The Place (Jandek album)

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The Place

Studio album by Jandek
Released	2003
Recorded	Unknown
Length	36:40
Label	Corwood Industries
Producer(s)	Jandek
All Music Guide (n/a) link
Jandek chronology
The Humility of Pain (2002)	The Place (2003)	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.

1 Overview
2 Track listing
3 Album Cover Description
4 External link

[edit] Overview

It's best to come to The Place having heard and digested the two albums before it. 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 reminds me more than a little of 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 (difficult to follow, yes, but that does seem to be the point of the lyrics). The conclusion is extremely 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." If that seems a bit incomplete, well, it's picked up somewhat on The Gone Wait, which finds a new outlet for the music.

Musically, this album is five very connected songs that again feature the low moan of Jandek's voice and a stammering, art blues-style minimalist music coming out of a harshly tuned acoustic guitar. There is also some harmonica on the album, which brings a bit of release. Taken on its own, it can be a bit off-putting, even to those used to Jandek albums. But taken with the albums around it, it makes a bit more sense, leading toward the next installation in the loosely-connected "story."