Monday 23 July 2018

Jandek ‎– "Graven Image" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0761) 1994




"Remember Jandek Monday and keep it Holy", said the big bully in the sky.....he/it/she also said....
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"!?

In other words this anthropomorphic sado-masochistic entity;...you know...the one who demands us to love 'it' by making us shit scared of 'it';the one who used his finger to carve these words on a tablet of stone,... is saying "Don't have any Idols",which is probably the best advice he/it/she ever gave. Unless 'God' was refering to a Jandek album, in which case its the stupidest advice ever given.
Fittingly there is no Graven Image of outsider number one on the cover.Just one of those photo's that never get put in a photo album,and is just left in a pile of rejects in a plastic bag at the bottom of a cupboard. Its the same house that appears on another religiously referenced Jandek LP from the nineties, "Twelfth Apostle",but this time from the backyard looking onto the street.
The same view is used on the next album too, "Glad To Get Away"(scheduled for next monday is that one).
The songs are shorter on this,his 23rd message in a bottle which was set adrift in 1994,and washed ashore, nowhere in particular,relatively recently in public terms(in fact this was Jandeks first CD release!?).There's even a light hearted novelty tune in "Janky". There's also an accordian solo,and some ear piercing harmonica.All this augments the usual intimate moaning,soul bearing and stubbornly anti-music guitar work.Jandek remains as enigmatic and mysterious as ever; seemingly oblivious to the outside world.

Tracklist:

1 Remain The Same 1:29
2 Helena 2:04
3 Ghost Town By The Sea 3:00
4 A Real Number 2:13
5 Be Going Down 2:07
6 Nothing You Lack 2:03
7 Chilocothe 2:35
8 For You And I 2:48
9 Janky 2:27
10 Lake Lagoon 2:36
11 Philip Was Mentioned 3:01
12 Closing 2:21
13 Fishing Blues 2:44
14 Going Away My Darling 5:10
15 Going Away 2:13



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

possibly my favorite jandek--haven't heard it in years---thank you!