It would be anincredible catalogue for a 70-year-old. Reatard is only 29. He has beenrecording deviously uncomplicated, snot-nosed garage punk since he dropped outof eighth grade 14 years ago. By a conservative estimate, he has recorded onesong every two weeks.
"Some people try todo quality over quantity. This is quantity over quality," Reatard says."I don't think that artists are defined by the worst things that they'vedone. They are defined by the best. So there's no risk involved in releasingsome things that you might think are mediocre."
And he'll do it, too. Hereleases songs he thinks are mediocre, or worse. He releases songs that aren'tfinished ("Something about them being unfinished was part of thecharm," he notes). He releases songs he hasn't taken the time to fullyevaluate. A few months later, he'll play his last EP and realize he'dunderperformed what he hadn't realized was a gem. He re-records these foralbums.
This is the worst of allpossible worlds. It isn't the indignity of being wrong or demonstrating his ownmistake; for Reatard, recording full-length albums is the circle of hellreserved for musiciansa circle he has volunteered to pass through anastounding number of times. Full-length albums are deliberate, perfectionistthings, and Reatard plays all of the instruments on his solo work. The firsttime he released the track "I'm Watching You" it took him an hour torecord. The second time, the version that appeared on this year's Watch Me Fall, it took three days.
Albums just don't hold thesame function as singles. More than merchandise, even more than art, Reatardvalues the three-song record as an "emotional snapshot." The 507-inch records form a photo album of sorts.
"Outside of promopictures, I think I only have two photographs of me from the age of zero untilI was 20," Reatard says. "I almost think of a lot of the earlyrecords I've made as a replacement for that. I can listen to a record andremember exactly what I was pissed or happy about or inspired by."
Reatard swears that, ifchallenged, he could remember how to play any of his unbelievably large numberof songs. He doesn't see how impressive that is. He says that his songs arewritten for him to remember: simplistic music penned for a man who, by his owndesign, is not a virtuoso on any instrument.
"It's the same wayI could probably play any Ramones song right now," he says, glossing overthe fact that he’s actually recorded more songs than The Ramones. No matterwhat Reatard says, it is difficult to remember 70 albums’ worth of anything (or60, or 90).
He has, at this moment,recorded more than 19 hours of music. At this rate, by the end of 2012, he willhave recorded a full day. By 2016, he will overtake the battery life of aniPod. Quantity over quality? Quantity over sanity.
Jay Reatard joins Spoon for a NewYear’s Eve show at the Riverside Theater on Dec. 31 at 9 p.m.
