[Jandek] Portland Thursday with Thurston Moore

[Brandon May]

That's funny that you mentioned Glenn Branca because that was exactly what I thought the 1st 2 pieces reminded me of.  I haven't listened to Branca in years but 10 minutes into the show, Glenn Branca just popped into my head.  I agree with the machine/factory sounds, it was very industrial, like standing in the middle of an extremely loud factory with machine sounds howling at you from all directions.  I kinda got a postrock/Merzbow vibe from the 2nd piece, at least in regards to volume, it starting out pretty quiet and then exploded into chaos.  It was almost overwhelming.  I think that if they tried to go even farther out there for the last piece, it may have been too much.  
I was sitting up front in row 3, stage left, in front of Jandek, and watched the man's shadow on the movie screen.  He has an amazing silhouette, all black with the black hat.  

From: Michael.Goldman at CH2M.com
To: scratchbomber at hotmail.com; jandek at mylist.net
Date: Sat, 1 May 2010 09:36:19 -0600
Subject: RE: [Jandek] Portland Thursday with Thurston Moore











That's a dead on description.  The first piece was the most rough and tumble of the three.  Jandek playing a chugging-style rhythm with Thurston throwing in shards and howls over it.  If you have ever jumped a freight train (something I used to in my younger
 days just for fun) this is what it sounds like - a steady clack/clang rhythm with interupting howls and screeches.  The second piece was more like factory sounds with machine guitars and interlocking rhythms.  Jandek took the lead guitar role for a good part
 of this one.  In a few places it reminded me of the machine guitar style playing on Brian Eno's "Taking Tiger Mountain" record.  Both men were using Fender amps and Fender style guitars (Thurston a Jazzmaster and Jandek a Godin strat style) so the tones were
 bright and spiky. Very effective for the staccato rhythms. The third one was a complete departure from the previous two.  It was like some type of levee camp field recording with Jandek playing arpegiated, fractured Delta blues chords high on the neck and
 Thurston taking the fiddle parts by bowing his strings with a drum stick.  Both players were seated - Jandek on the floor and Thurston on his amp.  It was beautiful especially after the heavy squall the audience had been through for the previous hour.  Probably
 had a hymnlike cartharsis for the players also.  
 
If I were to title the pieces, they'd be something along the lines of 1) Freight train 2) Factory 3) Levee Camp. 

 
Visually the show worked very well.  A pair of tall thin men dimly lit in blues and greys in front of a blank movie screen.  It was easy to tell when the gears caught for the Rep, he started to rock back and forth.  Thurston's approach struck me as a little
 "brainier" but that's no surprised since his background is in the avant garde classical modes of Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca.  In that way it was similar to the Gainesville FL show where the Reps Dionysian approach clashed and mated with Rob Rushin's Appollonian
 guitar approach.  A great night and worthy addition to the Corwood canon.  
 
Michael Goldman 
 


From: jandek-bounces at mylist.net [jandek-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Brandon May [scratchbomber at hotmail.com]

Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2010 12:03 AM

To: jandek at mylist.net

Subject: [Jandek] Portland Thursday with Thurston Moore





I thought I'd let people know about the Portland, OR show with Thurston Moore since nobody's put anything up about it yet.  They played at the Hollywood Theatre, an old movie theatre in east Portland.  It was sold out and lasted around 80-90 minutes.  The
 guy who introduced the show(I think he was the owner of Jackpot records) stated that they were filming this show, so more than likely it will end up on dvd.  Some moron decided to leave during the middle of the show through a side exit and let all this sunlight
 in the room and might have screwed up some of the filming though.  There was NO backing band, just Jandek on electric guitar and Thurston Moore on electric guitar.  There was also NO singing either, JUST electric guitars.  I was actually hoping there would
 be a drummer and Jandek singing, but it was mostly Jandek playing the main part of the song/piece with Thurston playing abstract, avant garde effects/riffs with Jandek's playing.  They played 3 pieces, the 1st 2 were really loud, chaotic, and dare I say psychedelic
 and the last piece was really somber and ambient, it was beautiful.  It seemed like the 1st 2 pieces lasted around a half hour each while the last song was maybe 15 to 20 minutes long.  Jandek and Thurston stood and walked around the stage here and there for
 the 1st 2 pieces.  Then Jandek decided to get comfortable or got tired of standing and sat down (indian style!) on stage to play the last piece while Thurston sat on a barstool and played his guitar with a bow.  Jandek kinda seemed in his own world, neither
 he nor Thurston said anything to the crowd(as expected).  Thurston did lean over to Jandek after the last piece and say something to him, like a scene from the end of the movie Lost In Translation, where Bill Murray whispered something into Scarlet Johansson's
 ear.  The music made me feel like I was on a bad acid trip mixed with the wrath of God.  But by the 3rd piece, all was right again, you were in heaven.  It was REAL WILD! 



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