ihatemusic

Jandek has started playing funk music, this is footage from two days ago of his first ever Houston gig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLwiYpSTFE

Seriously!

second ever houston gig, actually. he played an unannounced set with loren conors and alan licht a couple years back.

i'm not entirely sorry i missed it, but it does sound pretty ... interesting?

m

That was a recording of my band in seventh grade, sartorial proclivities notwithstanding.

i recognized most of the audience.

my friends who were there had a good time. but i'm with you on the musical content of that video, herr schaumann.

m

What was he saying about shirts? I'm not saying it wasn't enjoyable. If they would've done one of those 'back to back' Michael Anthony/Eddie Van Halen moves, it would've effectively ended youtube's significance.

why is his guitar in standard tuning?

why is he dressed like Simon LeBon?

Why do people like Jandek?

Dan Warburton wrote:Why do people like Jandek?

He's funky.

jpeatt wrote:He's funky.

Willful obscurity in your cornflakes.

at a stage in his career jandek had an inexplicable and unique touch of the blues.

for a while now he's just been playing jandek music, which can be pleasant enough but it doesn't have the same thrill. or any at all, sometimes.

m

jpeatt wrote:

Dan Warburton wrote:Why do people like Jandek?

He's funky.

Gee, it's great to have you back here!

yeah, what Mark said. possibly what Joe said also, although I do think he just got lamer around the time he became better known, coincidentally or not.

original IHM cover boy!

This clip sucks. I'm shocked at the positive response from the audience and even moreso by the chatter on the Jandek list. As funk music it's average at best, as Jandek it's awful.

Further reading here:
http://nhennies.livejournal.com/452734.html

It's hard to imagine that anyone who's ever been inside a practice room tryin' to be a band could get any enjoyment out of this, live even less so. Still, I might be able to enjoy it as a conceptual move if a) somebody convinced me that this isn't uncomfortably close to the principles behind the very worst Fall records, and b) if the guys behind bass and drums were just faking it and not reveling in the fact that everybody laps up their basest instincts.

I'm having a very hard time trying to enjoy this, one way or another .. never been a fan of jandek, but i've seen some clips on youtube of him playing in the uk that I think were very interesting. At least the rhythm section and Jandek were actually connected and the music was going places.

I mean, yeah, you can probably look at this as being some sort of conceptual art, but as far as I'm concerned it's just a boring funk riff with some uninspired guitar noise on top of it, and the only reason that the crowd enjoys it and takes pictures is because it's Jandek on stage ..

But then again, I just had to laugh when the drummer started hitting on the cup of his ride cymbal .. for me, that was the indication that this whole performance is just a big joke.

whyyyyy...

I've always been under the impression that it would have made no difference to Jandek whether he was playing with the drummer from six organs like he had or a with top 40 studio musician... I guess this kind of confirms that he really is that out of touch.
I generally like him despite his few shitty records- but this video is making me re-think that.

dude should have stayed in his room. things like this make me wonder how much of jandek's appeal was his image... his whole thing doesn't seem so far off from the kind of marketing you'd see in any small business. jandek's is the "tortured, reclusive, outsider genius" niche market. now that that's gone, what's left? someone point me to a good record that will prove me wrong; i still haven't heard something really great from the guy. all i know is that if i paid $20 or whatever to see this, i'd be furious. i can go to guitar center and subject myself to this shit anytime i want for free.

that being said, i should say i've heard maybe 3 jandek albums, so i'm prepared to eat my words. that's just how it seems, though.

you can't come in with expectations, he won't live up to them. that being said, there was something there at one point, as was said upthread already.

and yeah, I'm not watching this.

jon abbey wrote:you can't come in with expectations, he won't live up to them. that being said, there was something there at one point, as was said upthread already.

and yeah, I'm not watching this.

yeah i guess i just missed the boat. i can imagine it being cool coming out of nowhere not having any idea who the guy is, then hearing some actual substance in the course of all that. unfortunately, it's hard for me to see that substance right now, but perhaps i'll spend some time taking a closer look with the ones that always get talked about.

i've read a lot of reviews and a lot of praise for Jandek, but when i listen to his records or when i see videos of him playing, i just keep thinking, "i know you know how to play guitar. just do it!!!" and get frustrated after 5 minutes and turn it off.

Jandek, just play your fucking guitar!!!!