Filming a Ghost: Jandek in Chapel Hill

Last night, there was a ghost sighting in Chapel Hill, a sighting I was fortunately able to document on videotape. The ghost was dressed in a black suit and pants, with a black hat and a black electric guitar. He was accompanied by three other specters, who employed a wide variety of instruments, including keyboards, drums, bass, xylophone, saxophone, and howling. Together, their ghostly reverie haunted the sacred walls of UNC’s Gerrard Hall, a place that I was told James K. Polk had once spoken at, from 7:30 to 9:30 on a cold Sunday evening. The ghost in charge of the proceedings went by many names: Sterling Smith, the representative from Corwood, or the name most people know him by, Jandek.

An elusive individual, yet one who had been releasing records with astounding profuseness since 1978, Jandek only started giving live concerts in 2004, when a music festival in Glasgow wrote to his PO box in Houston (the only way to get in touch with him) asking him to come and perform. Shocking all parties involved, Jandek agreed, and has continued with an on-and-off tour schedule since, rarely playing the same venue twice, and always with a different backing band. For this performance, Jandek was accompanied by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats on keyboards, an instrument he admitted to having never played live since he was 9; Anne Gomez on bass, sax and the aforementioned howling; and drummer Brian Jones, who also took time to bang away on a xylophone during some of the numbers. Before the show, some of the ushers had set up a table where you could pick up pairs of earplugs, giving an indicator as to what was in store for the audience.

The set lasted two hours, and incorporated roughly six songs, most of which stretched past the twenty-minute mark. The opening number began with about 15 minutes of instrumental noise courtesy of Darnielle banging away on the keyboards, Gomez slapping her bass, and Jones rapidly swapping out time signatures, before Jandek took to the microphone with a long list of items, each one beginning with the phrase “I tried…” One of the shorter numbers was a song entitled “I Think I’m Unstable”. I assume that was the title since that line was repeated ad infinitum during the eight-minute song, in between harmonica solos (also performed by Jandek) and Darnielle complementing the harmonica with organ. The most memorable song of the night was a sort of call-and-response between Jandek and Gomez, in which Jandek would recite a few lines from his lyric book and Gomez would respond with a sustained howl into her microphone. The first time she did this, it elicited some whoops and shouts from the audience. Subsequent times, it simply became another instrument in the swirling mass of the song.

Overall, it was a fascinating concert to watch, even though I had to watch most of it through a viewfinder. There were three cameramen total: me, positioned stage left, roughly six rows back; and my friends Justin and Daniel, who were both in the balcony, center stage and stage right, respectively. We were told that a live album/DVD would be forthcoming (if the pattern of live Jandek titles continues, this one will surely be called Chapel Hill Sunday), but that it might be a while because Jandek was still working on releasing albums of concerts from a couple years ago. As I handed the tapes off to the mysterious representative from Corwood, I made sure to tell him that I couldn’t wait to see the finished result.

The flyers were printed on manila envelopes, complete with a pair of one-cent stamps.

Thanks to Justin and Daniel for filming, Neil for moral support, and especially Ned for making it all happen.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Harry and the Potters @ Greensboro Public Library, 1/4/07

The new year got off to a cool start when I found out that my favorite new artist of '05 was gonna be giving a free concert at the main branch of the Greensboro Public Library, opening for hyper-literate rock group Harry and the Potters. A lot of fun was had by all. I got a copy of SSLYBY's re-issued debut Broom on vinyl, plus I got the band to sign it! And even though I hadn't heard much from Harry and the Potters (who, by the way, are a duo that perform rock songs based on events that take place in the Harry Potter books), they gave an excellent show as well. I must, however, agree with what my brother said during the sets. Whoever walked into the library expecting a nice, quiet evening certainly received something else!















See more concert photos, as well as photos of my signed vinyl.

The Zippers Return?

Holy sh*t! Is this for real?

After years and years of heartbreak, disdain, cold shoulders, and wistful nostalgia, the Squirrel Nut Zippers are finally making their return to the stage, and at the Cat's Cradle! You may not know it, but the Zippers are one of my favorite bands of all time, and have been that way ever since 1998. I have all of their albums, including the Sold Out EP, which I picked up at one of their shows in Winston-Salem in 2000, when they were touring in support of their fourth, and ultimately their last, full-length album, Bedlam Ballroom.

At that time, they had already lost founding members Ken Mosher and Tom Maxwell, the latter of whom had written their only hit, "Hell," and even though the Zippers left me speechless when they performed that evening, it didn't look like the future would be a good one for the band. The swing revival had come to a close, the Zippers disbanded and went about their separate ways. Lead singer James Mathus formed the Mississippi blues group Knockdown Society, his then-wife Katharine Whalen started a solo career (they divorced in '04; her second album was just released this year), and Maxwell and Mosher teamed up as the duo, you guessed it, Maxwell/Mosher and toured a little, performing the songs they both had written for the Zippers. They also won a lawsuit against the rest of the band, claiming they were withholding royalties, forcing the Zippers to cough up $155,000. As a matter of fact, only Andrew Bird, who performed violin as a sort-of auxiliary member of the Zippers, went on to find success, wowing the music blogs with his sweeping 2005 album The Mysterious Production of Eggs.

But I guess they're back! Though according to this article from the News & Observer, it looks like the concert will be held for purely financial reasons. "We wouldn't be trying to re-form the group to make records and get on the radio," Whalen says. "It would be more about us surviving. The idea would be to do maybe three shows, probably just a couple of corporate gigs for some money. We'll be paying off that settlement for two more years, so it would be cool to play a few nights and just make that go away."

Still, it's better than nothing! See you at the Cradle on Feb. 8! (If only it would be held on the 16th, my 21st birthday. Then, I could get drunk, too!)