[Jandek] Vocalist and guitarist

[Ross Em]

I've wondered about this a lot...  I'd love to think
Jandek was one man, but I'd say the overwhelming
evidence would say that Jandek is a collective or
band, possibly drawn out of the vision of one/two
people.  Whatever, at the end of the day it doesnt
make a lot of difference who Jandek is.  What they've
stuck together, whoever they are and for whatever
reason, is music that for some reason or another
touches us in some way.  In a deeply personal way. 
Its music that sings to us in a way that music
previously hasn't...  (or to a more limited extent.) 
The music is dark, secret, special and is as
individual to every person who hears it and falls in
love with it.  And I know for a fact I'm not
"pretentious" (I'm referring to the Cobain quote). 
I've got no-one to be pretentious to.  I'd go further
to say that any Nirvana fan who thought that Kurt
Cobain had something would take one listen to Jandek
and "get" why people are interested in him.  Cobain
sung from his fucking battered heart about things he
didn't really understand that were happening to him...
 His voice was of the gut-wrenching "Yara" school,
pouring absolutely everything into the music.  Jandek
does exactly the same.  They make music that addresses
the same pains and uncertainties, the loneliness and
darkness that Cobain had.

But on the other hand, suppose Jandek's just a joke. 
Taking the mickey.  One great big elaborate wheeze to
fool the oh-so-cool internet brigade.  
In truth this doesn't concern me.  The records stand
alone from the internet and are now a part of me, not
simply a product of one man.  They have my ideas about
what the songs are and they reflect moments since I
got into his music.  I would imagine this is the case
with a lot of you...  This thinking always reminds me
of "Hunting Venus" the excellent TV movie starring
Neil Morrisey and Martin Clunes, in which a band get
back together and the Keyboard player
Charlie/Charlotte (Neil Morrisey) finds out their
biggest hit was not about "a new hope" at all, but
about masturbating...  You should check it out...  I
digress...  Jandek's not a joke, and if he is it isn't
funny...  
Although I don't have a great deal of Jandek stuff,
the truth is his music is of a nature that it speaks
so clearly that once you've heard it its quite hard to
ignore it...  Whether Jandek is a joke, or one man or
a collective is, in my view a minor detail in what is
an exemplary body of work.
Take care dudes,
Ross

=====
vacant/beyond/comparison
"second best or nothing at all"
forthcoming gigs : LOS DESTRUCTOS support slots MONDAY 16th FEBRUARY, Jasper's, (now called ROCKERS) Glasgow...
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