March 19, 2002

8:37 PM

Jandek has been creating some of the most arrestingly bent music around(audio here ) for 23 years now. On top of the strangeness of his music he's so reclusive that he makes J.D. Salinger seem like a party animal. This brings out the investigative impulse in some folks, like this fan who went so far as to take pictures of his record company's PO Box, among other things. Someone else has has created this fittingly inscrutable tribute page . Jandek's music is worth a listen, but be prepared to recalibrate your understanding of the term "strange."
posted by jonmc (6 comments total)

Jandek.

I like it when I come to MF and find one of my troubled idols smack dab on the front page.
posted by tpoh.org at 8:43 PM on March 19, 2002

None of the audio samples work. I'd really like to hear this guy and see if he's got this cult following because he's good or because he's reclusive.
posted by geoff. at 10:45 PM on March 19, 2002

Wow, this is amazing. Thanks, tpoh.org. Never heard of Jandek before your post. (The audio samples work, for me, if I don't click on them directly, but "copy shortcut" and paste into WinAmp). Both the variety--from gentle melancholy, yet harmonically askew, to wild electric guitar dissonance--and the power of the music's moods are remarkable. I will have to order some of the CDs, and hear more. A level of weird intensity on the level of Captain Beefheart.
posted by Rebis at 12:06 AM on March 20, 2002

Wierd, I was thinking of blogging him just yesterday. A friend of mine in college was nuts for him, and we'd spend hours scouring record stores for elusive Jandek material... and now a quick Google and baddabing, there it is. I always found the music rather lame, and wondered if it was more about the getting than the having.
posted by mimi at 7:09 AM on March 20, 2002

Reminds me of Syd Barett.
posted by stbalbach at 7:55 AM on March 20, 2002

Here's an interesting little article about the true identity of Jandek. It also has a link to the source article from Texas Monthly, which is subscription only, alas, and a defunct link to a collection of Jandek's music.

Still digging...
posted by starvingartist at 8:20 AM on March 20, 2002