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Various

A Second Tribute To Jandek: Down In A Mirror (2005)
Summersteps

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Jesse
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on August 30th 2005

Of course I've heard of Jandek! With the documentary about the enigmatic singer/songwriter two years ago, who hasn't? What? Have I actually HEARD any Jandek songs? Of course not! He's incredibly enigmatic! I'm just a boy hailing from Canada's little sibling -- I'm fairly content with our native son; you must realize, of course, that I'm addressing Mr. Bob Dylan. Well okay, Bob and Bruce. We can't forget The Boss, now, can we? And Neil. Mr. Young has quite a few albums on my iPod. And Tom Petty, and Paul Simon, and Johnny Cash -- well, you get the picture. I'm familiar with the regulars. But alas! I must review this Jandek tribute!

It's sort of hard doing this whole review thing not knowing how a Jandek song would normally sound like. I mean, the Jeff Tweedy cover sounds like Jeff Tweedy; the same can be said for Okkervil River, Mountain Goats, and Six Organs Of Admittance. The other groups I do not know, but I can assume that their songs would too sound like fairly general material from them.

A Real Knife Head? Ross Beach? Pothole Skinny? Know these artists? I know I don't. And though it's pretty cool hearing these songs for the first time, I think I'd like the Jandek versions better. From basic chord structure and lyrics, I sense a strong talent that doesn't seem like it could be hindered, even by a poor execution (though I'm not assuming that Jandek has a poor execution of his own material).

So what did I learn from this? Well, (A) Summersteps doesn't have the money to pay enough big names to do a tribute album where I'd recognize more than four artists, and (B) I'm fairly interested in this Jandek guy. So as far as I see it, tribute albums have two purposes: (1) Give hardcore fans a different take on their favorite artists' songs, and (2) give people exposure to new music though the way of artists they already know. I think this has accomplished the latter.

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Anonymous (August 31, 2005)

I wish I could have seem him play live.

I love jandek. love him.

didnt know this existed, might have to check it out. the mountain goats covering jandek seems agreeable to me.

wyzo

blade-runner (August 31, 2005)

score is for Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash

Anonymous (August 30, 2005)

The thing with Jandek is that his bad guitar playing/weirdness is totally insincere. If it was actually a mental patient or something, that would be cool, but it's some dude who evidently owns a business and makes a good living pretending to be some mysterious musician. Boring.

I think he serves the purpose of proving that annoying indie kids will put ANYTHING on a pedestal.

Same goes for "Wolf Eyes"

-Will

rkl (August 30, 2005)

jandek is music that indie kids look to put on a pedestal and talk about, without actually being able to identify any of the songs.
no, im not trolling. yes, this is real life experience.

i have an album on disc somewhere, it sucks. and i listen to a lot of shitty music, but this is just bad.

Anonymous (August 30, 2005)

Jandek has nothing to do with dancing. Or primitivism.

He's just some guy who pretends to be crazy and releases his records anonymously.

Pretty stupid stuff.

-Will

fistchode (August 30, 2005)

I haven't heard Jandek though.. I'm thinking of more punkish examples. I could be totally off within this context.

fistchode (August 30, 2005)

do you like dancing like a mental patient? if yes, then you'll like what some consider "unlistenable noise", and what others consider the motherfucking vibe.

Anonymous (August 30, 2005)

I don't see why people pretend to "appreciate" unlistenable noise.

if you want to know the truth, it's because they think that it makes other people think highly of them. like it's something beyond regular people's grasp, but they're able to "get" it. i see enough people like this that i think that's the answer.

stevejonestherealbones (August 30, 2005)

usually i can read your reviews, but that opening was just way too excited for me to deal with right now. perhaps later

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Anonymous (August 30, 2005)

You haven't heard Jandek?

It's a guy pretending to be crazy and hitting his guitar and humming/singing. And sometimes a guy is hitting a bongo in the background.

"Oh this is real art!" Not

I don't see why people pretend to "appreciate" unlistenable noise.

-Will