RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

AFAIK it's just Jandek (jan - deck), at least that's how I've always 
heard it pronounced.

I went to college in Houston, so the first I heard of Jandek was 1989 or 
so, walking into the Sound Exchange on Westheimer & seeing these racks 
of weird-looking (blurry snapshot covers) LPs on the wall: "Jandek LPs, 
$3" or something along those lines. It was hard to resist that 
combination of weird covers & price, so I bought one.

I don't remember which specific one it was, but I think it was one of 
the ones that was mostly banging noises & then Jandek kind of 
moaning/singing. I don't think there was much guitar on it. But that was 
20 years ago, so I don't really remember.

I guess I was intrigued enough that I bought a half-dozen or so more 
over the next couple years. Some of them had electric guitar & actual 
song structures. I  distinctly remember "Take a message to the clerk; 
tell him not to work!"

It was weird, and kind of amusing, but I've never been enough of a 
hardcore "outsider music" fan to want to sit & listen to them 
repeatedly, or to obsessively seek out more. I assume at the time the 
Jandek back-story (or rather the absence of one) was common knowledge 
around town, but I certainly didn't have the urge to stake out the 
Corwood Industries PO Box, for instance.

A few years ago I needed some money to buy some audio gear, so I sold 
off a bunch of stuff I was tired of carting around from house to house, 
including those Jandek LPs, which had been reissued on CD but which had 
largely passed out of print on vinyl. Sold them all on eBay, mostly to 
some guy from Japan for between $30 and $50 apiece. Thanks, Jandek!

Given the huge role that the "mystery" has played in his enduring 
popularity among a certain segment of the population, I have been mildly 
interested to see how he has fared in the few years since he abandoned 
his longstanding invisibility. Are people more or less intrigued by him, 
now that he's just a guy with a funny hat and a non-tuned guitar?

I'll probably be going to the show, partly to see the local supergroup 
backing him up, and partly just to check another checkbox on the 
life-list. I'm not exactly expecting to see brilliance, but a few of 
those records have some songs that *are* pretty great, so I'm not going 
in expecting *non-brilliance* either. Not going to expect *anything*, I 
guess.

Ross

Bryon Settle wrote:
> Ok,  Never heard of Jandek until now. Very interesting. Lots of him on 
> YouTube. Kind of Roky Erickson meets Daniel Johnston and then stars in 
> an episode of Time Tunnel. The Wikipedia entry doesn't have a phonetic 
> pronunciation of Jandek but it is extensive.  Is it just how it seems or 
> is it more European with the vowels all oohs and ahhs and stuff?  I feel 
> like if one were to attend this event that one would be obliged to do 
> something to affect the performance. Performance art?
>
> Fascinating,
> Spock out
>
> Doug Sutton wrote:
> > As mentioned in passing here once or twice, Jandek will be performing at 
> > Gerrard Hall on the UNC campus, on Sunday February 22.
> >
> > He only plays a handful of shows each year.  As you may know, he 
> > generally performs with local musicians, and that will happen here.  We 
> > can't reveal the players just yet, but some of the area's best will be 
> > accompanying the representative from Corwood Industries.
> >
> > Tickets available at Chaz's, CD Alley, Schoolkids and eTix.
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> >
> >
> >   
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
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