*the* place for collaborative e-snowboarding
Posted by ConorClockwise on 2007-06-09 17:45:09 +0000
Jandek @ ICA - Boston, 8 June 2007, "The House of Despair"
What Jandek does is art, but it feels starkly immature for a 50 year old man. At some point in art there is craftsmanship (or in this case, musicianship) keeping the audience engaged by letting us know there were choices made. If not, it is chaos, and we are left staring at the sun listening to radio static. "The House of Despair" was not chaos, but it's close enough that an unknowing ear may have thought Jandek picked up the bass guitar for the first time twelve hours ago.
I discussed this with fellow Jandek concert goers, and we all realized about 10 minutes in that we were going to see essentially one song for two hours: a jumble of free jazz drums, complete with bells, a dozen types of sticks, and violin bows on cymbals; avant-garde sax and meandering processed lyricon; a trumpet muted five ways often being sucked instead of blown, while scraped with sheet metal or steel wool; and finally Jandek himself, a fountain of anti-harmony, tweaking pallid bass tones, concerned much more about how high on the fretless the fingers on his right hand strummed than the actually notes he created with his left.
It was without melody, scale, and key, and it was almost devoid of pace entirely. The lyrics were weak and nasal often repeating "she knocked on my door", "house of despair", "she doesn't know I know", etc. Some audience members slept until a stop for applause, which happened nine or ten times, but only as pauses, not for changes in the sound (except for the drummer). People were bored; some left an hour in. And were it not for the spectacle of Jandek pushing the envelope of music in a truly artistic space, it would have been a failure that even a ten year old could have matched.
We all know Picasso had stated that he dearly wanted to and tried to paint like an innocent child, but does that mean he drew stick figures?
(D+)
Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-06-09 11:49:21 +0000
Fair 'nuff.
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-06-09 12:06:33 +0000
A triumph.
A+.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-09 16:19:58 +0000
Obviously I need to preface all of this by noting that I was not in attendance of this particular show, and my defense of Jandek therefore is cumulative and not of this specific ICA performance.
Improvised, Creative, Experimental, Avant-Garde, Outsider (or WTF you want to call it) music, at least in my humble opinion, is about texture, emotion, and even more importantly, REACTION (especially if there is more than one musician).
When the music is less or completely un-rehearsed and there are no moorings or landmarks like key, melody, harmony, or whatever, performers need to be even more bound to one another than if they did have such traditional musical building blocks to hold on to.
If the musicians aren't in tune with one another, one or more players will really stick out in a bad way.
Upon an evening of similar "challenging music" in NYC, my sister and Jackie expressed many of the above sentiments in reaction to the Cecil Taylor set they had just witnessed. 'My pets make more pleasant sounds, a child could do this, etc.'
I understand and appreciate that a vast majority of people who fervently enjoy and appreciate music have trouble with all the atonal type of stuff.
After doing a radio show laden with this genre for over ten years, I have a few observations:
1.
In my experience, Like meditation and mindfulness, to fully experience this type of stuff your mind has to be completely silent and absorbent to everything in the present (I'm thinking specifically of Thich Nhat Hanh here for some reason), sometimes when I go to a performance such as this, I sit and try to "get" or "receive" what is going on around me and just cant get into it, focus on it, or comfortably integrate the sounds I'm experiencing.
It's almost as if Im a radio tuner that is endlessly going around in "Seek" mode without finding a channel. I think about who I'm meeting for dinner afterward or about leaving before the encore or what Im doing at work the next week. If I am not well-rested (which is like always with a nitro-fueled three year old) I may fall asleep. All of this is ok. I have found sometimes in the middle of lets say Peter Brotzmann, or Cecil Taylor, or Art Ensemble of Chicago any and/or all of the above have washed over me.
However, for me, it is always worth waiting around because my mind does almost always eventually lock in to the present and the reactions and emotions of the performers and its just as exhilirating as any yoga or meditation session.
2. A little bit goes a long way.
My show was only an hour a week for a reason. The music has and will probably always have a limited audience, but even as a big fan of this type of music, I am not always in the right frame of mind for it.
3.People generally react negativly to things that are unfamiliar to them.
You'd get some really rabid phonecalls from folks asking you 'what the hell is wrong with the station, is it broken?', or, 'If ______ recorded a bowel movement would you go out and buy that and talk about how wonderful that is, too?'
I am painfully aware of the emperor's new clothes argument, but ultimately I like to support creative people who are unafraid to fail and experiment with everything that they've got. Thank God there are Jandeks in this world.
What would happen if we locked Conor in a room with a pair of testosterone-filled speakers and a six disc changer loaded up with Ascension, Machine Gun, Torture Garden, Free Jazz, Metal Machine Music, and Blue Corpse? :)
Posted by pamsterdam on 2007-06-09 17:03:47 +0000
DU, you and I both know that I'll never truly "get" your most beloved music. Masada is about as far down the "jazz" route I'm willing to travel (I won't be lame and say that I'm unable to go further - that would be fibbing). (And for clarification's sake, I class pretty much anything that's considered difficult to listen to as a form of jazz).
That being said, after reading your explanation above I am much better able to "get" your love of the genre, if not the genre itself. Thanks for taking the time.
Posted by ConorClockwise on 2007-06-09 17:33:45 +0000
Good applicable points, except #3. "The House of Despair" was TOO familiar to everyone. After 15 minutes of juvenile banging on instruments, we heard nothing new; the tone, the interplay, the musician's reactions were played out. The music had reached its limit, and eager Jandek fans started getting bored. Like listening to someone else's 3 year old play piano, it's fun for about 10 minutes (maybe less) and then you realize you want something unfamiliar, something different.
And to answer your question, MF DU:
I don't know, as I don't know the things you've listed. Yet, if they're anything like "The House of Despair", I would wonder why someone recorded them. And the more I listened, the more I'd wonder, wishing for the choatic sounds of moving water, wind, or traffic.
Posted by Jandekian on 2007-06-10 09:16:40 +0000
.......uh.......he's not 50 yrs old. he's 61.
-jandekian/texas
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-06-10 14:17:19 +0000
A link to this page was posted on the Jandek listserv -- sayin'.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-10 17:55:54 +0000
Sorry about the infinite italics.
Before Friday's show, the glob ran a two page feature on the Corwood representative.
The Jandek list Epoisses alluded to was hilarious -
I just read some of that listserv and one of the guys posted proved my point exactly - he had been up since 5:45 am and had been in the sun before the show.
I kept falling asleep awhile ago at a Chris Ware show @ the Brattle and it was simply because I had been burning the candle at both ends.
I used to increduously wonder how anybody watching a movie could fall asleep mid-movie when in a theater - this was before kids.
Before Friday's show, the glob ran a two page feature on the Corwood representative.
The Jandek list Epoisses alluded to was hilarious -
I just read some of that listserv and one of the guys posted proved my point exactly - he had been up since 5:45 am and had been in the sun before the show.
I kept falling asleep awhile ago at a Chris Ware show @ the Brattle and it was simply because I had been burning the candle at both ends.
I used to increduously wonder how anybody watching a movie could fall asleep mid-movie when in a theater - this was before kids.
Posted by tgl on 2007-06-10 21:17:44 +0000
Plagiarist.
Posted by tgl on 2007-06-10 21:19:53 +0000
I couldn't keep my eyes open throughout "Crap's Last Tape" performed at the Irish National Theater for similar reasons. Although, I had no trouble handling a few more pints after the performance.
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-06-10 22:01:23 +0000
Best review ever, that.
Posted by mr. mister on 2007-06-10 22:27:11 +0000
Although I made fun of the show for about 2 hours afterward, I found it interesting and refreshing. THe trumpet player did not "play" his trumpet he breathed into it to get a cool rare sound Jandek did not "play" the bass very well. He used it to create a mood. The mood was very claustrophobic. What was cool about the free jam style in the key of E minor for 2 hours was that the lyrical content was the repeating factor. So after a while you could latch on and visualize the House of Paiiiinnnnn. I thought the drummer was a bit much and should have backed off and done more ambience and less I'm a jazz drummer, but that stuff is generally great because it is hard to find the beat but when you do it blows your mind because it is dark and brooding and more emotionally charged because it's improv and it will never sound the same again ever and he will never sing that way again ever and thank god I didn't do any drugs before that show.
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-06-11 00:59:02 +0000
Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-11 08:27:22 +0000
I'm really digging Seth Tisue's photos. Thanks Epoisses. Did you get to meet Seth at the show?
Also, here is a write-up from the Herald.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-11 08:29:32 +0000
Anytime I will take the time for you, Pamsterdam ;)
Posted by G lib on 2007-06-11 09:12:04 +0000
Here here. I love your explanation.
Posted by tendiamonds on 2007-06-11 10:01:40 +0000
Where where?
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-06-11 13:00:30 +0000
I didn't meet Seth. I DID meet Byron Coley, who said "oh yeah, you're touring your book this summer, right?"
!!!
Posted by Epoisses on 2007-06-12 23:51:06 +0000
The Phoenix.
Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-06-13 10:57:11 +0000
Well... here's hoping they still pick you up.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-06-25 12:32:05 +0000
I am reading Byron Coley's liner notes to the expanded/remastered 'Daydream Nation' as I am typing this... Cool recollections of Sonic Youth playing TT the Bears as "The Steve Shelley Experience" circa pre 1988 after SY left SST but before they were on "Blast First" (I seem to remember Daydream Nation on cassette before the DGC hoopla on an 'Enigma' imprint, but that could be a faulty memory, I dunno).
Posted by dyedon8 on 2007-12-10 23:50:21 +0000
All Things Considered.
Posted by MF DU on 2007-12-11 01:26:16 +0000
This is not true, but I was reading the 'Jandek Listserv' (It's okay - I'm married and it keeps me off the streets at night) a while ago and a couple of listers there claim there is a Wesley Willis piece dedicated to our favorite recluse from Houston. Its worth repeating nonetheless:
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.
You played a concert in Ireland that whupped a llama's
ass.
You drank beer with a reporter and saw "The Matrix."
You have red hair.
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Jaaannnndek
Rock on Houston. Rock on Chicago.
Wheaties, breakfast of champions.
Posted by mahatma chani on 2007-12-11 14:11:14 +0000
I wanted to die!
E-mail to tgl@rideside.net to add your tumblr.
Find me on github.