[Jandek] Mysterious vocalist

[soolip at aol.com]

My package from Corwood came less than a week ago. In all, it took ten days 
from the time I mailed my check to when I received the package. All the CDs 
were in the box, in order(!). It was also mailed with insurance, nearly seven 
bucks. I swear he must sell his stuff at cost and then take a loss on the 
shipping.

Anyway, I had read some reports that the singer on Blue Corpse was not the 
same person as on the other discs. I have to say that after listening to a good 
sampling of Jandek, I disagree. The first few songs are sung in a lower 
register, to be sure, but it's the same singer -- he's just using his voice 
differently. There are certain telltale signs of this: the inflection of the howls and 
caterwauls are distinct and inimitable. I really don't believe that another 
person could have been instructed to vocalize in this manner. Also, the timbre 
of the voice on these first tracks is very similar to that on the last four 
CDs -- resonant and chesty, though not nearly as tortured. The later tracks on 
BC are sung in a higher register and rather breathy -- but this sounds much 
like "early" Jandek to me. Really, I believe it's all the same person whose just 
experimenting with his voice. 

The singer of Message to the Clerk on On the Way also sounds like the same 
person to me, though closely miked -- and it just proves that the guy isn't 
tone-deaf; its just that conventional tonality isn't a major component of his 
chosen methods of expression.

Greg 
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