[Jandek] DVD

[stephe dk]

If I could ask Smith/ Jandek any question I think it would be something 
regarding his intention. I recently got into this discussion with someone as 
a result of the live performance, which was a bit much for my brain to 
process... I have always considered Jandek 'an artist,' and a brilliant and 
incredible one at that (the uniformity of the releases, the complete and 
total disregard for commerical success and/or marketing for the most part, 
and the physical beauty of the original vinyl releases), whereas my friend 
considers him much more of a lone nut/crazy like Syd Barrett or something 
(but obviously with more mental control). I would like to know if he had 
really had this vision, "I'm going to perpetrate this mythos on the world, 
where I expose someone's deep innards as art over a LONG period of time," or 
if, you know, he was just OUT THERE and thought maybe he was doing something 
fairly unordinary and conventional, and was just too looney to not realize 
how truely bizarre it was.

Maybe not knowing the answer is one of the things that makes Jandek 
powerful...

I haven't seen the film yet, I missed it when it screened here, and I don't 
own a DVD player, so I will have to wait, but as that's been discussed at 
length in this group, I would like to know other people's thoughts on the 
live performance... I downloaded it, and was quite shocked... Is this real? 
Is Jandek really playing live? What does that mean, if it is real? Is it 
really him? Is Jandek one guy, or many? Will he play other shows? What was 
the motivation to do this? Is he an avant-guarde artiste now; will he 
collaborate with, uh, thurston moore on a lathe-cut limited-edition 7"? etc.

stephe dk


>From: "Dave Parent" <dave9199 at lycos.com>
>To: "Jandek list" <jandek at mylist.net>
>Subject: [Jandek] DVD
>Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 08:27:14 -0500
>
>I received mine yesterday & watched it almost all of it (including most of 
>the special features). The only thing that threw me, aside
>from the easter egg which I just watched & thought hysterical, was Irwin 
>Chusid's audio interview when he says Smith said he had
>30 (!) albums done waiting for release. I am assuming he was refering to 
>the phone conversation he had with him in late 1980,
>which some of is reprinted in his book. There he says; "He'd recorded 
>enough material for 10 albums and hoped to release them
>all." I had no problem believing 10, but 30? That puts it up to or after 
>the acapella albums. I would think if he originally said 30,
>that's something anybody would remember. 10 is an impressive number also, 
>but this is a huge descrepency. Maybe it shows
>how Chusid feels about Jandek's music. I'm not sure how to describe my last 
>sentence, but have you ever personally described
>something to someone else & exaggerated part of it? I've done it & it's 
>always to impress, but why would Chusid feel the need to
>impress? I'm not looking for a psychoanalysis of Chusid, I'm just saying 
>from 10 to 30 albums is extreme, even if he didn't
>remember the exact number, that's all. Maybe it didn't matter to him what 
>number he chose. That's the ONLY thing that I question
>about this whole DVD which is great & thanks again to the producers (I 
>forget which one) who answered my questions when I
>emailed him. The audio interviews are all great along with the album cover 
>discussion. Which leads me to ask everyone:
>
>If you could ask Smith any questions about his music or a non-personal 
>question, what would it be? Off the top of my head would
>be:
>
>Where did the name Corwood Industries come from & why Industries? (Perhaps 
>the novels were to be a part of it?)
>When was Ready For The House actually recorded?
>How does he choose the cover art for each album?
>How many more albums are "in the can" when he puts a new one out?
>Does he listen to & enjoy his own music after it's released?
>Which albums of his are his favorites?
>Which are his least favorites?
>Does the artwork reflect the music inside in any way?
>
>Sorry, I'll stop now. I kept thinking of questions. I'd be cool if the list 
>could send him a bunch of questions in hopes that he'd give  a
>small worded answer to all or most of them.
>--
>_______________________________________________
>Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages
>http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>jandek mailing list
>jandek at mylist.net
>http://mylist.net/listinfo/jandek