jandek

someone sent me the jandek "movie" a documentary about him.

it's all super-serious interviews with other people (i ought to be careful as ive only watched 15 minutes of it, and maybe it erupts into a carnival of colour and interest ) shots from cars over drizzly/misty mid-american plains, his kind of slightly bland/vapid strumming in the background....

hes almost like the perfect device for projecting emotion onto, the cult leader who refuses followers. when i think of him other artists like loren mazzacane connors, r stevie moore and steven stapleton come to mind, the obscurantist "toilers" who put out zillions of limited edition records. and i cant help but reflect that, in the face of the ultra-bland music (weak tunes, moaning voice, plain guitar- OK i know thats a bit harsh/dry) that its this nurturing of a cult thats been his success-point.

what his diehard fans will make of his "outing" (suddenly on stage performing) will be amusing. probably awe and delight followed by disappointment and rejection.

i bought one of his lps ages ago, cos i was well into Forced Exposure and they used to go on and on about him.... and was totally non-whelmed. definite case of cult-building and legend-inflation.

i have "somebody in the snow" and its excellent. great guitar playing.

i saw him play in glasgow last week and it really was incredible. no guitar, Jandek played 12 meditative piano pieces from a suite called "The Cell". he was accompanied by bowed double bass drone and some excellent percussion. i've never liked any of the recorded stuff i've heard from him.