The Place (Jandek album)

Infobox Album |
Name = The Place
Type = Album
Artist = Jandek

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Released = 2003
Recorded = Unknown
Length = 36:40
Label = Corwood Industries
Producer = Jandek
Reviews =
*Allmusic (n/a) [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ve8ibkr9dak9 link]

Last album = "The Humility of Pain"
(2002)
This album = "The Place"
(2003)
Next album = "The Gone Wait" (2003)

"The Place" is the 34th album by Jandek, and the first of two released in 2003. Released as Corwood Industries, #0772, the album continues the style and story-line of the two that preceded it.

Overview

It's best to come to "The Place" having heard and digested the two albums before it (I Threw You Away and The Humility of Pain). To summarize: the narrator - who feels like a zombie - comes through a life of regret to try and inspire a better way of life (through some very Eastern ideals) into what at times seems to be a new love, and at times seems to be the listener. Inspired by this new person, the narrator suggests that they go outside the world, and at the end of the Humility of Pain the two go into a place of "energy." Here that journey seems to be reflected upon, but for some reason "the place" can't be returned to (this is a bit of a return to the conceptual ideas suggested by White Box Requiem almost a decade earlier). "The Answer" arrives, but can't, apparently, be fully realized, leading the narrator to moan that he "doesn't have everything you want." Still, an attempt seems to be made to work past the bounds of the physical in order to find a place for this "you" to be. The conclusion is quite metaphysical, with the vocalist saying, "you’ll bypass through my molecules/the in-between part is your home/you make me feel so radiant/maybe your channels will accept me...stop and stumble and fall on through." The storyline is then picked up somewhat on the next album, The Gone Wait.

Musically, this album consists of five connected songs that again feature the low moan of Jandek's voice and a stammering, art blues style played on a harshly tuned acoustic guitar, with an occasional use of the harmonica. When listened to consecutively with the albums around it, the dense storyline makes a bit more sense, and the narrative can be clearly seen to lead towards the next installation.

Track listing

#The Picture – 9:25
#The Place – 7:03
#The Highway – 6:28
#The Answer – 4:31
#The Stumble – 8:55

External links

* [http://tisue.net/jandek/discog.html#0772 Seth Tisue's "The Place" review]