Jandek - Chair Besides the Window - Corwood

$

158

Jandek's "Chair Besides the Window," issued in 1982 on LP, on his own Corwood label. This record includes the following songs:

Side 1: Down in a Mirror (4:25) / European Jewel (4:24) / Unconditional Authority (3:29) / Poor Boy (2:30) / You Think You Know How To Score (2:16) / Nancy Sings (2:43); Side 2: No Break (3:18) / Mostly All From You (2:52) / Blue Blister (2:40) / The Times (3:10) / Love, Love (4:07) / The First End (4:24)

 The Jandek website describes the record as follows:

• uncredited, Forced Exposure web site (http://www.forcedexposure.com/), 2000. “Notable for the track “Nancy Sings” which features the first appearance by an outside vocalist on a Jandek record — an absolutely riveting acoustic gospel-blues tinged track.”
• Eddie Flowers. Quoted at The History of Rock Music, Vol. 4 (website). “The echo-drenched journey into Jandek’s world begins with “Down in a Mirror”, the artist delicately plucking his free-tuned guitar and tappin’ shoes on the floor ’neath him. And then electricity! Jandek’s first electric-guitar piece, “European Jewel,” comes screamin’ in like Elmore James having a seizure. Pounding drums and bass enter for a frenzied attack not too far from the same thing Sonic Youth was doing in NYC at the same time. Back to acoustic guitar for “Unconditional Authority,” a depressed semi-boogie, and near perfect blend of solo Syd Barrett and John Lee Hooker at his loneliest. “Poor Boy” comes mighty close to early blues in lyric and open-strum structure, with none of the self-conscious posturing of most white “bluesmen”. “You Think You Know How to Score” is harmonica-holder Dylan with the Holy Modal Rounders shootin’ speed in his butt: scary but hard not to watch and chuckle as head collides with concrete. “Nancy Sings” introduces the first of Jandek’s usually anonymous female vocal collaborators — and it’s a fragile, beautiful thing. Back to electric for “No Break”, with nancy on vocals, and a drummer (Nancy?) rattling about. This fragmented non-song could be a mellow-mood Harry Pussy jam from a decade later... This ’un’s a classic Jandek album — highly recommended.”
• Daniel Marks, web review (full review). “This my favorite album of Jandek’s early period, combining just the right sense of depression, mysteriousness, and spirituality that makes Jandek’s work in this time so intriguing... His guitar tuning has changed since Ready but it still comes nowhere near standard, or even any of the typical aberrant tunings, like E or D... The second track, ‘European Jewel’, sends a blast of electric into your ears... Jandek and his band stumble through a screaming version of the familiar ‘European Jewel’ riff before he sings the last part of the song, starting with the verse he never completed... [then] the band goes out in full improv mode for another three minutes... Bassist John even has a solo, walking up the fretboard in almost perfect time... Jandek brings us his most beautiful song on track six, appropriately titled ‘Nancy Sings’. While he plucks slowly one note at a time on guitar, angel-voiced Nancy sings poetic lyrics about nature... Evidently from track nine, ‘Blue Blister’, Jandek is a smoker, which explain why his voice gets so much heavier as time goes on (check out one of the spoken word albums to see what I mean). On track eleven, ‘Love, Love’, agent Smith shares with us some wisdom he’s gained from his travel... I swear my minister gave the same sermon once.”

The lp is nm and has been played very very few times, if at all, and the cover is still in the original shrink wrap.

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