The Rocks Crumble
Jandek album #8, The Rocks Crumble. Released in 1983.
Well. Where was I for a week or so? Thought I was gonna blog a Jandek album a day, every day, until I had 'em all done? Nope. I will eventually get to all of them, but man does not live by Jandek alone. I got busy, and Thanksgiving and work and all sorts of other things happened. So, in order to keep you from too much information, I'll let you know this: D.Verada's first album is in the manufacturing stage. While I was away, I didn't forge ahead and listen to any Jandek albums in advance of the reviewing. So here is the review.
There's a drum set on the cover. The drums are prominent on this record. But first, two songs of acoustic guitar and vocal, including "Birthday", another version of the song that Nancy sang on "Nancy Sings" a few albums back, and the one that Jandek sang when John played drums on "John Plays Drums". Then the electricity kicks in. Three versions of "European Jewel" are back to back here, making it five versions altogether for this song in Jandek's catalog. Where's the remix? First, the song is played with electric guitar. Strange. When Jandek plays electric, he uses the fretboard a lot and plays full chords as well as individual notes. When he's acoustic, he's almost exclusively playing open strings. Then for the second version, "European Jewel II", the drums are banging away randomly. Then the song is played AGAIN for "European Jewel 501", with the drums getting a little bit closer to playing in sync with the guitar.
The rest of the songs continue with interesting wordplay on "Message to The Clerk", parts one and two, "Breathtaker", "Lonesome Company", and "Same Road". Looks like Jandek may be on the way to a cohesive album here, in his own unique way.
Well. Where was I for a week or so? Thought I was gonna blog a Jandek album a day, every day, until I had 'em all done? Nope. I will eventually get to all of them, but man does not live by Jandek alone. I got busy, and Thanksgiving and work and all sorts of other things happened. So, in order to keep you from too much information, I'll let you know this: D.Verada's first album is in the manufacturing stage. While I was away, I didn't forge ahead and listen to any Jandek albums in advance of the reviewing. So here is the review.
There's a drum set on the cover. The drums are prominent on this record. But first, two songs of acoustic guitar and vocal, including "Birthday", another version of the song that Nancy sang on "Nancy Sings" a few albums back, and the one that Jandek sang when John played drums on "John Plays Drums". Then the electricity kicks in. Three versions of "European Jewel" are back to back here, making it five versions altogether for this song in Jandek's catalog. Where's the remix? First, the song is played with electric guitar. Strange. When Jandek plays electric, he uses the fretboard a lot and plays full chords as well as individual notes. When he's acoustic, he's almost exclusively playing open strings. Then for the second version, "European Jewel II", the drums are banging away randomly. Then the song is played AGAIN for "European Jewel 501", with the drums getting a little bit closer to playing in sync with the guitar.
The rest of the songs continue with interesting wordplay on "Message to The Clerk", parts one and two, "Breathtaker", "Lonesome Company", and "Same Road". Looks like Jandek may be on the way to a cohesive album here, in his own unique way.
posted by Bill @ 12:17 AM
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