Jandek

Jandek -- Six And Six (Corwood Industries) Three Years After He Released His First Lp (Ready For The House) Under The Name The Units, The First Lp Under The Jandek Name Came Out In 1981. The Approach Is Basically The Same--Free Pick'n'strum Acoustic Guitar And Depressed Vocals--Although He Adds Echo (Natural?) To Create An Even Denser Sense Of Mental Murk.

Jandek -- Later On (Corwood Industries) Reissue Of The Third Jandek Lp, From 1981. Open-Strum Guitar, Random Melodic Picking, Occasional Harmonica-Holder Squeals, And Jandek's Depressed Vocal Delivery Define The Man's Early Approach--In Full Bloom Here. Some Highlights: "Your Condition" Is Like Roky Erickson Trying To Rememeber A Dylan Song During A Rest-Hospital Breakdown; The Accusatory "What Did I Hear" Blues With Its Shattered Lyrics ("I Guess There's No Such Thing As Today/Or Any Day"); Rockin' On "Just Whsiper" Like A Detuned Lou Reed Playing "I'm Waiting For The Man" In His Sleep; The Finger-Pluckin' "Until Then," Rough Personal Emotional, Ripped Straight From The Heart Of Pre-Wwii Country Blues; Jandek Feeling Out The Lyrics In A Jazz-Like Way On "So Fly, Man"; Pleading For Understanding From A Doubtful God "Don't Know If I Care" And Finding A Surprisingly Pleasant Drone For A Moment (But Only A Moment).

Jandek -- Chair Beside A Window (Corwood Industries) Reissue Of The Fourth Jandek Lp, From 1982. The Echo-Drenched Journey Into Jandek's World Begins "Down In A Mirror," The Artist Delicately Plucking His Free-Tuned Guitar And Tappin' Shoes On The Floor 'Neath Him. And Then Electricity! Jandek's First Electric-Guitar Piece, "European Jewel," Comes Screamin' In Like Elmore James Having A Seizure. Pounding Drums And Bass Enter For A Frenzied Attack Not Too Far From The Same Thing Sonic Youth Was Doing In Nyc At The Same Time. Back To Acoustic Guitar For "Unconditional Authority," A Depressed Semi-Boogie, And Near Perfect Blend Of Solo Syd Barrett And John Lee Hooker At His Loneliest. "Poor Boy" Comes Mighty Close To Early Blues In Lyric And Open-Strum Structure, With None Of The Self-Conscious Posturing Of Most White "Bluesmen." "You Think You Know How To Score" Is Harmonica-Holder Dylan With The Holy Modal Rounders Shootin' Speed In His Butt: Scary But Hard Not To Watch And Chuckle As Head Collides With Concrete. "Nancy Sings" Introduces The First Of Jandek's Usually Anonymous Female Vocal Collaborators--And It's A Fragile, Beautiful Thing. Back To Electric For "No Break," With Nancy On Vocals, And A Drummer (Nancy?) Rattling About. This Fragmented Non-Song Could Be A Mellow-Mood Harry Pussy Jam From A Decade Later. More Acoustic On "Mostly All For You," "Blue Blister" (Which Shows Jandek's Finger-Pickin' Getting More Confident), "The Times," "Love, Love" ("Is The Only Way"), And "The First End" (Mr. J's Big On Beginnings And Ends). This 'Un's A Classic Jandek Album--Highly Recommended.

Jandek -- Living In A Moon So Blue (Corwood Industries) Reissue Of The Fifth Jandek Lp, From 1982. Once Again, The Texas Singer-Songwriter Accompanies Himself On Acoustic Guitar, Performing Sixteen Short Tunes, But The Mood Is Kinda Upbeat, And The Playing Is Particularly Assertive (Still "Untuned" And Moving Freely, Though). There Are Songs About "Gretchen" And "Alexandria Knows" (With Harmonica That Starts Like A Squealing Synth), An Optimistic Instrumental Called "One Step Ahead," Titles Like "Comedy" And "All In An Apple Orchard" That Aren't Necessarily Ironic, The Decisive "You Can Stop Now" ("You Can Stop Now/I Don't Want Your Morality"), The Strangely Funny Childhood Recollection Of "She Fell Down," The "Relief Of The Night", And Yes, "Crime Pays." One Of The Best Jandek Albums.

Jandek -- Staring At The Cellophane (Corwood Industries) Reissue Of The Sixth Jandek Lp, From 1982. The Focus Here Is On A Very Singular Mid-Tempo Acoustic-Guitar Sound, With Special Attention To Finger Pickin'. The Instrumental "This Is For You" And Semi-Instrumental "Basic Themes" (Just A Bit Of Wordless Vocalizing At The End) Stand Out, And Even Most Of The Other Pieces Seem More Concerned With The Guitar Than Jandek's Usual Depressed Lyrical Statements. The Big Exceptions Are The Muted Hard-Strum Violence Of "Sound I," Which Is Mostly Instrumental But Quite Different From The Melancholy Plucked-String Approach; And A Weird History Lesson Called "Nepoleon [Sic] In Russia."

Jandek -- Your Turn To Fall (Corwood Industries) Reissue Of The Seventh Jandek Lp, From 1983. "Typical" All-Acoustic Early-80s Jandek, Which Means It Was Produced In The Cold-Sun Heat Of A State Knowable Only To The Artist Himself. Some Highlights: The Hard-Picked Philosophy Of "Elementary Talk"; Drummer John Pounding Freely On "John Plays Drums" With Jandek Strumming Violently And Shouting To Be Heard (He Makes It); The Droney Psych-Folk On "Dance Of Death"; "Centaur Train" (Great Title); "If Your Fortune Fails You" Full Of Dylan-Pathos; The Claustrophobic Closer, "They Knew My Game," With Distorted Mouth-On-Mic Vocals And What Sounds Like A Dying Music Box In The Background.

Jandek -- Glad To Get Away (Corwood Industries) Twenty-Fourth Jandek Album, Original Cd Release From 1994; Second Cd Release (The First, Graven Image,Is Now Out Of Print). Sixteen Years After His First Album, Jandek Sounds More Confident In His Playing, And His Vocals Are More Up Front, But His Detuned/Untuned Acoustic Guitar And Depressed, Stream-Of-Consciousness Folk/Blues Songs Remain At The Core Of His Music. After A Few Tunes To Remind Us Who We're Dealing With ("Bitter Tale," "Ezekiel," "Down Clown"), "Rain In Madison" Jumps Out, A Cracked Blues-Style Story About . . . Something ("You Know You Can't Bring No Electric Devices Out In The Rain"). On "Van Ness Mission," He Turns Up The Echo Full Blast For A Disturbing 'Delic Journey That Continues On "Anticipation" Like A Free-Style Tav Falco Goin' Down Slow. "Nancy Knows" Is An Awkward But Complex Instrumental That Clearly Shows Jandek Now Moving His Left Hand Around The Neck Of His Guitar In A Way Very Foreign To His Early Open-Strum Approach. I Wonder If The Tune Is Named For The Same Nancy Who Sang On Chair Beside A Windowback In '82. "Take My Will" Is More Early Blues, Jandek-Style: "Jesus, Take My Will / In Six Minutes, I'm Going On The Very Next Train." He Pulls Out His Harmonica For A Little Dylan-Squeal Accompaniment On "Plenty." The Cycles Of Nature Are Not Often Rapid; Listen As One Of Nature's Strangest Wonders Continues To Slowly "Progress."

Jandek -- White Box Requiem (Corwood Industries) Twenty-Fifth Jandek Album, Original Cd Release From 1996. Another All-Acoustic Solo Disc, Heavy On Instrumentals. Much Of The Time, Jandek Seems To Be Pondering City Life Versus A Nice Trip In The Country. "Walking In The Meadow" Is An Interesting, And Delicate, Struggle Through 7:45 Of Instrumental Blues Pickin'. "Evening Sun" And "The Glade" Are Melacholy Memories Back Home In Big-City Houston. "Approaching The City" Becomes Heart-Pounding Anxiety, Jandek Hard-Strumming Through An Urgent Instrumental. And He Ponders His Situation In "Second Thoughts," "Thinking," "Wondering," And "What Should I Do." The Droney Instrumental "Eternal Waltz" Seems To Be The Artist Resigned To His Own Internal World, But On The Final Track, He Lets Us Know That He "Didn't Really Die."

Jandek -- I Woke Up (Corwood Industries) Twenty-Sixth Jandek Album, Original Cd Release From 1997. This Is A Peculiar And Special Disc From Jandek, Upbeat And Focused On His Harmonica Playing! His Experiments With Higher Guitar Tunings Also Continue, Which Contrasts Nicely With His Voice Which Age Has Lowered. Check The Opening "First Awake Moment." The Voice Is No Longer The Fragile Young Man Of The Early 1980s. Jandek Is Still Seemingly Disconnected From The So-Called Real-World, But Now He At Least Seems Comfortable In Front Of His Tape Recorder. The Next Tune, "Alone On That Mountain," Is Fiery With Detuned But Fluid Guitar Licks, Squealing Harmonica, And The Same Vocal Assurance As Before. "I Can Not" Continues The Feel; Listen To Jandek's Tongues Manifest As Tongue (Singular) Action On Harmonica. "Get Back Inside" Is A Surprising Duet For Harmonica And What Sounds Like Pump Organ Playing A Cowboy Semi-Polka 'Round The Campfire. The Harmonica Theme Continues On "Long Long" And "Joab," With Free Tappin' Drums Added. Back To Acoustic Guitar For A Few Numbers Before We Get To----"Impending Doom": A Bit Of Drum-Kit Rattle Works As A Short Intro Before Jandek Breaks Into A Chanted Vocal While Beating Insistently On A Conga Or Bongo Drum (Just One). "Sleepless Night" Is A Duet (Overdubbed Or Played By Two Musicians?) With Melodic Vocal Meandering Over Harmonica. "Today" Also Sounds Overdubbed, With Voice Vamping Madly Over Acoustic Guitar And Occasional Harmonica. It Ends Abruptly With The Declaration: "God Is Now Alive In The World Today." Has Jandek Been "Saved"; "Woke Up"?

Jandek -- New Town (Corwood Industries) Twenty-Seventh Jandek Album, Original Cd Release From 1998. Jandek Returns With A Set Of Solo Acoustic-Guitar Pieces In His "Usual" Style, Although The Lyrics Now Seem More Personal Than Simply Depressed. A Couple Of Exceptions To The Vibe This Time: The Jagged Instrumental "Street Walk," And What Sounds Like Jandek Pounding On The Back Of His Guitar While Singing And Playing Harmonica On "Time Will Come." As Far As My Ears Could Detect, The Drum Kit On The Front Cover Wasn't Used On The Disc.

Jandek -- The Beginning (Corwood Industries) Twenty-Eighth Jandek Album, Original Cd Release From 1999. Yet Another Start For Jandek, And It Begins Where He Left Off: Acoustic Guitar Pluckin' And Strummin'. "Hello," He Sings. "It's February." Sounds Like An Invitation. And "You Standing There" Sorta Rocks! A Few More Tunes, Including Two Stand-Out Blues ("Lonesome Bridge" And "A Dozen Drops") Before We Arrive At----"The Beginning." For The Title Tune, Jandek Spends Fifteen And A Half Minutes Alone On Piano! No Vocals Either. His Hammering Chords At The High End Of The Keyboard Sometimes Sound Close To His Hard-Strum Guitar, But The More Melodic Moments, Especially The Lower Notes, Are New Sounds For This Artist. By Virtue Of The Instrument, Jandek Sounds More "In Tune" Than Usual, But Listen For Those Passages Where He Combines Chords To Somehow Create Bell-Like Sounds, Or The High-End "Crazy" Freak-Out Stuff That He Uses Very Sparingly. The Overall Mood Of The Piece Is Somber, "Classical" In A Broad Stylistic Sense, With Free-Style Flourishes That Are Maybe Unconscious. Pretty Great. Jandek Fans Gotta Hear This One.

Jandek -- Put My Dream On This Planet (Corwood Industries) Twenty-Ninth Jandek Album, Original Cd Release From 2000. A Startling Album Of Stark-Naked Music From The Man Who Has Been Trying To Bare All Since He Started Recording In The Late 1970s. Using Only His Voice, Jandek Literally Begs For Understanding For Nearly 29 Minutes On "I Need Your Life." He's Never Sounded So Texan, Or So Completely Immersed In The Kind Of Ultra-Personal Blues Music That Existed Before The 1930s. In This Acapella Setting, His Emotions Run Free, And He Speaks From Painfully Deep Places. He Follows The First Piece With Another Lengthy (22:34) "Song" Called "It's Your House." Finally, Jandek Puts On His Shoes For The Last Song, "I Went Outside," But Once Out There, He Finds Only Snow And Ice. His Venture Into The Outside World Ends Abruptly After Only A Minute-Seventeen. If You've Ever Followed Jandek's Uncomfortable Journey Into His Own Head, This Is Essential Listening.