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  • From: grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: Jandek in Chapel Hill
  • Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:45:02 -0500

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.
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