That's actually the first thing I thought when I heard him.

I wouldn't call Jandek a genius, but he's well worth his admiration. I'm convinced he's 100% aware of what he's doing at all times, and not just some holed up genius tossing out his honest emotions. It's more a matter of a guy finding a unique image and pulling it off flawlessly. The mystery thing fits his style of writing just right, so he hit gold.

Yeah, exactly.

I have read for years that they think Jandek is some idiot, some retarded dude who doesn't know what he's doing, whatever...

He knows exactly what he's doing..

I've decided I'm going to try to get my hands on (through downloads, mostly) every Jandek studio album and listen to it all in order. I only have like 10 or 11, so I'm going to be spending a lot of time on Soulseek, and probably a good deal of money on Amazon/eBay/whatever.

I just listened to Ready the House through Chair Beside a Window today, and the evolution is exciting. So I'm going to do this. Having a hard time finding Cellophane on Soulseek, though, so that'll be my first actual purchase.

Totally. I already was of that school, but seeing him live sunk the deal. No way this guy didn't play live all these years because he couldn't! He's literally one of the best front men and in control players I've ever seen (and I've seen more than a few). Without speaking a word that wasn't in a song, he held the crowd transfixed for over two hours and never hit a bad note, all in songs none of us had heard before. He must have been playing in a blues band in Houston under another name all these years, because there's no way he doesn't have tons of stage experience. He just starved his audience for that experience for decades in a completely calculated move.

He is a genius too. One of the greatest musical artists of all time, and I won't qualify that with a condescending "independent" in front of musical artist either.

Repped.

WESLEY WILLIS - "JANDEK"
You are a strange musician.
You are a mystery to the world.
The people flock to wonder about you.
You are a good person.

Jaaannnndek
Jaaaannndek
Jaaaannndek
Jaaaaanndek

In 1988 you released an album called "Blue Corpse"
People don't know who you are.
You release an album a year.
You want to be left alone.

Jaaaaanndek
Jaaaaanndek
Jaaaaanndek
Jaaaaanndek


Your record label is called Corwood.
Your acoustic guitar whupped a llama's ass.
You painted your teeth once.
You have red hair.

Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek

Rock over London. Rock on Chicago.
Wheaties, breakfast of champions.

Jandek is my uncle.

His name is Mikey.

pretty sure you might be full of shit on that one lil buddy. anyways, i went ahead and bought ready for the house. i was gonna buy it on amazon for cheaper, but i said "eh, fuck it. i'll go ahead and get it straight from teh source". so i mailed $8 to the corwood industries po box in houston. i sure hope he still runs that thing. i really wanna hear it now. thanks for ya'll's help. :)

bump.

Partying with Jandek.

i finally got ready for teh house. it's pretty good, but i gotta admit all the music sounds pretty much the same. what should i get next?

the newest one is fucking amazing.. myth of blue icicles

Hahahahahaha. Two of my favorite things in the universe unexpectedly collide. I need to hear this. Do you happen to know which WW album it's on?

I really want to listen to Ready For The House now and focus on the differences between each song. I usually just float through it like a single song, but it's the kind of thing I know I'll appreciate more if I focus on it.

this is still one of the best posts I've read on this board

The reason I have been accepted
Is that I failed to come on strong
Found a chair beside a window
Found a place where I belong
Inside myself there is no question
Just the jangle of our brain

I didn't think anything of it when I first listened to my downloaded copy. It was my first Jandek album. I was kinda leaning towards the "cool guy to read about, but his music...eh..." camp. It wasn't until I bought it and had the cover art and the lyrics in front of me that I began to appreciate how brilliant it is. It really does demand yr full attention.

No idea what Wesley album it's off of or if it's actually even a Wesley song, found it on a message board a long time ago and saved it haha. Even if it's not real, you can take a Casio keyboard and pretty much get the exact same sound. You don't even need to hear it :)

Jandek is god.

Anyone got / seen the Manhattan Tuesday DVD? I'm interested in the accompanying musicians (Heyner / Connors / Corsano) as much as in Jandek.

six and six...
i haven't listened to a lot of his stuff (and there are plenty of records to listen to...) but that's the first one i got and i really like it.