Foreign Keys | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1985 | |||
Genre | Folk, experimental, outsider | |||
Length | 43:47 | |||
Label | Corwood Industries | |||
Producer | Corwood Industries | |||
Jandek chronology | ||||
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Foreign Keys is the second album released in 1985 by musician Jandek, and his eleventh overall. This is the first Jandek album featuring a full band, and is without acoustic numbers. It is also an album split between tracks sung by Jandek and tracks sung by his female counterpart, assumed to be "Nancy". Nancy is possibly the same vocalist from "Nancy Sings" on Chair Beside a Window .
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | link |
Forced Exposure | (very favorable) link |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Spanish in Me" | 5:42 |
2. | "Lost Cause" | 4:27 |
3. | "Caper" | 5:44 |
4. | "Uncle Steve" | 2:28 |
5. | "Don't Be So Mean" | 2:07 |
6. | "Coming Quiet" | 1:54 |
7. | "Needs No Sun" | 3:12 |
8. | "Oh No" | 2:20 |
9. | "Some of Your Peace" | 2:41 |
10. | "Put it Away" | 4:27 |
11. | "Ballad of Robert" | 3:45 |
12. | "River to Madrid" | 4:21 |
Total length: | 43:47 |
Jandek is the musical alias of Houston, Texas based American lo-fi folk singer Sterling Smith. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 45 albums without granting interviews or providing any biographical information, releasing on a self-made label "Corwood Industries". Jandek often plays a highly idiosyncratic and frequently atonal form of folk and blues music, frequently using an open and unconventional chord structure. Allmusic has described him as "the most enigmatic figure in American music".
Ready for the House is the debut studio album by Jandek, and was released in 1978 by his own Corwood Industries label, with the catalog number #0739. The artist has said in letters that the number was meaningless. Corwood Industries reissued the album three times on CD, first in 1999, then sometime in the early 2000s, and again in 2005. Jackpot Records, with exclusive permission from Corwood, reissued the album on LP in 2008.
Six and Six is the second studio album by American musician Jandek, and the first to be released under the Jandek name. It was released in 1981, by Corwood Industries (#0740). There have been two CD reissues so far, each adding more silence between the tracks.
Chair Beside a Window is the fourth album by avant- folk/ blues singer-songwriter Jandek, and Corwood Industries' first release of 1982 (No. 742).
Your Turn to Fall is the seventh Jandek album, and was released as Corwood 0745. It was reissued on CD in 2001.
The Rocks Crumble is the eighth Jandek album, released as Corwood 0746. It is his third release of 1983, and is the first Jandek album to feature extensive use of drums and electric guitar. It was reissued on CD in 2001.
Blue Corpse is the fifteenth album by Jandek, and his second for 1987. Primarily an all acoustic album with an unknown accompanist, it is considered by many to be one of the more accessible and cohesive albums in Jandek's oeuvre.
Glad to Get Away is the 24th album by Jandek, and was released (1994) as Corwood Industries #0762. It continues the acoustic sound of the prior two albums.
White Box Requiem is the 25th album by Jandek, and his only for the year 1996. Released as Corwood Industries #0763, it is essentially a "concept album" about death, loss, and a man who opens a mysterious white "Pandora's box", which some have speculated is a coffin. There are 14 songs with acoustic guitar, half of them with vocals. The instrumental pieces are sparse and experiment with echo, with "restless" passages that music critic Andre Salles has described as "consistently inventive atonal plonking that never sits still".
I Woke Up is the 26th album by Jandek and his only release of 1997. Released as Corwood Industries #0764, it introduced a new male vocalist who sings most of the tracks.
Put My Dream on This Planet is the 29th album by Jandek. It was his only new release of 2000. The first of three consecutive a capella albums, it is Corwood Industries #0767.
Glasgow Sunday is the second of four albums released in 2005 by musician Jandek on Corwood Industries, as (0779). His 41st overall, it was recorded live on October 17, 2004 at The Arches, Glasgow, as part of the Instal festival. This was the first known live appearance of Jandek, who played unannounced with backing from Richard Youngs on bass and Alex Neilson on drums.
Samuel J. Coomes is an American musician, and one-half of the Portland-area indie band Quasi, along with his ex-wife, drummer Janet Weiss. Coomes was also a member of the mid-1980s underground pop band The Donner Party and replaced Brandt Peterson as the bassist for the 1990s Portland indie rock band, Heatmiser, playing on their final studio album, Mic City Sons.
Jandek on Corwood is a documentary about veteran reclusive folk/blues artist Jandek. Unlike most popular music documentaries, the subject himself is not seen in the film in any way; instead, various critics, disc jockeys and journalists, many of whom have had some contact with the notoriously reclusive artist, discuss Jandek, his equally mysterious independent record label Corwood Industries, and his music.
The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas is a 1968 Christmas album by Frank Sinatra and featuring his children, Frank Sinatra Jr., Nancy Sinatra and Tina Sinatra.
Khartoum Variations is the first of six releases in 2006 by singer-songwriter Jandek. Released by Corwood Industries, it is his 44th album overall. The recordings are alternate versions of seven of the eight songs from his previous album, Khartoum.
Naked in the Afternoon: A Tribute to Jandek is a tribute album compiled by Moscow, PA-based independent record label Summersteps Records. The album features cover versions of songs by the reclusive avant-folk/blues singer/songwriter Jandek. Many of the artists are members of the Summersteps roster or fans forming one-time combos to participate on the album, but the album also features contributions from Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Low, and Bright Eyes.
Down in a Mirror: A Second Tribute to Jandek is a tribute album compiled by Moscow, PA-based independent record label Summersteps Records, released as a follow-up to the label's first Jandek tribute, Naked in the Afternoon. As with Naked in the Afternoon, Down In A Mirror features cover versions of songs by the reclusive avant-folk/blues singer/songwriter Jandek. Some of the artists are members of the Summersteps roster or fans forming one-time combos to participate on the album, but the album also features contributions from Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Six Organs of Admittance, The Mountain Goats, Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple, Lewis & Clarke and Okkervil River.
You Only Live Twice is the soundtrack for the fifth James Bond film of the same name. It was composed by Bond veteran John Barry. At the time, this was his fourth credited Bond film. The theme song, "You Only Live Twice", was sung by Nancy Sinatra, the first non-British vocalist of the series, with music by Barry and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. The soundtrack has previously been available in two versions on CD – the first, a straight reissue of the LP soundtrack, and the second, an expanded reissue including several previously unreleased tracks. The film soundtrack was recorded at CTS Studios, London. It debuted on the top 40 Billboard 200 album chart on August 19, 1967, and went up to 27.
Lewis & Clarke is the pen name of American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Lou Rogai. The name references the fellowship and correspondence between C. S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke. He has released three studio albums, Bare Bones and Branches, Blasts of Holy Birth, and Triumvirate, as well as several singles and EPs. The moniker is also a metaphor for journey on many levels and the music has been described as art-pop or avant-folk. Rogai is the founder of La Société Expéditionnaire, a record label dedicated to creating "beautiful sounding records and tangible musical artifacts".