Jandek on Corwood

By now the myth that is Jandek could devour an entire metropolis a la the Blob. Every stone that's been turned has provided little insight into who truly lurks behind the pseudonym. Although those in my shoes would have you believe that Jandek is the master of keeping to himself, that's far from the truth. He's plastered his face over dozens of albums covers, and he's made Corwood Industries- the company that has single-handedly birthed Jandek albums to the world through sleight of hand and a P.O. Box- an easily accessible business through the pen and paper. Just write the man, and as long as you aren't hoping to pry into his personal life, he'll be more than happy to return your query with a cryptic, almost Confucius-like wisdom. He took a large step last year, gracing a European stage with an unannounced performance, and he has another one billed for this calendar year. And of course, he gave his blessing to the minds behind Jandek on Corwood, the documentary trying to discover just who is Jandek the musician.

What makes Jandek on Corwood work is how the subject is approached. This is not guerrilla storytelling. Director Chad Freidrichs doesn't go chasing the myth, nor does he seek out the origins and private life of Jandek. Instead, Freidrichs focuses on telling the story of Jandek and his music by letting Jandek's music be the focus of the story. Throughout the film dark shots of eerie landscapes, playgrounds, beaches, and small towns fill the gaps between interviews and lore. Jandek's brand of music is allowed to dictate the pace and the shape of the story, which lends itself to a wonderful tale of the power and effect the musician and his songs have on a variety of listeners.

The music may function as the centerpiece, but a documentary would be nothing without interviews and insights from the cornucopia of people involved, either directly or indirectly, in Jandek's musical life. The most compelling interviews come from those who have had the most contact with Jandek and his music. Phil Milstein, who is admittedly a huge Jandek fan, wrote the first published review of Ready for the House for Op Magazine. His insightful review not only turned a handful of adventurous publishers and music lovers into Jandek fans, but it is the singular cause behind Jandek's release of more content. John Trubee is quite possibly the diamond in the rough within Jandek on Corwood. Trubee, who was recruited to write for the then-fledgling Spin Magazine, is the only person to be interview Jandek over the telephone. Excerpts from the conversation are used to explain a myriad of subjects from Jandek's unorthodox tunings, the origin of his name, and his musical joys (Jandek digs Tom Petty. Who knew?). If the excerpts aren't enough, the DVD contains the entire phone conversation, which is worth the rental/purchase alone.

Jandek fans and haters can find something to enjoy watching Jandek on Corwood. The presentation is crisp, and the subject isn't dissected so much as inspected. No matter how many performances Jandek plans in the future; no matter how many albums he continues to push out; no matter how many people see, hear or touch him, he will always be a living example of man overcoming image to create unique sound in his own private world. It's a world we should all respect and admire, and one that we should be privileged not to inhabit beyond the occasional dalliance into Jandek's musical catalogue.

'In 1978, a musician released his first album, Ready For The House. It featured a lonely voice accompanied by acoustic guitar. His subsequent recordings made him one of the most prolific artists in contemporary music. Almost nobody has noticed.' -preface to Jandek on Corwood

Picture yourself making a documentary about a musical entity that refuses to be interviewed or photographed. By anyone. Sound daunting? Two young filmmakers, director Chad Friedrichs and producer Paul Fehler, traveled 22,000 miles, shot 50 hours of footage and interviewed 24 people to do just that.

'Little waves spill over the rocks, you can peel mica from the rocks, as it shines like smooth silver…'

The first images of the new documentary Jandek on Corwood illustrate this seemingly abstract prose perfectly. Ocean waves roll over a beach of small stones under cold gray skies. 'And there's a lighthouse in the distance…' Indeed the lighthouse is there, and suddenly the early Jandek song 'Point Judith' (from 1981's Six and Six) takes on a very literal meaning. Point Judith is an actual ocean town in Rhode Island, and the waves, rocks, and lighthouse that Jandek sang about all those years ago really do exist.

This revelation and several others concerning Jandek are thanks to the efforts of Chad Friedrichs and Paul Fehler, who worked for a year and a half to produce Jandek on Corwood, a self-financed documentary about the reclusive Texas musician who has somehow produced an enormous and cathartic body of work (34 albums and counting) without hardly anyone even noticing.

rest of review at http://www.ibrecords.com/journal/entry.php?idB4

Well here's an interesting subject for a documentary - a reclusive musician who puts out his own music under a shroud of secrecy, and the search for his true identity. Sort of an indie-rock "Who Is Bozo Texino?" Only this one is inelegant, overextended, and strained in its attempted meaningfulnesses. There's a lot of stupid cutaways - but a different kind of stupid cutaway than the last rockdoc I disliked, I'm Your Man: where the latter breaks things up with shots of birds or Leonard Cohen's soulful countenance in slow motion, this one gets all literal (A FULL MINUTE of pouring beer footage accompanies somebody saying "we went out for a beer"). Way too many interviews with smart ass white boy rock types - including an old fave, John Trubee, who donates the ultra-rare tape-of-Jandek-interview that the whole film builds up to, in fact it tells us most of the content before we get there, sigh. It's none too revealing. Around here I got the feeling that these guys were copping serious style from Errol Morris, and botching it. And well before that it occurred to me that the major 'mystery' that they try to hook us on is: "Is this dude 'crazy'???" It's the wrong question to ask, and they never make me care about the answer. I get the impression that no one in the movie likes the music, either.

there are those individuals who knew sterling before they knew jandek. to those persons, the "buzz" around and about the corwood rep is very entertaining and hilarious in the sense that it so NOT him. jandek is sterling, but sterling is definitely not jandek. corwood doesn't perform in houston because of this. sterling loves houston because of the heat, the humidity and the vegetation. he is extremely cordial to his friends and fellow artists and he is very intense and serious about his artistic vision. he couldn't care less about publicity unless it points and draws attention to his art/music. however, i do sense that he is coming out of his shell and maybe in the near future will actually conduct written interviews with certain elements of the press. but don't hold your breath on that one.

This documentary examines Jandek, a Texas based musician who does scary blues inspired folk rock. Jandek has amassed a small cult following due to his prolific output (close to 50 albums on his own label Corwood Industries since 1978) and his obsessive behavior of being a recluse. Who is Jandek? Or, more appropriate, what is Jandek? We see interviews with lots of Jandek fans and writers who have profiled him. They all give their thoughts and theories on who this man is, why he does what he does and the mystery behind this guy. JANDEK ON CORWOOD is fascinating in that it continues the mythos of the man rather than solving the mystery (which I am sure is how Jandek wanted it). As one interviewee states, "My reaction to hearing about it was a lot strong than my reaction to actually hearing it." It also examines the definitions of what art is and the resulting satisfactions from it are. Should we look down or up to a guy who craves no commercial success or recognition (I looked up some info on Jandek after seeing this and was surprised to find out that he recently did his first live show in 2004. Naturally, it was done secretly with no advance word)?