new Jandek best of and I'm all like "Oh great, I can finally hear what's so great about this band without wading through 88 hours of pond-scum" and I put the thing on and it is COMPLETE FUCKING TORTURE! This is his BEST stuff? What the FUCK are people talking about?! "Catchy" "songs"?! Haha "hooks"?!?! And even for an indie-rock guy Jandek can NOT fucking SING!! ARE YOU PEOPLE ALL ON THE FUCKING CRACK???? STOP SMOKING THE FUCKING CRACK! IT IS BAD FOR YOU!

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 17:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

Favorite albums: Lost Cause, Interstellar Discussion, The Rocks Crumble, The Beginning. (The latter ends with about 20 minutes of solo piano that's better than some Cecil Taylor records I own.) (Some, not all.)

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

It's funny this thread should be revived...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

What's more surprising: Jandek having a best of? Gygax not being into Jandek?

― Ian Johnson (orion), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

(Ian: Gygax is parodying something on the GBV thread...)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:40 (9 years ago) Permalink

Oh, darn me for not reading the GBV thread first.

Alas and alack.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:41 (9 years ago) Permalink

Sorry about that, but yeah replace Jandek with Los Del Rio, Basement Jaxx, Dean Friedman, etc. Typical ILM BS.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 18:52 (9 years ago) Permalink

Ned that writing is tripping me out. i need to sit down and read it properly

― the surface noise (electricsound), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 23:32 (9 years ago) Permalink

x-post --> too much scrabble has scrambled your head, little hobbit.

― jack cole (jackcole), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 01:30 (9 years ago) Permalink

longest crosspost delay evah

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 5 November 2003 01:39 (9 years ago) Permalink

haha, i got your AIM at about 4:30am this morning JC. the Jandek exercise was not founded in fact (although i haven't listened to the man in several years now).

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 01:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

Ned that writing is tripping me out. i need to sit down and read it properly

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.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 01:54 (9 years ago) Permalink

you should send it to the great man himself when you're done

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 01:55 (9 years ago) Permalink

Good lord, what a frightening thought.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 01:58 (9 years ago) Permalink

Ned, you should send it to him. I sent a letter to Jandek a few years ago because I wanted to get his permission to use his music in a film project that I never actually got around to working on, and he sent me a letter in return. He explained that he doesn't mind people using his music in films, but does not want money, only credit. He offered to send me a box of cds, and for some reason I never wrote back and accepted his offer even though I really would have liked to have had a bunch of free Jandek cds.

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

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 14:47 (9 years ago) Permalink

things to do with a boxful of jandek cds...

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 16:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

Yeeps, personally I'd think it was a weird intrusion! Especially since the story really only uses his general situation and some specific details as a background to something else which is invented out of whole cloth. I've specifically not used his name (or the label's or any of the album titles) for a reason.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 16:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

I suppose I'll let the guys at the fansite know about it, though. Hell, it's where I'm getting all the chapter titles and the image on the main page!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 16:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

Anyway, yes, my little novel thing is done and I did write Seth Tisue about it, at least, along with including a little disclaimer of sorts. Rah.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 6 November 2003 21:37 (9 years ago) Permalink

you wrote a novel based on jandek album titles?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 November 2003 11:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

Nope, not titles.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 November 2003 14:17 (9 years ago) Permalink

covers?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 November 2003 15:23 (9 years ago) Permalink

Not specifically.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 November 2003 18:08 (9 years ago) Permalink

complete and utter speculation?

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 7 November 2003 21:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

Read the disclaimer.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 November 2003 21:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

No!

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 7 November 2003 21:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 63 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

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.

― Ludo, Saturday, 22 August 2009 07:10 (3 years ago) Permalink

Much appreciated!

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Saturday, 22 August 2009 14:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

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

― Duke, Saturday, 22 August 2009 16:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

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

― Fox Force Five Punchline (sexyDancer), Saturday, 22 August 2009 17:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

the acapella albums are fucking amazing stuff.

― ian, Saturday, 22 August 2009 17:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

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 just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Sunday, 23 August 2009 02:53 (3 years ago) Permalink

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.)

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 23 August 2009 04:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

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

― joost666, Monday, 24 August 2009 09:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

And in October as well (in Vienna):

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

― anagram, Monday, 24 August 2009 09:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

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.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 04:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

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

― internetkonnektivität (electricsound), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 04:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

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

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 14:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

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

― Plunge Protection Team, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 15:46 (3 years ago) Permalink

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!

― sleeve, Tuesday, 25 August 2009 19:28 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

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

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 17:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― Lazarus Niles-Burnham (res), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 17:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

Lol um yeah I figured that part out...

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 17:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

He's sold out:

http://www.corwoodindustries.com

― margana (anagram), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 18:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

That site's been around for eons.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 18:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― margana (anagram), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 18:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, his music has gotten so commercial lately.

― Lazarus Niles-Burnham (res), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 18:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― more than ever convinced ilxor is a sock (ilxor), Tuesday, 12 October 2010 18:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 18:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― Ludo, Tuesday, 12 October 2010 19:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

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"

― the new mordant & zingy ilxor persona (ilxor), Saturday, 29 January 2011 06:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

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.

― herbal bert (herb albert), Saturday, 19 February 2011 22:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― Doggie Diner, Friday, 25 February 2011 01:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

(credit to me)

― jumpskins, Monday, 28 February 2011 02:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― Mark, Monday, 28 February 2011 02:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

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

― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Monday, 28 February 2011 06:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

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

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 18 May 2012 20:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

hahaha

― am0n, Friday, 18 May 2012 21:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.

― Hellhamster 2: Hamster Smashed Face (J3ff T.), Friday, 18 May 2012 21:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

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.

― Ludo, Saturday, 19 May 2012 06:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

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

― Ludo, Saturday, 19 May 2012 06:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Jandek goes beard rock

― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 16 July 2012 16:53 (10 months ago) Permalink

new theory -- garth hudson is jandek

― tylerw, Monday, 16 July 2012 16:58 (10 months ago) Permalink

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?

― Stevolende, Wednesday, 18 July 2012 09:21 (10 months ago) Permalink

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.

― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 09:28 (10 months ago) Permalink

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

― Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. (Stew), Wednesday, 18 July 2012 14:26 (10 months ago) Permalink

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

― llurk, Wednesday, 18 July 2012 14:33 (10 months ago) Permalink

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

― llurk, Wednesday, 18 July 2012 14:34 (10 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

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.

― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 30 September 2012 21:45 (7 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Happy 67th birthday to Sterling R. Smith!

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 26 October 2012 16:43 (6 months ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

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

― ums (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 15 March 2013 19:03 (2 months ago) Permalink

obligatory RSD release:

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

― my cat is an eliane radigue (get bent), Friday, 15 March 2013 20:26 (2 months ago) Permalink

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.

― Everything You Like Sucks, Friday, 15 March 2013 21:01 (2 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

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).

Jandek with Alex Neilson and Richard Youngs at Counterflows 2013 by Crimson Glow Photography, on Flickr

― NWOFHM! Overlord (krakow), Sunday, 7 April 2013 11:57 (1 month ago) Permalink

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

― stirmonster, Sunday, 7 April 2013 14:42 (1 month ago) Permalink

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.

― NWOFHM! Overlord (krakow), Sunday, 7 April 2013 15:55 (1 month ago) Permalink

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