Genre: Music
Theatrical Release: 11/19/2004(USA
Release Date: 11/30/2004
Sound: 2
Run Time: 89 min
Distributor/Studio: Music Video Distributors

Even by the standards of underground and avant-garde music, Jandek is a man who has pushed the notion of deliberate obscurity to the outer limits. In 1978, an album called Ready for the House appeared, credited to "The Units" and released by Corwood Industries, a nascent label out of Houston, TX; a collection of spare, haunting songs dominated by atonal acoustic guitar and murmured (or mumbled) vocals, Ready for the House received cautiously enthusiastic reviews by the very few writers who bothered to cover it, and the same artist, now billing himself as Jandek (a San Francisco synth-pop group was using the name the Units), released a second album, Six and Six, in 1981. By 2004, Jandek had issued 38 albums, all following the same pattern -- a front cover featuring either a grainy photo of a tall, thin man with blonde hair or obscure snapshots of houses, empty rooms or street scenes; a back cover that was all back type on a white surface; music that was simple, obscure and harrowingly personal; no information on the artist; and distribution that suggested the albums weren't released so much as tossed to the winds to see what might happen. Almost in spite of himself, Jandek became the center of a small but fervent cult following, despite the fact he receives almost no radio play, doesn't tour, has made only one known live appearance (unidentified and unannounced), doesn't promote his releases, and refuses to talk to the media or even publicly acknowledge his identity (the man has given all of two interviews, both under difficult circumstances). Filmmaker and Jandek enthusiast Chad Friedrich's documentary Jandek on Corwood examines the enigma that is Jandek and takes a long look at both his music and what this artist's purposefully obscure approach to his work says about him and his audience. Jandek on Corwood features interviews with musicians and journalists Calvin Johnson, John Trubee, Byron Coley, Barry Hansen (aka Dr. Demento), Richie Unterberger, Phil Milstein, and many more; a representative from Corwood Industries who may be Jandek is heard in a brief telephone conversation.

~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The willfully obscure Jandek is a fascinating figure in American music, but the very attributes which inspire his cult following derail this documentary's chances from the start. There are only so many ways of saying "no information is available," and Jandek on Corwood exhausts them all well before a climactic phone interview provides the merest hint of epiphany. Director Chad Freidrichs relies on interpretations of the man and his music from noted critics like Byron Coley, Richie Unterberger, and Ben Edmonds, each of whom reads slightly different motives and moods into Jandek's ambivalent, atonal recordings. It's an appropriate ploy, since individual interpretation is the cornerstone of Jandek lore, but Freidrichs augments this talking-head approach with soft-focus visual illustrations that don't succeed in making the material any more dramatic. Nonetheless, anyone with an interest in the reclusive non-star will want to see Jandek on Corwood, if only because the paucity of information about him makes this documentary a primary source by default. The soundtrack is filled with musical passages from throughout Jandek's long career, providing a healthy introduction to anyone who has never actually come across one of his eerily idiosyncratic albums. The DVD release includes a music-only audio option for closer inspection.

~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

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