Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 17:22:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Fiachna@aol.com Message-ID: <971005172036_-1161680262@emout09.mail.aol.com> To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: the living end howdy anybody- I was fortunate enough to score this one in the used vinyl bin today, and I'm really surprised how different it is. he's really truly playing standard blues scales, I'm used to the rambling improv of 'graven image' and 'white box requiem'.. so there is some more conformist stuff in jandek's catalogue, eh? or is this the exception to the rule? what's earlier jandek like? does anybody know what the deal with this man is? too much acid? anyone heard his latest? cw. +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 19:01:30 -0500 (CDT) From: edward reno To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: the living end et al. Message-ID: yeah, Jandek took a weird turn starting on You Walk Alone (Corwood 0754, 1988) that went for a number of albums that for lack of a better term i've dubbed "loungy Jandek". it was his own attempt i think to come to terms with the blues. while there is still pretty significant variation over the course of this period, these albums take a pretty similar approach that at best have some really quirky blues interpretations and at worst sound like Jandek's playing Las Vegas. this continued up through Lost Cause (Corwood 0759, 1992), at which point i think he exhausted that creative vein suitably summed up by the apocalyptic noise of the Electric End of side 2 of that record. i've found the records during this time the most difficult to digest, though there is the exceptional stand-out of On the Way (Corwood 0755, 1988), which gives a good mixture of atmospheric tracks and blues. as for the new album, I Woke Up, that gave me quite a shock. i was listening to the first track trying to figure out what he had done to his voice when it hit me that it was someone else singing! i've only been able to give it 3 listenings so far but i'm pretty disappointed by this latest offering. Jandek is definetly doing the guitar parts, but the new singer just lacks the delivery and word play to add to the mix. Jandek does sing on later parts of the album, but the division is about 40% Jandek, 60% this othyer guy (maybe named Joeb, the title of the 3rd or 4th song on the album?). i don't know if anyone else feels disappointed but let me know what you think. ed +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 00:04:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Fiachna@aol.com Message-ID: <971006000233_-429283078@emout17.mail.aol.com> To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: the living end et al. In a message dated 97-10-05 20:06:39 EDT, you write: << Jandek does sing on later parts of the album, but the division is about 40% Jandek, 60% this othyer guy (maybe named Joeb, the title of the 3rd or 4th song on the album?). i don't know if anyone else feels disappointed but let me know what you think. ed >> who is it that's singing on the song "take me away with you"? I'm especially fond of this track already. is there something like a group of studio musicians jandek plays with? it seems like there are never any liner notes to his albums. again, "the living end" is quite a stretch from the other 2 (more recent) albums I've heard ("white box requiem" being my favorite), but it's thoroughly enjoyable. I didn't expect to hear him grappling with something so.. (for lack of a better expression) substantial, structurally speaking. I think I still prefer the cacophonous method though, great for lazy & numb sunday afternoons. is it very hard to procure older jandek material now? perhaps if I wrote to the address listed on the record sleeve? cw. +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 23:30:42 -0500 (CDT) From: Tom Sedlak To: Fiachna@aol.com cc: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: earlier titles In-Reply-To: <971006000233_-429283078@emout17.mail.aol.com> Message-ID: > is it very hard to procure older jandek material now? perhaps if I > wrote to the address listed on the record sleeve? Every now and then a used one will pop up in a mailorder catalog. Otherwise, they are difficult to come by. I once wrote to corwood and I got a xeroxed discography of the entire corwood catalog. The most recent releases were listed as still avaliable. But in an unexpectedly straightforward bit of humor from Mr. Jandek, earlier titles can be ordered wholesale in batches of like 1000 or more. Anyone out there ready to start their own reissue label? +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 11:00:14 -0500 (CDT) From: edward reno To: Fiachna@aol.com cc: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: the living end et al. In-Reply-To: <971006000233_-429283078@emout17.mail.aol.com> Message-ID: if you're in to Jandek's more unstructured cacophonic excursions, the records made from around 1983-6/7 are all pretty much in this vein, most of them done with "Nancy" who sings on a lot of them. this is when he incorporated spare drum crashes and such classic goffiness as "Don't paint your teeth". i don't know how older recoirds are going to become available other t5han through a reissue deal (maybe members of this list should pool some resources to make it happen?), but as far as being able to list6en to them, you should perhaps seek out a good college radio station in the area. Corwood manage to distribute every record (i think, though i'm not sure about the 12th Apostle record) to a lot of college radio stations. both stations i've worked at had a complete Jandek catalogue. ed reno +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 15:34:15 -0500 (CDT) From: edward reno To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Jandek and Dylan Message-ID: although it's ultimately a fruitless enterprise, i was just musing the past couple of days about picking out "influences" in Jandek's music. the most solid one i've gotten at this point is a sure response to some Dylan's lyrics from "It's allright ma", when he says "i don't mean no harm, or give fault, (toward? to?) anyone who lives in a vault..." Jandek's reply is on "Native Land" off 12th Apostle when he sings "it's not my fault i live in a vault". one of my friends also alerted me to a possible Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd connection on Graven Image, i'll have to research that. ed +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== From: ab704@acorn.net (Ray A. Carmen) Message-Id: <9710082106.AA01507@acorn.net> Subject: Jandek and Skip Spence To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Date: Wed, 8 Oct 97 17:06:24 EDT Is anyone familiar with the album OAR, by Skip Spence (from Moby Grape and at one time drummer for Jefferson Airplane)? I hear a lot of his influence in Jandek's music, esp. the nonsensical lyrics (ie. compare Spence's "Lawrence Of Euphoria" with some of Jandek's sillier songs. The attitude is there, even if they don't exactly SOUND alike). Just curious. -- Ray Carmen POP! Productions P.O. Box 8864 Canton, OH 44711-8864 ab704@acorn.net POP! Productions web site: http://members.aol.com/raycarmen/rc.html +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== From: ab704@acorn.net (Ray A. Carmen) Message-Id: <9710091632.AA02532@acorn.net> Subject: First exposure to Jandek To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu (Jandek) Date: Thu, 9 Oct 97 12:32:37 EDT OK, kids, here's generic question to get a discussion going: What was yer first exposure to Jandek? Radio? LP? A friend played something for you? My first exposure was while listening to WCSB in Cleveland to a show called KRAPP'S LAST TAPE. The host played Lavender from YOU WALK ALONE, at the wrong speed no less (45 rpm, but he slowed it down shortly after the song got started!). This was at least 10 years ago, if not more. Sorry if this has been asked already! -- Ray Carmen POP! Productions P.O. Box 8864 Canton, OH 44711-8864 ab704@acorn.net POP! Productions web site: http://members.aol.com/raycarmen/rc.html +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 12:55:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Fiachna@aol.com Message-ID: <971009125432_1375856715@emout15.mail.aol.com> To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: jandek and derek bailey ok, perhaps not so much an influence as a kind of parallel.. I've been listening a lot to both of 'em lately, and the similarites are remarkable at points, although I think bailey's got a much more defined method of playing. jandek's voice though sounds much more countrified than dylan, very texan in his own way. on "the living end", the texan blues aesthetic is evident. yeah, I'd say texas was prolly jandek's greatest influence chris woodward. +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 13:27:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Masseymail@aol.com Message-ID: <971009132639_-1697571568@emout02.mail.aol.com> To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: First exposure to Jandek In a message dated 97-10-09 12:33:53 EDT, you write: << What was yer first exposure to Jandek? Radio? LP? A friend played something for you? >> i'm pretty sure i'd heard the myth, nay, the legend, well before i'd heard any of the music. my college radio station, WCWM, had a pretty healthy supply of LPs. i'm not sure the first exposure, though. bob +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 12:15:07 -0700 (PDT) From: Jacob Anderson To: Jandek Subject: Re: First exposure to Jandek In-Reply-To: <9710091632.AA02532@acorn.net> Message-ID: My first Jandek experience was with WSRN (Swarthmore)'s copy of One Foot In The North, front cover literally covered in a review from the infamous Rael Lewis, playing "Yellow Pages" probably at around 5 am. I can't imagine having a first-Jandek experience in any state other than groggy. Strangely, "Yellow Pages" might still be my favorite Jandek song--just enough melody to lift it above the Nine-Thirty "16 of the same song" mold (a nice mold) but not enough to make it Lost-Cause-Side-A, you know? Beautiful. --Jake (still looking for a tape copy of Ready For The House and Living In A Moon So Blue, btw) +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 15:13:57 -0500 (CDT) From: saleem saeed dhamee To: "Ray A. Carmen" cc: Jandek Subject: Re: First exposure to Jandek In-Reply-To: <9710091632.AA02532@acorn.net> Message-ID: I feel silly doing this, but my first exposure was at the hands of one Ed Reno, who decided to play some "real music" after many hours of debauchery, a failed attempt at performing, people all over the house, blown fuses, bolt cutters and electricity in our apartment. Clearly changed everything with respect to music. Cheers, Saleem +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 17:07:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Gjklaude@aol.com Message-ID: <971009170614_-1963394664@emout18.mail.aol.com> To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: First exposure to Jandek ...first exposure to jandek... i guess this is sort of the same as asking what was most striking on first listen/ learning.... i believe i was probably hanging out at whpk during someone else's show, or before or after my own... probably with seth, our fine proprietor here... anyway, he probably played something (probably off of blue corpse!)... i asked what it was... after which he probably preceeded to guide me over to the stack of jandek records inconspicuosly taking up the major part of one of the record library's perforated sections... i guess i was most struck with the sheer volume and steadfast adherence to, more or less, a single concept that the records all seemed to exhibit... (i guess which is why 'the electric end' is so interesting to me as such an anomaly in the jandek oeuvre, etc, etc...) like with hiroshi sugimoto's photograph's of movie theaters and seascapes... the only thing that really seems to differentiate any of them, immediately at least, is the specific location each is documenting... so you get this sort of 'everywhere' feel.... (i guess this is not an altogether sturdy anology but...) like with jandek... the anonimity, the unwavering consistency, etc... all seem to add up to an 'everyman' feel... or, at least, an 'everysong' feel... anyway, i think i was also a bit embarrassed that i had never heard of him (but he's not in my trouser press record guide!)... esp. after seeing firsthand the great number of records this 'lil fellow had produced over the past fifteen years or so... and there was also something clearly different about his mad genius than, say, some chemically imbalanced ingenue like daniel johnston (i guess the difference b/w the beatles and the stones maybe, or the beatles and robert johnson...) which was immediately more alluring... anyhow, i haven't been the same person since... testify! gerard +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 19:05:28 -0500 (CDT) From: saleem saeed dhamee To: Gjklaude@aol.com cc: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Re: First exposure to Jandek In-Reply-To: <971009170614_-1963394664@emout18.mail.aol.com> Message-ID: Oh yeah, I think Mr. Klauder was there at some point in the evening pre-Jandek on the stereo, but in hindsight, if i had known about jandek he would have been on. +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Message-Id: <199710100346.AAA23369@mx-poa.nutecnet.com.br> From: "mbirck" To: Subject: a cultural interchange Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 00:55:22 -0300 To whom it may concern: Well, I saw terms like "untuned guitars" and "unstructured cacophonic" associated to Jandek's works.That's the kind of stuff I am always searching. But you know , Jandek's records are very difficult to get, specially out of the USA. So, I'm making a proposal: an interchange of K-7 copies of the most unstructured cacophonic Jandek or related things by outsider brasilian music, in the town where I live in (Porto Alegre ) there´s a lot of it. If somebody are interested in my proposal, mail me : mbirck@nutecnet.com.br Thanks Marcelo Birck +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== From: ab704@acorn.net (Ray A. Carmen) Message-Id: <9710101444.AA19739@acorn.net> Subject: Jandek as drug addled genius? To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu (Jandek) Date: Fri, 10 Oct 97 10:44:50 EDT I recently asked a friend of mine what he though of Jandek. Was he a drug addled genius? A phony? He thought he was neither. A few years back I was working on a piece about Jandek for a fanzine. To get more info I contaced John Trubee who was in personal contact with Jandek for a short time. He had written a short piece for SPIN, so I thought I would ask him what he thought. He wrote back and told me that he believes Jandek experienced some sort of emotional trauma at some early point in his life and this manifests itself in the music. He also gave me Jandek's phone number (!). I've never called it. Just felt like I would be invading the guys privacy or something. Anyway, I'm always curious as to what Jandek fans actually think of the guy. Some people think it's a big practical joke. I'm not sure what I think, all Iknow is I feel compelled tolisten to the guy's records, no matter how "noisy" or "tuneless" they might sound! So there's my two cents... -- Ray Carmen POP! Productions P.O. Box 8864 Canton, OH 44711-8864 ab704@acorn.net POP! Productions web site: http://members.aol.com/raycarmen/rc.html +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Subject: Jandek web page update To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu From: Seth Tisue Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 10:47:56 -0500 Small update. I found a review of Glad to Get Away and White Box Requiem at that includes the information that the CD's cost $80 for 20 direct from Corwood. >From the review: "He sometimes howls with that lonely pain found on Steven Jesse Bernstein's Trigger demos." Who is Steven Jesse Bernstein? == Seth Tisue http://www.cs.nwu.edu/~tisue/ +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 09:31:10 -0700 (PDT) From: I Was French In The Morning To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Jesse Bernstein/Jandek encounter In-Reply-To: <199710101546.IAA02335@wakko.efn.org> Message-ID: On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Seth Tisue wrote: > >From the review: "He sometimes howls with that lonely pain found on > Steven Jesse Bernstein's Trigger demos." Who is Steven Jesse > Bernstein? Jesse was a Seattle/NW poet/sometime "song"writer. He made several tapes of himself reading his poems in a distinctive, painful, groan/growl, and eventually collaborated with Steve Fisk on some stuff that came out on Sub Pop. Jesse killed himself a few years back after years of mental illness, homelessness, prisons, and institutions. The Jandek comparison is weak. Calvin Johnson told me about a Beat Happening tour where they were driving through Texas and needed a place to stay. Calvin had Jandek's number and called him up and said "Would it be OK if we stayed with you tonight?" Jandek replied "No, no that wouldn't be OK," and hung up. I'm sure someone's got a "brush with Jandek" story better than that, so out with it. IWFITM Records +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Message-Id: <1.5.4.32.19971010200758.006763b4@mail.global2000.net> Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 16:07:58 -0400 To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu From: Flipped Out Records Subject: you painted my teeth >What was yer first exposure to Jandek? Radio? LP? A friend played >something for you? >>>>this one will bring me wayyyyyyy back....no doubt at the advice of a forced exposure review at the time, i began to scrounge around for the every 9 month or so vinyl slice mr. jandek cut loose for that 22 lp period....i recall playing an lp side for the wrpi program director at the time (1986) that elicited cries of "no, not him" from the esteemed mark lo (of file 13 infamy).....jandek has always pulled out (like royal trux for another example) that vibe of love it or hate it....for my own head i bought single lp copies from corwood direct ($6 postpaid each), ajax, and at a few nyc/boston stores (in your ear, pier platters, etc)....when my old store (erl) opened in 1988 many times i snagged the 25 lp for $75 deal from corwood direct, normally by mail but after rockpool listed a phone number for corwood i called a few times and either got a machine or the man himself....cutting them loose for $4.99 at the time, i had mentioned that "gee they're so cheap i can sell them for 5 or 6 dollars" to a response of "no, what does a regular lp sell for, please sell them at that price".....after asking the man if it was jandek i was speaking to, he replied "no this is sterling smith i represent mr. jandek".....like others have mentioned, it seems that college radio stations were hit with corwood promos quite often....i recall the sound choice ad and never saw the spin piece.....outside of that pure anonymity has reigned supreme....all the lps except for ready for the house were always available at the cheap price until 1993 or so when they all disappeared..... since then i've seen them for $10>20>30 at record fairs and on collector lists, etc...the dawn of the corwood cd has brought us back to the old price structure where cheap=available....a friend had grabbed a copy of ready for the house for $75 from father yod and it is quite similiar to the acoustic collapse of the 4 cds.... someone told me of a basement flood where all of the corwood in house copies had been destroyed, hence the disappearance of the lps for distribution???..... he works at the houston record pressing plant???.....the guy from the nonsequiter label was going to interview him around the time of ready for the house but he backed out last minute???....who knows but at the end of the day we're left with the sound of a cracked mind bleeding all over our ears and who doesn't want that....each corwood release has brought us into a familiar yet alien basement that continues to baffle and amaze with every quivering sound....very very sorry for the long winded ramble, jack <<<<<<<>>>>>> <<<>>>> <<<<>>>>> +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 16:58:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Masseymail@aol.com Message-ID: <971010165256_1858018377@emout17.mail.aol.com> To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: Jandek encounter In a message dated 97-10-10 12:30:31 EDT, you write: << I'm sure someone's got a "brush with Jandek" story better than that, so out with it. IWFITM Records >> Here are some stories I compiled a while back: **Nils, formerly of Sub Pop, now of Matador: I had a record store 1989-92. Not sure if it's the same now, but you could only order Jandek by mail through Corwood for $6/each, though if you bought 50 in any combination, they were $2.40/each. So, I got a few of each title, and put up a "Jandek:The Man The Myth" window display with every sleeve displayed, and put all Jandek on permanent sale for $4.99. I sent Jandek (Corwood) Polaroids of it, with a little note, and from then on, he would send me a box (25-30) of each subsequent record, asking me to distribute them to radio & whomever around town, handwriting all correspondence but signing it all "Corwood." Nice guy, that Corwood. Haven't heard anything since closing my store. Nils **Cathy Fitzhugh: Hi Bob, I heard that Sub Pop offered him one of the singles-club slots and he said no. cathy *-*-*-*-*-* **Steve Farneman: I've heard Jandek's real name is Sterling Smith. When I was working in college radio, our station's MD found a phone number for Corwood in an old Rolodex and, having been intrigued by Jandek's albums (why did he always send 2 copies of his records to everyone?), he called the number (Sterling Smith was listed as the contact name, I recall). Evidently a soft-spoken guy answered who sounded a lot like Jandek. The MD asked if it'd be possible to interview Jandek. The response was something to the effect that it'd be "very difficult." There's a *somewhat* elucidating piece on Jandek written by Byron Coley in the April 1990 issue of Spin. Jandek was then picked as one of "The 10 Most Interesting Musicians of the Last 5 Years." (The others? Prince, Madonna, Sonic Youth, Tracy Chapman, Tom Waits, U2, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Public Enemy, & Morrissey) I could send you a copy of the article if you haven't seen it or can't track it down. I once heard a story about all the left-of-the-dial stations in the New York/New Jersey area conspiring to play nothing but Jandek for 6 straight hours one afternoon. Don't know if that every happened but it's a nice idea. I used to occasionally play up to 4 hours of nothing but Jandek when I was doing the college radio thing. The amazing thing is you can do that and spot the variety in his records. That's all the stuff I can recall about "Janky" right now -- hope it helps, Steve. +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Message-ID: <343F6222.1ADD@earthlink.net> Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 12:25:26 +0100 From: Jon Fine To: Jandek Subject: Re: Jandek encounters References: <9710101444.AA19739@acorn.net> If I recall correctly, n the fall of '88, Craig Koon, then heading something called Ubu Booking that was a shortlived adjunct to Homestead and Dutch East, made some noise about trying to put together a Jandek tour. The college I was then attending (Oberlin) was among the places that "expressed an interest" in hauling the man onstage. Needless to say, nothing came of this, but Craig was apparently in touch with someone (the guy at Corwood?) for a time, who A. seemed very nervous, and B. kept referring to Jandek as "they." As in: 'well, uh, I'll have to see what THEY think about it...' unfortunately, this is all second-hand data and I never talked to "THEM." jf +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Message-Id: Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 16:56:59 -0400 To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu From: Maurice Rickard Subject: re: First exposure to Jandek Hi. I'm new to the list, but I've been listening to Jandek for (wow) almost 10 years. I'd read the Byron Coley reviews in Spin, and had it in the back of my mind to check Jandek out. I believe it was at a Roger Miller Maximum Electric Piano show in '88--the promoter was selling lps in the back of the hall, and among them were _Blue Corpse_ and _You Walk Alone_. Bought 'em on the spot, and had to carry them around the rest of the evening. I missed my bus and earned a ride to my end of town (where Roger wanted to check out a My Dad Is Dead show that was still going on) by helping to load Roger's van (careful not to damage the lps). By the time I got home, it was very late--perfect time to listen to Jandek. I was hooked and started turning my friends on to him--took them a while to acquire the taste. I've since bought other lps (don't have the latest stuff yet, and no cds), but _Blue Corpse_ and _You Walk Alone_ occupy a special place for me, particularly "Only Lover," "Time and Space," 'Lavender," and "When the Telephone Melts" (there's a guitar arpeggio there that, for some reason, strikes me as absolutely perfect, truly moving). This might be another thread--songs or moments in songs that we feel are particularly important, well done, or otherwise special. Best regards (and thanks for the web page and mailing list), Maurice Rickard | "Multimedia will never go Creative Director | anywhere until the amateurs The EnviroLink Network | take over." maurice@envirolink.org | --David Thomas http://www.envirolink.org/homepp/maurice | +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +== Message-ID: <3459B136.2422@slip.net> Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 02:21:42 -0800 From: Karl Ikola To: jandek@cs.nwu.edu Subject: I KNEW YOU WOULD LEAVE "...MAGIC CARPETS! fly to your planets -- you have -- no place on EARTH." from 'Six and Six' (Corwood 0740), 1981. +++ +=+ === ++= ==+ +==