Various

Down in a Mirror: A Second Tribute to Jandek

BY Kevin HaineyPublished Jun 1, 2005

Since this year’s unlikeliest underground superstar — the reclusive and mysterious solo suicidal strummer Jandek — has taken on a whole new status of legendary proportions thanks to the Jandek On Corwood documentary film, it only makes sense that an extensive list of artists pay tribute to his bizarrely singular vision. Following in the footsteps of Naked in the Afternoon: A Tribute to Jandek, released in 2000 by this very same label (when Jandek was still laying back in relative obscurity), Down in a Mirror culls together a slightly more high profile list of contributors. Where Naked’s most notable guests were Low, Bright Eyes and Kid Icarus, Mirror features such established names and buzz acts as Jeff Tweedy, Six Organs of Admittance, Dan Melchior, the Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, Dirty Projectors and Rivulets. Kicking things off is Tweedy’s elaborate and beautifully arranged off-kilter reading of "Crack a Smile,” which begins on a high note the tribute hardly reaches again, save for Six Organs’ sublimely simple version of "I’ll Sit Alone and Think About You” and Rivulets’ elegiac take on "Sung.” For the most part this tribute (which features a cover photo taken by Jandek himself) merely proves that Jandek is an inimitable artist.
(Summersteps)

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