[Jandek] Hasselt Saturday 0795

[Danen Jobe]

Got mine today as well. Listened twice in a row, maybe go for a third time.
He's got the blues. Real bad. I guess I can hear "the Cell" but something
different, too. In my favorite section (I already did the lyrics to that
section, but I don't have them on me from where I'm writing. Post later,
maybe) he gets hit by a train, which permanently changes him. Dark. Real.
Starkness - none of the percussive flairs or lifts into the ether. It always
comes back to a sense of loss, and yet I feel (as I did with "the Cell") a
sense of hope here, too. I haven't wanted to spend as much time with a
Jandek album in a while like I  have with this one. Meaning: usually I
receive the disc, listen, then maybe give a little space before listening
again. This one I started over immediatly. I can see myself with this all
weekend.

See, it gets back to that old idea that maybe we DON'T listen to this stuff
like it was an ALBUM, but like it was a LIFE and we get this one more hour
to peek in on it. It feels open. Comforting, but not quite as comfortable as
the wonderful "London Tuesday." Fits the climate of Hasselt, perhaps?
Reminds me of someone writing in around the time of the Hasselt show, saying
that the Rep came to Belgium and never did anything. Just sat by the side of
the river. Well why not? Isn't that life, walking through life, feeling the
steps of each part of that walk? Wouldn't that inspire a song set like this,
cold but inviting? I bet anyone who walked up to the Rep in Hasselt got a
smile. I sense that at times, somehow wisping away at the blues.

Yeah, I'm not thinking so much about 'how does this album stack up to that'
or 'what direction is he going in now' or 'why so many albums.' It feels
like an hour with an old friend. That is the value of this, perhaps of the
entire collection. Reminds me of the dichotomy of the recent Houston shows,
and that's all part of the pleasure - you don't know what curves lifes gonna
throw you. One minute you're walking beside the tracks and the next a train
hits you.
And then, somehow, you live. And your life changes. But it's STILL a life.

And I'll keep following.


On 5/7/09, hirakemike2 at aol.com <hirakemike2 at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Received this CD today.  It is subtitled "The Places You Left Me" and
> features eight tracks titled in "parts" instead of actual song titles.  Upon
> first listen, sounds very similar to "The Cell".  I attached the front and
> back cover.
>
> Best,
>
> Mike Brooker
>
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