Jandek- Interstellar Discussion[1984]

Jandek's music is as enigmatic and more-than-vaguely creepy as the man who makes it. Though guesses have been made as to his identity, none have been confirmed, and any record sales or contact are made through a man who refers to himself as "a representative of Corwood Industries". Intrigued by this weird folk-*hero* sort of lore, I decided to go through Jandek's entire catalog chronologically, and it's already become sort of an obsession.

On this, his tenth release, Jandek uses more varied instrumentation, mostly his freakishly distorted and rattling electric guitar (played in his own "black key" tuning), pounding drums, and shrieking harmonica. Jandek's voice itself could also be considered an instrument. It never quite hits the right notes (not that you can tell which ones he's going for) and it's got a tribal sort of whelping intonation to it. This strange little ensemble cobbles together some of the most atonal and creeped-out things ever. I say things, because I can't come up with an apt descriptor for most of these tracks.

The lyrics are just beyond what a normal human mind could create. Think of every single person you know- none of them could generate the sort of thoughts that come out in Jandek's lyrics. Sometimes a lunatic, sometimes a loser, there are a lot of different moods present here, but none of them fall on the sunny side of things. The two lines that make up "Starless"(I must say what I say/Listen-- what I say) really set the mood for the whole experience, an experience that I'd expect to be somewhat similar to being kidnapped and forced to listen to a maniac's shocking memories. Everything's in present-tense, and it's either directed at "you" or "I". Sometimes he throws a phone number in there- who knows?(547-3668). If you read the lyrics, they're a little bit weird, if simple. Jandek's delivery, however, turns them inside out with yowls, groans, and barks.

This is the man who epitomized outsider music. He's the ultimate outsider, somehow making public appearances without revealing anything but his face. I don't think anyone else can play like this, because this twisting vision doesn't exist for anyone else. Even if you just have this on in the background, there will be lines and sections that jump out at you. A burst of noise, a line that you need to hear in context(there might not be any)- you'll find yourself going back to try and understand it a little bit better, not that there's much there for you to understand.