The 1981 Listening Post - Jandek - Six and Six

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 Jandek Six And Six Genre: Man In A Dark Room With A Broken Guitar Rating: 2 out of 5 I was right in the middle of listening to Lou Reed and Metallica's 2011 one collaborative album “Lulu” for the first (and last) time when I was asked to review one of Jandek’s 1981 albums. While I wasn't enthusiastic about hearing another Jandek album. I was happy to get a break from “Lulu.” That album pretty much consists of modern day Metallica doing the modern day Metallica thing with Lou Reed rambling on like a cranky old beat poet over the top of it. Occasional metal vocals courtesy of James Hetfield of course. I like Lou Reed but I don't encourage anyone to go out of their way to hear that album. If you had told me that Jandek’s “Sixes and Sixes” was a “Lulu” cover album, or vice versa, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. To be fair, Reed is more verbose and talks with a more of a “hip New Yorker” kind of jive to Jandek’s quiet caterwauling, but both albums feel like vehicles for bitter rambling / beat poetry. This album is to my ear almost identical to “Staring at the Cellophane”, and I can’t find anything new to say about it. I did however do some listening *about* Jandek including a lengthy interview with fellow weirdster John Trubee which I found much more enjoyable than the music.[1] Jandek comes across like a pretty down-to-earth guy, if a bit eccentric.[2] They spend a while talking about the poetry of his lyrics, and I must say that his album titles, largely excerpted from his lyrics, are often haunting and evocative: “Chair Beside a Window”, “Living in a Moon So Blue,” Your Turn to Fall,” “Telegraph Melts.” Jandek calls out "I Knew You Would Leave" from “Six and Six” as one of his favorite lyrics and I listened back to that one without finding myself any more engaged by it. Ultimately I’d rate Jandek higher than Lou and Metallica though. While I can’t knock these bigger names for their experimentation, the results don’t mesh, and the result sounds contrived. Jandek on the other hand is clearly true to himself, and I’d rather listen to his sour self portraits any day. ********** 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiF6yBRzA3w 2. Jandek claims he tunes his guitar frequently, often between each song, but tunes it to whatever he feels is right as opposed to relying on tuners. (He is well aware that his tunings are unconventional.) He reports listening to a wide variety of music, although Tom Petty is the only artist he namechecks (aside from a classical composer whose name I missed). Jandek targeted releasing 2-3 albums a year lest he fade into obscurity, although he seems well enough aware that he is not everyone’s cup of tea. He pays the production charges himself, presses 300 copies of each album, and appears to mostly give them away to interested parties, radio stations, etc.