Okay, I think I need a big change of plans for my Jandek review project.
First, I'm not going to post the reviews in the order that I first listened to the albums anymore. I find that I keep having to rewrite my sloppy reviews from a year ago if I actually try to go in that order. However, I have tons and tons of actually finished reviews just sitting in the vault that I want to get over with already, so I'm just going to post a bunch of those at once even if they're not in order.
Second, I unfortunately don't think my schedule is going to allow me to review every single album anymore. I will definitely still listen to all of his albums, though, so I can make some charts/guides for new Jandek fans. Also, I'll write out the lyrics for any albums that don't have lyrics online. I will definitely prioritize finishing reviews of albums that I rate at least an 8 or albums that are just generally interesting.
Anyway, here's my review of Jandek's album The Beginning (1999).
The Beginning definitely freshens up the repetitive album formula that we’ve been hearing for a while now. It starts with “It’s February”, which would be unremarkable in the middle of any other album, but I think it’s a perfect opener to this one, especially if you kinda know what you’re in for. “You Standing There” is a rework of the same song from New Town, and it’s much better. It’s faster and more complex, but nothing I haven’t heard before.
The next two are more of the rhythmic, atonal plucking similar to the other albums. “Moving Slow” has an unusually dissonant ending but I don’t see it as very significant. “Falling Down Deep” was a big surprise because it’s actually melodic fingerpicking and sounds challenging to play. This is basically what I expected when I first heard that Jandek used alternate tunings (but before I actually listened to any of the songs), before I learned that he mostly just strummed with open tunings. I like how the song hints at usual melody progressions, but defies your expectations every time. Definitely one of the best on this album, and from this 90s era in general. The lyrics are about alcoholism and falling deep into depression, and it makes me sad.
“Lonesome Bridge” has a typical guitar part, but I really enjoyed Jandek’s passionate and off-key (do these songs have a key?) vocal performance about a man who apparently chooses to be homeless. “A Dozen Drops” sounds really lo-fi and reminds me of “Down in a Mirror”. The lyrics quote 3 older Jandek songs - “Nancy Sings” (whose lyrics have been repeated a lot throughout the discography), “You’re Not Even Alive” (from Twelfth Apostle), and “God Came Between Us). The vocal delivery was a lot quieter and more timid than the original songs they came from, and feels very meaningful. The song somehow feels like Jandek’s overview of his art and, well, his memories (he really pours his whole self out into these songs) before he goes completely insane on what follows. The song goes on for a few minutes as an instrumental, which isn’t that interesting, but a little bittersweet in that it’s the last Jandek guitar plucking we’ll hear for a while.
Finally, we get to the last song, the title track, 15 minutes long. Jandek’s 26th album (or something, I'm not keeping count, I dunno) and he is 54 years old and he finally records himself playing piano and it sounds like a toddler trying to play a piano which has not been tuned in centuries. It actually sounds like ME trying to improvise on piano (which I do sometimes, yes) and I don’t know jack about playing piano properly. While the technique sounds untrained, the emotion within the song is very genuine. I can say that while the song may have been easy to make, I don’t think anyone else in the world could or would have made it, and it’s one of the most emotionally stirring pieces in the Jandek discography so far. The high notes feel like glass or ice, and the low notes feel like the cacophonies of hell. It can get quite disturbing or shocking at times. I did have a fun time imagining a middle aged man playing the piano so passionately and intensely, yet not knowing how to play in a trained way. I could choose to hate this song, but I'm going to choose to love it instead. And I think that’s how I'm going to feel about this album too. What a concept.
7.8/10
Essential album?: Yes
Essential songs:
Falling Down Deep*
A Dozen Drops
The Beginning*
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