Where Do I Start W/ Jandek?
 

so i've heard a good amount of the crowood rep's stuff and i like most of it, but i dont' know what album any of the songs are on (nor the name of most of the songs). so if anybody could steer me in the right direction of maybe 2 or 3 of his best albums that'd be great. i like his real (psych?) folk stuff, and even soem of his electrical stuff as well. preciate it.

I'd say start with the documentary.

I've got Six and Six, Chair Beside a Window, and Modern Dances; they're all pretty good but at the same time I rarely listen to any of them. The mystery surrounding the man is far more interesting than his music.

Overall, I say start at the beginning. Since you say you like his folk stuff and "some of his electrical stuff" you'd be getting the straight one man folk stuff to begin with. Then you can ease into the electric group stuff just as it happened. Ready for the House is a fine place to start, as it's where he did.

I totally disagree with jonathan's statement "The mystery surrounding the man is far more interesting than his music." I've seen Jandek live and he put on an amazing two hour set of pure unadulterated charisma. I love his records too, and while they may nto be the perfect music for every mood or every day, they capture raw emotion in it's purest form the way only great art can. The mystery is kind of cool, and has made for great album covers and an original aesthetic, but I get kind of annoyed by all the theorizing behind who he might be. Like Calvin says in the movie, refusing to participate in the mainstream media circus does not make you a recluse or a social misfit. Who he is has always been right there on the records to the extent that it was needed.

i think the mystery thing adds to it, but it's not the only reason i like the guys music. it is pretty kool though and kinda thing really deos spark my interest (it's why i checked him out in the first place), but definately not the be all end all. though i've also doen my research, i know his name is really sterling smith and he records for his own label called crowood industries, and is also sometimes refered to as the corwood rep, hardly ever makes appearences and what not. i just like dudes music, but am also aware that he has over 50 albums and not all of them can be great. just wanan know where to start is all.

I found this site to amazingly helpful in being able to decide what album to start with. This guy has all of Jandek's albums and has a short, but informative, review of all of them.

http://www.myrecordcollection.org/ar...andekpage.html

damn, good looking out man. i'll check that out tomorrow at work, gotta finish cleaning the house and get some sleep. thanks.

start at the beginning.

no surprise, a LOT of his shit sounds the same. i've listened to nearly every one of his records and uh.. they don't really.. i mean, they're cool. but none really stand out to me. there are some major clunkers in there though.

My favorites off the top of my head are the first one, Ready for the House, Six and Six, Living in a Moon So Blue, Telegraph Melts, and Worthless Recluse (that is one of the "spoken word" ones and I think it's brilliant though a lot of people can't take it at all.) I at least like all of his albums, though I understand why some of the late '90s meandering instrumental ones (and for that matter the spoken word ones) bother people. I just find his general experimental creativity to be refreshing even when he borders on noodley territory. Overall, I take the earliest stuff and the early-mid electric band stuff as my faves though with a nod to the spoken word for proving to those who said "He can't possibly get any more primitive", that, yes he could!

Chair Beside a Window, Interstellar Discussion, and You Walk Alone are all good starters.

really enjoying his newest one right now (myth of blue icycles)...

I think my favorite is interstellar discussion... I also LOVE the acapella albums.

"Jandek's not pretentious, but only pretentious people like his music." - Kurt Cobain

Oftentimes, Jandek's voice reminds me of Thurston's.

http://www.furious.com/perfect/jandek/jandek-nyc.html

This is really funny...

the new one is the best ive heard so far. ive heard a few but i really dont see the huge deal.. i mean he is ok, and talented and "avant garde" or whatever but it bores me after a while.. the new ne is real good tho.

i think people love the man and the myth moreso than the music...

I love the myth but I just chill out and listen to the music. It's creepy and comforting and the lyrics are great. I think each album is an interesting snapshot of this depressed dude. It fascinates the hell out of me, and musically it surprises me often.

But yeah, that new one is unreal in how good it is.

i think the best place to go with jandek is the early to mid 80s, thats where the majority of his best records are if you ask me. from 'six and six' to 'on the way'. so much beautiful music during that period.

http://www.furious.com/perfect/jande...ekreviews.html

the "boogie period" haha... that's the best.

I've only heard Blue Corpse and Chair Beside a Window, I'm gonna listen to some of his spoken word stuff, for some reason it really interests me.

http://www.saddle-creek.com/webboard/viewtopic.php?t=64023&sid=2643ea6c0dfa35f4e2c1e195 3d653711

Oh man this dude totally has Jandek tabs shit!!!

I just got Glasgow Monday. Really, really nice performance/album. I highly recommand it: Jandek on piano, Youngs on double bass and Neilson on drums.
Now i need to get the DVD

I once read that you could fit the people who think jandek is a genius into a sedan.

Can I be the driver?

That's actually the first thing I thought when I heard him.

I wouldn't call Jandek a genius, but he's well worth his admiration. I'm convinced he's 100% aware of what he's doing at all times, and not just some holed up genius tossing out his honest emotions. It's more a matter of a guy finding a unique image and pulling it off flawlessly. The mystery thing fits his style of writing just right, so he hit gold.

Yeah, exactly.

I have read for years that they think Jandek is some idiot, some retarded dude who doesn't know what he's doing, whatever...

He knows exactly what he's doing..

I've decided I'm going to try to get my hands on (through downloads, mostly) every Jandek studio album and listen to it all in order. I only have like 10 or 11, so I'm going to be spending a lot of time on Soulseek, and probably a good deal of money on Amazon/eBay/whatever.

I just listened to Ready the House through Chair Beside a Window today, and the evolution is exciting. So I'm going to do this. Having a hard time finding Cellophane on Soulseek, though, so that'll be my first actual purchase.

Totally. I already was of that school, but seeing him live sunk the deal. No way this guy didn't play live all these years because he couldn't! He's literally one of the best front men and in control players I've ever seen (and I've seen more than a few). Without speaking a word that wasn't in a song, he held the crowd transfixed for over two hours and never hit a bad note, all in songs none of us had heard before. He must have been playing in a blues band in Houston under another name all these years, because there's no way he doesn't have tons of stage experience. He just starved his audience for that experience for decades in a completely calculated move.

He is a genius too. One of the greatest musical artists of all time, and I won't qualify that with a condescending "independent" in front of musical artist either.

Repped.

WESLEY WILLIS - "JANDEK"
You are a strange musician.
You are a mystery to the world.
The people flock to wonder about you.
You are a good person.

Jaaannnndek
Jaaaannndek
Jaaaannndek
Jaaaaanndek

In 1988 you released an album called "Blue Corpse"
People don't know who you are.
You release an album a year.
You want to be left alone.

Jaaaaanndek
Jaaaaanndek
Jaaaaanndek
Jaaaaanndek


Your record label is called Corwood.
Your acoustic guitar whupped a llama's ass.
You painted your teeth once.
You have red hair.

Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek

Rock over London. Rock on Chicago.
Wheaties, breakfast of champions.

Jandek is my uncle.

His name is Mikey.

pretty sure you might be full of shit on that one lil buddy. anyways, i went ahead and bought ready for the house. i was gonna buy it on amazon for cheaper, but i said "eh, fuck it. i'll go ahead and get it straight from teh source". so i mailed $8 to the corwood industries po box in houston. i sure hope he still runs that thing. i really wanna hear it now. thanks for ya'll's help. :)

bump.

Partying with Jandek.

i finally got ready for teh house. it's pretty good, but i gotta admit all the music sounds pretty much the same. what should i get next?

the newest one is fucking amazing.. myth of blue icicles

Hahahahahaha. Two of my favorite things in the universe unexpectedly collide. I need to hear this. Do you happen to know which WW album it's on?

I really want to listen to Ready For The House now and focus on the differences between each song. I usually just float through it like a single song, but it's the kind of thing I know I'll appreciate more if I focus on it.

this is still one of the best posts I've read on this board

The reason I have been accepted
Is that I failed to come on strong
Found a chair beside a window
Found a place where I belong
Inside myself there is no question
Just the jangle of our brain

I didn't think anything of it when I first listened to my downloaded copy. It was my first Jandek album. I was kinda leaning towards the "cool guy to read about, but his music...eh..." camp. It wasn't until I bought it and had the cover art and the lyrics in front of me that I began to appreciate how brilliant it is. It really does demand yr full attention.

No idea what Wesley album it's off of or if it's actually even a Wesley song, found it on a message board a long time ago and saved it haha. Even if it's not real, you can take a Casio keyboard and pretty much get the exact same sound. You don't even need to hear it :)

Jandek is god.

Anyone got / seen the Manhattan Tuesday DVD? I'm interested in the accompanying musicians (Heyner / Connors / Corsano) as much as in Jandek.

six and six...
i haven't listened to a lot of his stuff (and there are plenty of records to listen to...) but that's the first one i got and i really like it.