I watched a documentary on Jandek this weekend to educate myself on the reclusive musician. The film was called Jandek on Corwood, alluding to Jandek's "label" Corwood Industries (aka Jandek himself). For those of you are unfamiliar, Jandek is a moniker for a musician who has produced 49 releases since 1978...but played his first live show in 2004. The name Jandek itself is an amalgam of "January" and "Dekker." If you would like to know 100,000 other facts about Jandek, poke around a few fan sites.

On that note, the documentary was ridiculously riddled with fan commentary from the nerdiest misfits that ever existed. All of them said essentially the same things: a) Jandek is mysterious, b) Jandek will not correspond with anyone, c) is Jandek really deranged? d) who are the people who perform with him, and how does he meet them?

This sort of crazed response is wholly a product of Jandek's own self-hype. It amazes me how he has been able to maintain this facade for nearly 30 years. Certain types of people get drawn to him because he seemingly does not want their attention. I can't help but wonder if the guy works as a Wal Mart door greeter or something comparably sociable, with the music project as his drawn-out social joke. Forget the fact that Jandek's music is undeniably unique.

Search Hype Machine for mp3's of Jandek's music. I recommend "Falling Down Deep" as an example of his elusively-tuned guitar playing. Don't rent Jandek on Corwood.