June 11, 2008

Hey Everybody! Carol & I Got Married! Here we are at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas:






















Here we are after the ceremony at the Fireside Lounge inside the Peppermill restaurant:















Oh yes, it was a very good day!

Aircheck: The May 24, 2008 Edition of Reverend Dan's Music For Nimrods

I said that I would, and damned if I did! This here is the aircheck of last Saturday's program, and I know you're going to dig it. No playlist as of yet, because I want you to be surprised when you listen to the radio. The file is hosted at Megaupload, so lemme know if all goes well when you try to download this 166mb file! Click on my dinosaur friend and myself, then on the new page type in the 3-digit code and hit enter! On the next page that appears, find the column headed "free". At the bottom of that column, you should see a countdown, usually starting around 45 or so. When that gets to zero, a new download button should appear. Hit that button and it should start the download. Enjoy The Show!

Can't you just tape me and play it backwards?

Ever wonder what Stella and I look like while we're on the radio at KXLU? Wonder no more!

Listening to Jandek - #01: Ready for the House

Jandek

Ready for the House

Corwood #0739

Released 1978

To bring you up to date, Jandek has released about 52 records, and I haven't heard one of them. So I'm going to listen to each one in chronological order. And tell you about it. We begin at the beginning, Jandek's first release, Ready for the House. It was released in 1978. These are my impressions.

It's a guy and his guitar. Can't get more rock and roll than that. This guy is so rock and roll that he doesn't even TOUCH the fretboard of his guitar. And it sounds like he doesn't even care if you hear his songs anyway.

1 - Naked In The Afternoon

Notes get plucked on an acoustic guitar, words get sung, and the beat is monstrous. The beat is not however on the record. The beat is hidden away in all the silence of the record, but it comes stomping out anyway. Mental picture of a janitor at an early rock and roll recording studio taking some time out during his graveyard shift to try his hand at what them blues cats was playing earlier.

2 - First You Think Your Fortune's Lovely

He's a sonombulist blues howler. Holding a melting watch in his left hand. Singing in an abandoned saloon. I don't know what he's singing about, but so far, the album doesn't stink.

3 - What Can I Say, What Can I Sing

Finger picking, like slow wind chimes. Still not touching the fretboard. Floating around David Lynch's grandmother's room. Jandek appears singing this song on the black and white television set. A long sad message is being recorded on a mute answering machine. The fog rolls in.

4 - Show Me The Way, Oh Lord

It would be so perfect if nobody but Jandek ever heard this stuff, but it's still cool that the rest of us to listen in.

I see the microphone taped to a broom taped to a chair.

5 - Know Thy Self

The carcass of Jandek walks the streets at night, strumming his guitar and singing. No one sees him, no one hears him, but he is there.

6 - They Told Me About You

Uh-oh, Jandek is pissed. Performed at 4am in the basement in front of a photo of a girl. He doesn't want to wake the neighbors, but he is pissed. The melody is an angry western horror movie slow finger pick. Folk Throbbing Gristle.

7 - Cave In On You

The silent heavy rhythm returns. A dead guy singing the blues.

8 - They Told Me I Was A Fool

The hardest rocking tune on the album so far, if that means anything. Once again, Jandek gets angry and this time almost starts to tap his foot.

9 - European Jewel (incomplete take)

Jandek with an electric guitar! Still alone, still quiet, but it is an electric guitar and he is touching the fretboard! Sounds like Jandek in is in heaven, real actual heaven. The song is very natural and very Velvety Undergroundy is a very good way. Holy Crap! Jandek plays a solo! And it's a good one! Whoa, quick ending.

********************

Overall a good experience. 43 minutes not wasted!

Where the HELL have I been?

I've had to figure out how I relate to this blogging jazz. I'm not real comfortable with the idea of using it as a diary for the world to see. And life is such a hard thing to nail down anyway. What I'll do for a while is write about only two subjects, one about stuff in the past, another about something I'm experiencing for the first time. And I will begin to post programs again.

Topic A will be The Magazines of My Life

Off the top of my head: Jack & Jill, Highlights, Boys Life, Mad, Creem, Circus, Spy, Sunset, Life, Popular Science, CarToons, Back Door Man, No, Splash, Flipside, Popular Mechanix, Psychotronic, Punk, NY Rocker, Rolling Stone, Scientific American. Hopefully I will remember more.

The other topic will be Listening to Jandek

52 albums, and I ain't heard one of them. So I'm going to listen. In chronological order.

Let's see where this goes.