HALFWAY TO A THREEWAY (1999)

NINE YEARS AFTER THE RELEASE OF THIS RECORD IT HAD REACHED A CULT STATUS IN WHICH IT COULD BE TRUSTED TO RAISE A SMILE AT ITS MENTION IN LYRICS BY THE WRY ELECTRO POPSTER MAX TUNDRA:

I found the girl on eBay
She was bidding on "Halfway To A Threeway"
I wrote the words "a grain of sand" upon a grain of rice
She baked a pie of very shy laboratory mice

AND WITH GOOD REASON BECAUSE .5->3-WAY IS A GREAT LITTLE USE OF THE EXTENDED PLAY FORMAT AND I AM GOING TO MAKE A BOLD CLAIM HERE AND SAY AS EPS GO THIS IS PROBABLY UP THERE WITH SLATES AND ADMONISHING THE BISHOPS AND WATERY DOMESTIC AND IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE OUT IN THE COUNTRY.

THIS IS FROM JIM'S SMALL RANGE OF 'RELEASES THAT UNCUT MAGAZINE COULD TUG OFF TO', BRINGING GENTLE FOLK AND EXPLORATORY AMERICANA TO THE FOREFRONT WITH NO TECHNOLOGICAL INTERVENTION. 

THE LYRICS ARE SMART AND CUTTING, SOME MIGHT SAY MEAN, BUT THEY DO AT LEAST TRY AND DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN TURN THESE INTO EMPTY SENTIMENTS OF THE KIND JIM DOESN'T REALLY CARE FOR. THE MUSIC DOES THE SENTIMENTAL LIFTING, TO BE FAIR.

I LIKE ALL FOUR SONGS HERE AND I WOULD SAY TO ANYONE LOOKING TO GET INTO JIM TO START HERE. THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEE IT WOULD GET YOU LISTENING TO HAPPY DAYS OR LONG NIGHT OR FENN O'BERG, BUT PLAY THE PERCENTAGES AND REAP THE REWARDS.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

SPHYX (1994)

THIS WAS AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY TO ME UNTIL JIM SAID IN THAT EXCELLENT TONE GLOW PIECE THAT HE PLAYED ON IT. LET US REWIND:

Obviously I don’t do a lot of interviews, but I've always been kind of shocked by how nobody ever asks me about the years I was part of Organum. To me It seems like one of the most amazing things that anyone could ever say—“Yeah, I was in Organum.” (laughter). But no one ever asks about that stuff. Maybe it's not as big a deal as it seems to me, or it doesn't have the cachet it used to. But I mean, David was in the fucking Scratch Orchestra.

I did wanna ask you about Organum, you were on Sphyx.

I’m actually on a lot of them, it’s just that there aren’t credits. I was on like ten of them. Sphyx was kind of the result of Eddie introducing me to write with David Jackman. We recorded that in this studio in this area of London, it was really kind of brutal. But it’s down in the south of London and it’s that studio the band Skullflower recorded in. Do you know the band Skullflower?

WELL I WON'T BE FINDING OUT WHICH TEN JUST FOR THE SAKE OF COMPLETENESS, THOUGH I MAY COVER MORE ORGANUM IF IT ORGANUMICALLY (HEHEHE) COMES TO MY ATTENTION IN FUTURE WEEKS.

ALSO ISN'T SKULLFLOWER GUY A NAZI GUY NOW? ISN'T THAT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED? THIS WORLD MOVES TOO FAST TO EVEN KEEP TRACK OF WHO IS A NAZI OR GRABBED SOME TITS WITHOUT CONSENT.

EDIT: LINK TO SKULLFLOWER HYPOTHESIS, I HAVE NO COMMENT.

SO AN ORGANUM IS, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, A KIND OF MEDIEVAL POLYPHONY (REMEMBER A LOT OF WRITTEN MUSIC USED TO BE IN UNISON UNTIL VARIOUS DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE INTRODUCED COUNTERPOINT, ETC.) AND I SUPPOSE THAT NAME IS KIND OF APPROPRIATE HERE - ALTHOUGH THIS IS A KIND OF MEDIEVAL-ISH SOUNDING COMPUTER MUSIC.

I HAVE TO SAY I REALLY LIKE THIS. I KNOW IT ISN'T JIM'S MUSIC PER SE AND I GUESS I CAN'T GIVE IT CERTIFIED: GOOD FOR THE MUSIC OF JIM O'ROURKE, BUT IT IS CERTIFIED: GOOD. IT IS FULLY OF ITSELF; A WHOLE PIECE, COLLIDING SUBTLE COMPUTER MANIPULATION WITH LIVE DRONES AND IMPROVISATIONS. YOU CAN SEE HOW THIS WAS A FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE FOR JIM AS SOME OF HIS LATER RECORDS DO SEEM TO REFLECT VARIOUS LESSONS LEARNED HERE.

FUCK IT: CERTIFIED GOOD

TEA TIME FOR THOSE DETERMINED TO COMPLETELY EXHAUST EVERY BIT OF THIS BODY THEY'VE BEEN GIVEN (2015)

THE AMBARCHI/HAINO/O'ROURKE TRIO IS BACK AGAIN AS A CLASSIC POWER TRIO (EXCEPT HAINO SOMETIMES PLAYS FLUTE) FOR THEIR ANNUAL MEETING OF MINDS, THIS TIME ON AMBARCHI'S HOME TURF IN AUSTRALIA.

THIS RELEASE IS ABSOLUTELY KILLER. HAINO PLAYS SKYSCRAPER GUITAR, SCREAMING SHEETS OF PLEASURENOISE OVER A RHYTHM SECTION WHO FIRST TRUDGE AROUND DOOMISHLY AND THEN OPEN UP TOWARD SOMETHING POLITELY FUNKY AND COSMIC. HAINO'S VOCALS ADD A LOT TO THIS TOO, EVEN IF I CAN'T TELL A WORD OF WHAT HE'S GHOSTLY WAILING ABOUT.

SIDE A PEAKS GLORIOUSLY AND REPRESENTS THE TRIO'S FINEST WORK TO DATE (FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THIS BLOG). SIDE B IS A LITTLE MORE OBTUSE BUT THEY GET TO THE GOOD STUFF. TOP BASS WORK FROM JIM HERE.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

SECURE ON THE LOOSE RIM (1991)

PROGRESS REPORT: OF THE ASSEMBLED AND KNOWN DISCOGRAPHY OF JIM O'ROURKE I ESTIMATE WE ARE ABOUT ONE THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH IT IF WE DISCOUNT SINGLES AND STUFF WHERE HE WAS MOSTLY A PERFORMER (STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL DO ABOUT THE WILCO RELEASES) THOUGH I WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE SOME OF THOSE TO FILL OUT THE SENSE OF JOURNEY.

OF COURSE THERE ARE THINGS THAT CROP UP SUCH AS HEARING O'ROURKE PLAYED ON DAVID JACKMAN'S ORGANUM RELEASES, OR THE EARLY PERFORMANCE GROUP THE ELVIS MESSIAHS. BUT THERE ARE ALSO THINGS IN THE MAIN DISCOGRAPHY THAT I CAN'T FIND JUST NOW, SO MAYBE IT WILL ALL EVEN OUT AND ROLL TO A NATURAL STOP.

SECURE TAKES US TO JIM'S COLLEGE DAYS IN 1990 AND THE CONDENSING OF TWO PERFORMANCES GIVEN IN THE JANUARY OF THAT NEW DECADE. IT'S KEYBOARD/DRONE/AMBIENT WITH A SLIGHTLY DILAPIDATED FEEL BECAUSE OF THE TRANSFER FROM CASSETTE TO DIGITAL AUDIO. I DIG IT THOUGH: SOMETHING ABOUT AMBIENT (WE WILL UNPACK THIS ONE DAY, I SWEAR) MUSIC DONE LIVE AND THEN ALSO ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL TRANSFER IS RIGHT UP MY ALLEY.

CLOSING TRACK SOMETIMES HAS A NICELY BROODING AND DISTORTED FEEL AND ROUNDS OFF A SATISFYING ALBUM (THOUGH LISTED ON DISCOGS AS A COMPILATION?) WELL. TEMPTED TO GO CERTIFIED: GOOD ON THIS. IT MIGHT NOT BE JIM'S MOST CONSIDERED OR MATURE WORK, BUT IF YOU ENJOY IT ALL THEN SURELY THAT'S THE POINT?

CERTIFIED: GOOD

STEAMROOM 47 (2020)

I READ A VERY INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH JIM O'ROURKE YESTERDAY IN THE MUSIC NEWSLETTER TONE GLOW. THERE WAS QUITE A LOT OF MATERIAL TO LEAN ON SO I SHAN'T USE IT ALL NOW. PERHAPS IT WILL REFRAME SOME THINGS IN THE FUTURE, AND HAS CLARIFIED A FEW SUSPICIONS OF THE PAST.

HAD I HEARD STEAMROOM 47 PRIOR TO READING IT I'D HAVE BEEN POSITIVE ABOUT IT ALL THE SAME: IT'S PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE STEAMROOM SO FAR THAT WASN'T OUT AS SOMETHING ELSE ALREADY. IT PRESENTS FRACTURED PIANO PLAYING INTERMESHING WITH ELECTRONICS. THE PLAYING ITSELF IS STRANGE AND ODDLY BRITTLE - LIKE A FUMBLING ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP A BAROQUE MELODY THAT COLLAPSES (BUT INTERESTINGLY) AND RISES AND FALLS. IT IS INTERESTING STUFF.

THE INTERVIEW PROVIDES SOME INSIGHT ON HOW THIS PARTICULAR RELEASE WAS MADE. REMEMBER WHEN I SUGGESTED A LONG TIME AGO THAT PROCESS AND HOW THE SOUND WAS MADE FEELS OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE RATHER THAN THE END PRODUCT OR HOW IT MIGHT MAKE YOU FEEL? WELL:

Well there's this whole area of research, this grouping of disciplines called MIR—music information retrieval.

I'm not familiar with it.

The results of that are those things on your phone where you can ask, “What’s that song?” and figure out what it is.

Oh, apps like SoundHound?

Yeah, so basically that world of research is called MIR. Which is a combination of other disciplines like FFT (Fast Fourier transform) analysis and delta signals and all that shit. As a sort of adjunct to my near-lifelong obsession with Roland Kayn and the idea of music based on cybernetics, I was researching various things about MIR over the past couple years—not because I'm interested in it as a technology, but because of the parts of technology that make it up.

What that album is, and the name’s sort of a clue—I’m surprised no one’s caught on, it’s not that obscure. But basically I made an FFT analysis of—

Glenn Gould?

Yeah, Glenn Gould! So I did an FFT analysis of all the Goldberg Variations. But what I did was, for each particular variation, based on the simple ideas of—and they were simple because I was just doing tests—how many modulations and blah blah blah. When you're doing FFT analysis, it's basically like a time domain analysis. Depending on the sample rate you're working at, you’re cutting up music into slices of time, almost like plastic overlays. It’s kind of like when you see those things when you make slices of the brain and you’re putting see-through, plastic pieces on top of each other for each slice.

So with the Fourier transform, you're taking time slices and you're reading the energy levels of the frequencies as sine waves—sinusoidal—for each slice. Then to recreate it, these slices and the sine waves and particular amplitudes are recreated in the same time domain. But what I was doing was changing the time domain as well as resynthesizing it—not with sine waves, but with a wave table of a hundred and fifty different wave forms that were dependent upon both the frequency and the amplitude in regards to something particular about that Goldberg variation.

So I was recreating those performances of the Goldberg Variations with this kind of skewered, nutso, FFT resynthesis. And then what I did (laughs) was once I resynthesized those—which is that kind of crazy, squelchy, noisy part—I ran that through a program which tries to read musical material out of the audio. And that made a new score that was played on the

SO THE PIECE ENDS UP BEING THIS TWICE REMOVED GOLDBERG VARIATION THAT PERHAPS TRUMPS THE IDEA OF ALGORITHMS WRITING OUR FUTURE MASTERPIECES BY DOING THE THING HUMANS DO BEST AND TWISTING IT AWAY FROM OBVIOUS LEVELS OF INTENT.  

THE THING IS THOUGH IT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD. AS STATED - I AM NOT A PROCESS GUY. I LIKE EXPRESSION AND RESULT. FORTUNATELY JIM'S GOALS AND MINE ALIGN HERE FOR AN EASY CERTIFIED: GOOD!

BAD TIMING (1997)

WE HAVE MENTIONED IN THE COURSE OF THIS BLOG, ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS, THE WORD 'AMERICANA' WITHOUT REALLY INTERROGATING THE CONCEPT (INDEED THERE ARE A BUNCH OF WORDS I COULD STAND TO GO DEEPER IN ON AND I PLAN TO) IN DEPTH.

AMERICANA ON THE BASIC LEVEL SUGGESTS 'THINGS TO DO WITH AMERICA' BUT WHEN YOU STRIP AWAY ALL THE CRASS FLAG-WAVING MILITARY AND DEEP MEDIA STUFF THAT AMERICA PROJECTS TO THE WORLD YOU ARE ACTUALLY LEFT WITH A RIOT OF DIFFERENCE; OF GENERATIONS EMBEDDED AND OF THE SWEEP OF MIGRATION; OF DIFFERENT CLIMATES, GEOGRAPHIES, AND TOPOLOGIES; OF RADICALLY DIFFERENT CULTURAL TRADITIONS; BOTH COLONISERS AND COLONISED.

NOT TO MENTION THAT WHEN YOU BRING IT TO SPECIFIC MUSICAL FORMS YOU GET REALLY INTELLIGENT AND INSIGHTFUL PEOPLE LIKE ALAN LOMAX WHO CAN TAKE SOMETHING THAT SEEMS HYPER-PARTICULAR IE. A BLUES FORM ONLY IN A SMALL VALLEY IN MISSISSIPPI, A TYPE OF GOSPEL SONG ONLY ON THAT VIRGINIAN MOUNTAIN AND SHOW HOW IT EVOLVES FROM ONE COUNTRY'S PEOPLE AND THEIR JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD. HOW EVERYTHING IS PRONE TO SHIFT AND CHANGE AND UPROOTING AND BEING SOMEWHERE ELSE. MAYBE CULTURE IS SIMPLY WHAT SURVIVES OF US.

CULTURAL EXPRESSION CAN BE BOTH AUTHENTIC (A TRUE EXPRESSION OF A PERSONHOOD) AND COMPLETELY FALSE (BORROWED, NOT ORIGINATING THROUGH A STRICT PATRIMONIAL COURSE) IN ONE FELL SWOOP: I THINK THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING PROVIDING YOU TAKE THE COARSENING EFFECTS OF MONEY AND SOCIAL STATUS AWAY FROM THINGS. I SUPPOSE WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY IS ARGUMENTS ABOUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION ONLY GO SO FAR WITH ME. NOT TO SAY THERE AREN'T RACISTS AND CYNICS IN THE WORLD. FAR FROM IT!

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BAD TIMING BY JIM O'ROURKE? WELL, A LOT, IN THAT IT IS A RECORD THAT CLEARLY BRINGS TO BEAR JIM'S BURGEONING OBSESSION WITH THE AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR STYLINGS AND THE WORK OF JOHN FAHEY. IT IS MUSIC THAT BEARS THE HALLMARKS OF THE AMERICAN PAST; ACUTELY STUDDED WITH A SENSE OF TRADITIONS IN AMERICAN FOLK AND BLUES, THE JOURNEY OF CONTINENTS, WHILE JIM IS THIS ALOOF ACADEMIC GUY WHO HAS SPENT 8 YEARS MAKING MUSIC FOR WESTERN INTELLIGENTSIA.

IS THIS JUST AN EXERCISE OR IS IT AUTHENTIC? WELL, IT IS BOTH. AND FURTHERMORE IT IS SUCCESSFUL. IT RENDERS A CONVINCING PORTRAIT OF THE LEGACY OF FAHEY AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN CLASSICAL MUSIC. AND IT ALSO FEELS *FELT*. LIKE HE CARES. LIKE THIS IS NOT A CLINICAL EXERCISE. THAT THERE IS SOME ATTEMPT TO GRAB THE LISTENER BY THEIR EMOTIONAL SENSES.

BAD TIMING IS A VERY GOOD RECORD AND FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JIM SOLO UP TO 1997 ON THIS BLOG, HIS BEST RECORD TO DATE. YOU CAN'T CALL IT A VOLTE-FACE IF YOU THINK ABOUT HOW THIS OBSESSION HAD BEEN COMING OUT IN WORKS LIKE HAPPY DAYS AND UPGRADE & AFTERLIFE. MY FAVOURITE TRACK IS THE TITLE TRACK BUT THERE ISN'T A BAD ONE HERE. 

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE - LOVE BURT BACHARACH (2010)

JIM O'ROURKE PRODUCES, ARRANGES, MIXES, AND BRINGS TOGETHER THE PLAYERS AND SINGERS FOR A SINCERE BATCH OF COVERS OF BURT BACHARACH'S CLASSIC HITS? I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS EXISTED 1 WEEK AGO AND IT WAS ONLY UNTIL THE LAST TRACK LEFT MY EARS WITHOUT A WHIT OF PISS-TAKING, "DECONSTRUCTION", OR REINTERPRETATION THAT I BELIEVED IT AT ALL.

O'ROURKE, WILCO/LOOSE FUR DRUMMER GLENN KOTCHE, BASSIST TOSHIAKI SUDOH, AND PIANIST KYOKO KURODA OF THE AKIRA SAKATA TRIO LAY DOWN THE FOUNDATION A LITTLE HEAVIER THAN THE ORIGINALS, BUT IT DOES HELP TO REMEMBER THAT BACHARACH'S ORIGINALS WERE OFTEN GOSSAMER THINGS THAT CAUGHT THE BREEZE. 

GUEST VOCALISTS SUCH AS THURSTON MOORE, YOSHIMI P-WE, AND DONNA TAYLOR TURN UP TO CONTINUE THE SINCERE VIBES. EVERYONE SOUNDS LIGHT AND FUN AND IT REALLY MAKES THIS A TENDER AND INTERESTING LISTEN.

IT'S AN INSIGHT INTO A PATH NOT TAKEN BY JIM. HE CAN ARRANGE COMPLEX LOVE SONGS FOR THE RADIO: HERE IS MORE PROOF. HE CAN DO THIS IF HE WANTS TO. AND HE LIKES THIS STUFF: YOU DON'T JUST DO AN ALBUM LIKE THIS AS A THEORETICAL EXERCISE.

A SOLID COUNTER MIGHT BE 'WHY NOT JUST LISTEN TO THE ORIGINALS?' AND I SAY WE CAN DO BOTH. THIS RECORDING GELS DISPARATE BACHARACH CUTS (MOSTLY WELL-KNOWN, BUT A COUPLE OF OBSCURE GEMS TOO) AND COHERES THEM TO THE RIGOUR OF ONE ALBUM.

AN EASY CERTIFIED: GOOD HERE.

IN, DEMONS, IN! (2019)

A COLLABORATION WITH ELECTRONICS GURU CARL-MICHAEL VON HAUSSWOLFF SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED MUCH SOONER THAN 2019: PERHAPS THEIR PREDILECTIONS FOR BROODING DRONE MUSIC THAT SUBVERTS AND TWISTS THE RECORDING DEVICE IN ITS MANUFACTURE MEAN THEY'RE TOO SIMILAR, IN SOME WAYS? 

THIS IS A DRONE RECORD THAT HAS A REAL DEPTH AND FEELING OF PRESSURE IN THE MIX. RIGHT NOW IT IS REALLY HUMID: THOUGH IT APPEARS COLD. THIS MUSIC SIMULATES THAT FEELING SOMEHOW - ON THE SURFACE ONE THING, BUT FROM DEEP WITHIN THE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE THERE IS SOME OPPRESSION, SOME CAPACITY TO CHANGE.

IT'S JUST A LITTLE LIMITED EDITION RECORD ON SOME OBSCURE LABEL BUT I THINK THIS IS UP THERE WITH ANY DRONE COLLABORATION JIM HAS DONE SINCE THE START OF THIS BLOG. IT REALLY REMINDS ME OF YELLOW SWANS, WHO I PERSONALLY THINK WERE AHEAD OF THEIR PEERS IN THIS APPROXIMATE AREA OF MUSIC. THE FULLNESS AND CONVINCING SENSE OF MOTION AND TRANSITION IN THIS RECORD REALLY APPEALS.

GONNA GO CERTIFIED: GOOD. IT PROBABLY WON'T BE ONE OF HIS TOP TEN LIFETIME RECORDS BUT A VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE.

HAPPY DAYS (1996) aka STEAMROOM 23

IT STARTS PATIENTLY. A SINGLE ACOUSTIC GUITAR PLAYING A SIMPLE MELODY FOR NEARLY 4 MINUTES. THEN ANOTHER GUITAR COMES IN (OR MAYBE THE SAME ONE, AND THE FIRST ONE IS A LOOP) AND PLAYS SOMETHING SLIGHTLY AGAINST THAT MELODY. 

THIS OCCURS A FEW MORE TIMES AND WE NOTICE THERE IS A STEADY AND PATIENT BUILD OF UNDERLYING TONES: ELECTRONIC, ACOUSTIC, BOWED GUITAR? I AM NOT SURE. WHAT IS KEY TO NOTE IS THAT IT ALL FEELS HIGHLY ORCHESTRATED RATHER THAN EMERGENT AND IMPROVISED. 

AND THEN AFTER ABOUT TEN MINUTES THE GUITAR SEEMS TO MORPH INWARDLY INTO THE DRONE, THE SOLID MELTING INTO AIR, REPLACED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE RAGA-ISH DRONE OF COMPUTER WAVES. THIS IS ALL UNHURRIED BUT NOT BECALMED. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE WAVES HAS SEVERAL RHYTHMS THAT CREATE PHASING PATTERNS, GIVING A SENSE OF MOMENTUM RATHER THAN IDLE DRIFT.

SEVERAL ON DISCOGS AND IN O'ROURKE'S OWN BANDCAMP NOTE HAVE MENTIONED THIS SOUNDING LIKE JOHN FAHEY MEETS TONY CONRAD. I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH CONRAD'S WORK, BUT IF THE CONRAD BIT SOUNDS LIKE CONRAD AS MUCH AS THE FAHEY BIT SOUNDS LIKE FAHEY, THEN I GUESS THAT IS TRUE.

IT DOESN'T QUITE CONVEY THE EMOTIONAL SENSIBILITY THOUGH, NOR THE QUALITY. I LIKE THIS A LOT MORE THAN I EXPECTED TO. IT IS SUCCESSFUL DEEPER LISTENING, WRESTING EXPRESSIVENESS FROM APPARENT ABSTRACTION. THE STEAMROOM 23 COVER IS PERFECT, A HELICOPTER IN THE BLUE YONDER, A DREAM AND A MACHINE COLLIDING, A REVERIE AND THE MEANS BY WHICH TO END THE REVERIE IN ONE MOMENT.

CERTIFIED: GOOD

CAMOUFLEUR (1998)

IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING ABOUT MY SELECTION METHODOLOGY HERE THEN I DON'T HAVE ONE. I AM TRYING TO JUMP AROUND IN TIME, NOT GET TOO FOCUSED IN ONE SUB-GENRE OR AREA OF O'ROURKE'S PRACTICE, AND PAINT THE PICTURE IN A WIDE-RANGING MANNER.

I AM ALSO AWARE THAT O'ROURKE HAS ABOUT 15 OR SO RECORDS THAT ARE MUCH MORE FAMOUS THAN THE REST AND I AM TRYING TO STRATEGICALLY DROP THEM ACROSS THE WRITING OF THIS BLOG. HOWEVER, THE LAST FEW POSTS HAVE HAD A NARROW FOCUS ON "JIM MAKING FUCKING ANNOYING RECORDS WITH THURSTON MOORE AND HIS PALS" SO I THOUGHT I'D GO BACK TO A RECORD THAT PROVOKED MY INTEREST IN WRITING THIS BLOG IN THE FIRST PLACE.

THERE'S PROBABLY A WORTHY 33 1/3 CONTINUUM SERIES BOOK AND ACADEMIC THESIS IN CAMOUFLEUR, THE FIFTH AND FINAL ALBUM BY GASTR DEL SOL. IT SOUNDS AT ONCE FAMILIAR AND NEW, WHICH IS A WHEEZY CLICHE THAT I'VE HEARD APPLIED TO A LOT OF MUSIC, BUT I DO ACTUALLY THINK THAT.

LET'S BREAK IT DOWN. THE OPENER 'THE SEASONS REVERSE' HAS A FEEL IN THE REALM OF PROPER TROPICALIA GENRE PIECE. BUT THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIX, IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SONIC ELEMENTS THAT IS PULLING IT AWAY FROM THAT. IT'S NOT OCCLUDING THE SONGWRITING: IT'S AN ELECTRONIC SOUND BUZZED IN FROM ANOTHER WORLD, A WHIRRING PIECE OF INHUMAN PERCUSSION STUTTERING ALONG.

IN MY HEAD IT GOES THAT GRUBBS IS TRYING TO WRITE REASONABLY NORMAL SONGS AND O'ROURKE IS TRYING TO PULL THEM APART. WHAT WE'RE LEFT WITH IS THIS, AND THAT IS ALSO WHY THEY SPLIT. IT'S PROBABLY NOT ACTUALLY LIKE THAT, BUT IT FEELS LIKE IT COULD BE TRUE.

A COUPLE OF THE TUNES ACTUALLY SOUND LIKE GENUINE AMERICANA AND NOT IN THE ALT-COUNTRY SENSE, BUT REAL MUSIC HEWN FROM THE SALT OF THE EARTH OF THE NEW CONTINENT. THIS MIGHT BE AN ACADEMIC EXERCISE IN SOME RESPECT, BUT LISTEN TO 'BLACK HORSE' AND TELL ME IT SOUNDS INSINCERE, EVEN WHEN COMPUTER/MIDI NOISES CHIME IN WITH THE ACOUSTIC GUITARS. IT IS ACTUALLY *BEAUTIFUL* WITHOUT ANY UNDERPINNING COMMENT.

IT'S A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL RECORD ON EVERY TRACK. HOWEVER, FOR ME, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF TRACKS THAT ARE APPROXIMATELY SIMILAR THAT GO EVEN FURTHER. I DON'T KNOW IF THESE ARE GRUBBS TRACKS OR O'ROURKE OR EVEN ANYTHING TO DO WITH MARKUS 'OVAL' POPP WHO TURNS UP TO HELP OUT HERE, BUT THEY RATE AS HIGH AS ANYTHING IN THE O'ROURKE CATALOGUE THUS FAR.

 

THOSE TRACKS - 'BLUES SUBTITLED NO SENSE OF WONDER' AND 'EACH DREAM IS AN EXAMPLE' - DO SOMETHING BOTH 'SMART' AND MOVING. I CAN'T QUITE PLACE MY FINGER ON IT. THE FORMER IS THE SONG CLOSEST TO MY FEELING OF CONFUSION ON WAKING AS I CAN THINK; A MESS OF GLOSSOLALIA, WORDS SLIPPING IN AND OUT OF MEANING; A NEW FORM OF BALLADEERING FOR THE 00S NOT REALISED BY THE MANY. 

IT'S A RARE RECORD IN THAT IT IS GREAT AND ALSO A LITTLE BIT UNDERRATED: I THINK MUSIC IN 2020 IS PRETTY FAR FROM A RECORD LIKE THIS THAT IS SIMULTANEOUSLY ARCH AND SINCERE. FOR ME THIS ISN'T JUST CERTIFIED GOOD BUT UP THERE WITH SPIDERLAND AND JOURNEY IN SATCHIDANANDA AND MY FAVOURITE THINGS AND EASTER EVERYWHERE.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

IN BERN (1999)

A LIVE COLLABORATION BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL GUITARIST LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS AND JIM, TAKING PLACE IN 1997 AT A SWISS MUSEUM IN THE CITY OF BERN. HERE IT MIGHT BE WISE TO TALK ABOUT THE EUROPEAN MAINLAND (IE. NOT BRITAIN, NOT IRELAND) AND ITS STRONG PATRONAGE OF THE MUSICAL ARTS THAT MAKE THINGS LIKE THIS - A PERFORMANCE, A RECORDING - BETWEEN TWO FAMOUS SHIPS IN THE NIGHT POSSIBLE. I LOVE IT, EVEN IF I DON'T LOVE THE RESULTS EVERY SINGLE TIME. LIKE, IT TAKES A STRONG VISION TO GET SOMETHING LIKE THAT FEAR TO FALL RECORD OR THIS TO HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE. RESPECT IT.

I DON'T WANT TO APPLY TOO MUCH NARRATIVE OR OUTSIDE KNOWLEDGE (APART FROM THAT GAINED DURING THE COURSE OF THE BLOG) BUT IN 1999 JIM HAS JUST LEFT GASTR DEL SOL (IT EVEN SAYS THIS ON THE ALBUM COVER) AND IS VERY MUCH ENAMOURED BY THE AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR SOUND - MELODIC RIVERS THAT MOVE IN A LINEAR FASHION RATHER THAN OBVIOUS 'SONG STRUCTURES' (THOUGH THOSE ARE ON THEIR WAY). THERE'S ALSO A VERY 'STUDIED' EDGE TO WHAT JIM SEEMS TO BE UP TO AROUND THIS TIME. HE EVEN DRESSES LIKE AN ARCH MUSIC PROFESSOR.

THE RECORD - FOUR TRACKS OVER 48 MINUTES - IS QUITE A REVERENT PIECE. MELODY-FIRST, WITH EACH PLAYER MAKING LITTLE INCURSIONS OR EXCURSIONS - A LITTLE PERCUSSIVE TAPPING, A LITTLE JAZZY FLOURISH, BACKING OFF, STEPPING UP, LETTING THE OTHER TAKE OVER. AT TIMES IT IS A LITTLE JOHN FAHEY, BUT AT OTHER TIMES IT FEELS LIKE FLEETWOOD MAC AT THEIR SPACIOUS 60S BEST.

THE RECORD LEADS WHERE PEOPLE LIKE CAM DEAS AND JAMES BLACKSHAW WOULD FOLLOW. IT BRINGS A LITTLE PIECE OF AN UNDULATING JOURNEY THROUGH NOWHERE AMERICA TO A MEDIEVAL SWISS CITY. SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE IT IS ALL IN ONE KEY AND AT ONE DYNAMIC LEVEL, BUT MAYBE THAT ALLOWS THE PERFORMANCE TO HAVE A PARTICULAR TYPE OF TRANSFORMATIVE CAPABILITY.

GONNA GO CERTIFIED: GOOD ON THIS. I CAN'T REALLY SAY THERE'S ANYTHING BAD ABOUT IT ALL.

HARD OFF (2017)

DELIVERY HEALTH IS THE NAME OF AN EARLIER COLLABORATION BETWEEN JIM, ITALIAN KEYBOARD WIZ GIOVANNI DI DOMENICO, AND JAPANESE PERCUSSIONIST TATSUHISA YAMAMOTO: HERE THEY DECIDE THAT IS THE NAME OF THEIR BAND DEVOTED TO ATMOSPHERIC GURGLES AND OPENING UP SPACES BETWEEN NOTES TO LET SHIT REALLY BREEEEEAAATHHHHHE.

I QUITE LIKED ARCO, THE 2015 COLLABORATION BETWEEN DI DOMENICO AND O'ROURKE: IT ORBITED THE PLANET OF GRASPABLE MELODY WITHOUT QUITE LANDING. THEY SEEM LIKE A GOOD FIT AS THIS KIND OF DOES THE SAME THING AND OCCASIONALLY LETS DOWN THE LANDING GEAR BEFORE THINKING 'OOH NO, ACTUALLY'. THAT MIGHT SOUND FRUSTRATING BUT THE ATMOSPHERES AND GENTLE TICKLING OF KEYS AND STRATEGIC PERCUSSION IS SOOTHING AND WELL BALANCED.

STANDARD FORM ON A LOT OF JIM'S RECORDS, I AM FINDING, IS 40 MINS OF MUSIC SPLIT INTO ONE OR TWO TRACKS. THAT'S PERFECT FOR THIS KIND OF EXPLORATORY DRIFTING. SIDE A IS A LITTLE BETTER THAN SIDE B, WHICH IS A LITTLE MORE UNSETTLED AND ANTIC AND PICKS UP TO MAKE FOR QUITE AN EXPLOSIVE CRESCENDO. BUT ON THE WHOLE I THINK THIS IS A GREAT LITTLE SET FOR THOSE WHO LIKE "AMBIENT" AS ACTUAL HUMAN INTERPLAY BETWEEN PERFORMERS.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

I'M HAPPY, AND I'M SINGING, AND A 1-2-3-4 (2001)

IMAGINE LOVING INSIGNIFICANCE AND RUNNING OUT TO BUY THIS, WHICH IS EMINENTLY POSSIBLE AS THEY WERE THE SAME YEAR AND FAIRLY WIDELY-REVIEWED AND -DISTRIBUTED. THIS IS A FUNNY THOUGHT BECAUSE INSIGNIFICANCE IS UNCUT-MAGAZINE FRIENDLY WORDY FOLK ROCK, WHILST THIS IS...A DIFFERENT WORLD.

THAT SAID, I'M HAPPY IS AN ELECTRONIC AND PROGRESSIVE RECORD BY JIM THAT IS ACTUALLY MARKED BY A GENERAL SENSE OF LISTENABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY. 

 

IF YOU RECALL THAT PIECE BY MATTHEW WEINER THAT SAID, AMONG MANY CRUEL THINGS, THE FOLLOWING:

Despite having left the invention of his music to others, O’Rourke has worked hard to vary his shtick, splicing and combining styles with great command and understanding, a la Bad Timing.

WEINER WAS WRITING IN 2002 AND PERHAPS TOO CLOSE TO APPRECIATE THE EFFECT THAT A RECORD LIKE THIS HAS ON THE FUTURE OF MUSIC. IT'S NOT A TERRIBLE CRITICISM, IN AND AMONG SOME OF THE MEANER THINGS WEINER SAYS, TO SUGGEST THAT O'ROURKE TRAILS IN THE WAKE OF PIONEERS AND UNDERSTANDS THEIR LANGUAGE WITHOUT CREATING NEARLY AS MUCH HIMSELF.

HOWEVER, I SUBMIT: THIS RECORD DOES. IT IS A CLEAR BRIDGE BETWEEN THE OUTER WORLDS OF LAPTOP JIGGERY-POKERY AND THE GLITCH-INFLECTED POP WORLD TO COME. ADMITTEDLY DNTEL, WHOSE FIRST RECORD CAME OUT AT AROUND THE SAME TIME, MIGHT LAY CLAIM TO A MORE SIGNIFICANT STAKE IN THE SONIC OUTCOME (THOUGH O'ROURKE'S WAS RECORDED BETWEEN 1997 AND 1999). BUT THIS IS AS MUCH OF A FOUNDING STONE.

 

THIS GOES ALONGSIDE EARLY FENNESZ AND EKKEHARD EHLERS AND NOBEKAZU TAKEMURA IN THE PANTHEON OF IMPORTANT AND HUMAN-CENTRED ELECTRONIC MUSIC OF 01/02 THAT STILL STANDS UP TODAY. THE CLOSING TRACK 'AND A 1-2-3-4' IS SOME OF JIM'S BEST WORK TO DATE FROM BOTH THE PERSPECTIVE OF 2001 AND THE PERSPECTIVE OF THIS ERA-AGNOSTIC BLOG.

CERTIFIED: GOOD

LOOSE FUR (2003)

SONIC YOUTH WERE NOT THE ONLY ELDER STATESMEN TO ENLIST O'ROURKE TO PEP UP THEIR STYLE IN THE EARLY 00S: WILCO DID TOO. WE'LL LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT LATER I GUESS. 

LOOSE FUR WAS A GROUP OF JEFF FROM WILCO, GLENN NOT YET OF WILCO, AND JIM. STORY GOES IS THAT THE EARLY LOOSE FUR STUFF (WHICH MUST BE PRE-2001) INSPIRED JEFF TO OVERHAUL WILCO, FIRSTLY SACKING THE DRUMMER AND REPLACING HIM WITH GLENN (HIMSELF AN EXPERIMENTAL MUSICIAN) BEFORE GETTING JIM TO DO SOME STUFF FOR HIS DAYJOB TOO.

THIS ALSO COMES FROM THE PERIOD WHERE JIM IS NOT FLIRTING WITH REGULAR MUSIC BUT ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN IT AND GETTING QUITE THE HIGH REP (GLENN ALSO PLAYS ON A LOT OF JIM'S NORMAL RECORDS OF THIS TIME TOO). EVEN ON THIS, OSTENSIBLY A SIDE BAND, THERE'S A SUSTAINED COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILIAR STRUCTURES AND CONSONANT MELODIES, EVEN THOUGH THINGS ARE LOOSER AND TEASED OUT MORE THAN, SAY, A REGULAR WILCO RECORD.

ELEGANT TRANSACTION SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING OFF INSIGNIFICANCE AND I DARESAY HAD JIM PUT THAT ON IT WOULD BE AN EVEN STRONGER RECORD. JUST GENERALLY-SPEAKING HERE, THOUGH I RESPECT JEFF TWEEDY'S SONGWRITING JUST FINE AND HE HAS A NICE VOICE, IT REALLY IS THE O'ROURKE-SUNG MATERIAL THAT I PREFER. 

SOME OF IT SOUNDS LIKE ALTERNATIVE WILCO SONGS, THE ONES THAT WEREN'T QUITE MADE TO TRANSLATE TO 5000 CAPACITY AMPITHEATRES IN SUMMER. FOLK ROCK WITH SOME EXPERIMENTAL TOUCHES AND GENUINE INTERPLAY AND COMMUNICATION. I HAVEN'T REALLY LISTENED TO THIS FOR 15 YEARS BUT IT STANDS UP WELL AND I THINK IT DESERVES A CERTIFIED: GOOD.

CERTIFIED: GOOD.

IT'S HARD FOR ME TO SAY I'M SORRY (2016)

REMEMBER MUSIC JOURNALISM? I MISS IT.

THIS IMAGE HEADS AN ARTICLE TITLED...WELL, YOU CAN SEE...THAT WAS ON THE NOW DEFUNCT ONLINE OUTLET STYLUS (WHICH WAS KIND OF LIKE PITCHFORK THOUGH OCCASIONALLY CRUELLER AND LOWER IN INFLUENCE). LET ME POST UP THE MAIN CLAIMS OF THIS ARTICLE.

here’s the rub: with the occasional exception, very little of this music is any good. And what little is worth the listener’s time is nearly always compromised by the specter of O’Rourke himself.

AS WE WILL SEE THE WRITER HAS MET O'ROURKE AND DIDN'T LIKE HIM *AT ALL*.

I must confess at this point of yet another disclaimer: I met this “titan” of a man at a party when I was in college in 1995 or so while he was on tour with Gastro Del Sol and Tortoise. Though not exactly a fan, I was fairly excited about the possibility of meeting him, given his emerging Post Rock God status at the time. Those attending the party were instead treated to an insufferable, boorish know-it-all who commandeered the stereo and wouldn’t shut the fuck up. In effect, Jim O’Rourke was everything you would expect him to be and pray to God he wasn’t.

BUT ULTIMATELY THE WRITER DOES FIND DIGS THAT AREN'T ROOTED IN A POOR CHANCE ENCOUNTER.

Despite having left the invention of his music to others, O’Rourke has worked hard to vary his shtick, splicing and combining styles with great command and understanding, a la Bad Timing. But his technique has never been in question.

OOF.

...for all we learned in the second half of the 20th Century about form, context and content [...] we discovered something about pop music that Gerry and the Pacemakers could have told us in 1959: pop music ain’t that complicated, at least not aesthetically. It speaks and will always speak a simple teenage truth, a truth of naïve sincerity and yearning. Jim O’Rourke: he doesn’t get that. He can’t.

YIKES.

...not a single one of the records he recorded with Faust, Fahey, or the Red Krayola—massive figures in the history of underground contemporary music—even qualifies as listenable, much less among their best.

THERE'S MORE IF YOU WANT TO READ THE PIECE. IT'S A GOOD BIT OF INVECTIVE. I SUPPOSE IT OFFERS THE INCREDULOUS COUNTERWEIGHT TO THIS PROJECT; THE BELIEF THAT MAYBE THIS GUY IS JUST A HUGE PHONEY WHO JOGS IN AFTER THE BIG BANG AND NERDS IT UP.

I'M NOT GOING TO DECIDE WHETHER WEINER IS RIGHT OR NOT HERE AND NOW. BUT I MIGHT RETURN TO THE PIECE TIME AND AGAIN TO BOUNCE OFF, BECAUSE IT DOES REPRESENT A WELLSPRING OF OPINION THAT ISN'T FLORID ARTSPEAK.

THAT PIECE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS RECORD BUT I WANTED TO THROW IT IN THERE TO BOLSTER FUTURE CONVERSATION. THIS RECORD - A COLLABORATION WITH AUSTRIAN GUITAR/LAPTOP WHIZ FENNESZ - IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL AND WELL DONE. I LIKE IT A LOT. 

FENNESZ OFTEN WHIPS UP THESE THICKETS OF SOUND AND EMOTION WHILE O'ROURKE CAN BE STEELY AND DISTANT - I THINK THEY TEMPER EACH OTHER'S WORST INSTINCTS HERE AND CREATE SOMETHING OF THEIR BEST SELVES. IT IS CONCISE AND FOCUSED AND HAS A VERY AMIABLE DRIFTING QUALITY. LISTENING IN A SUMMER BREEZE IS RECOMMENDED.

I WONDER WHAT MATTHEW WEINER OF 2020 THINKS OF THIS.

CERTIFIED: GOOD

INSIGNIFICANCE (2001)

THE RECORDS OF JIM O'ROURKE UNLIKE THE RECORDS OF SAY MICHAEL JACKSON OR BLACK FLAG OR ROY ORBISON DO NOT REALLY LEND THEMSELVES TO A WIDER CULTURAL MEMORY. THEY'RE PRODUCTS OF AN ARTIST OUTSIDE OF ANY ZEITGEIST. AND AS SUCH THERE ARE NO CONSUMER PRODUCTS TO ATTACH TO HIS WORK, NO COOL DESIGNS, NO DANCES, NO FILMED MOMENTS THAT EXIST IN WIDER SOCIAL CONTEXTS AND MEMORIES.

INSIGNIFICANCE DOES AT LEAST HAVE SOME MEMORY FOR ME. I BOUGHT IT THE YEAR IT WAS RELEASED (2001) FROM A GUY IN THE FACTORY I WAS TEMPING IN. HE SOLD THE RELEASES OF THE DAY BY DOWNLOADING THEM AND BURNING THEM OFF. NOT ALL OF US HAD THE INTERNET THEN SO £3 FOR CDS THAT WOULD COST £15 IN ANDY'S RIP-OFF-BASTARD RECORDS. 

I REMEMBER WHEN HE HANDED OVER THIS HE SAID "OH, I LISTENED TO THAT ON THE WAY IN. IT'S REALLY SHIT." I WAS 18 AND CRUSHED IN THE FACE OF THIS BURLY FORKLIFT OPERATOR.

ANYWAY I LIKED IT A LOT. MY FRIEND DAVID (MENTIONED IN THE REVIEW OF JIM.COMPUTER.HOTEL) WAS VERY SURPRISED BY THIS RECORD AS IT SEEMED TO BE A COMPLETE VOLTE-FACE FROM THE CLINICAL LAPTOP PONDERINGS HE HAD SEEN A FEW MONTHS PRIOR. THIS IS ROCK AND ROLL. IS THIS A DIFFERENT JIM O'ROURKE, HE WONDERED?

I STILL LIKE IT A LOT. THE TWO ELECTRIC ROCK SONGS HAVE GREAT RIFFS AND JIM'S VOICE IS JUST RIGHT, A WARM LOW-SUNG TENOR, DRIPPING WITH SARCASM (WELL HE WOULDN'T WANT TO DO ROCK THAT WAS *SINCERE* WOULD HE?). THESE SONGS HAVE LITTLE LEFTWARD LURCHES BUT ALL WITHIN THE REALMS OF SONG AND SONGLINESS. 

BUT REALLY IT'S THE OTHER 5 SONGS THAT ARE WORTH THE PRICE OF ENTRY; THESE WARM VAGUELY VAN DYKE PARKS/JACK NITZSCHE THINGS LACED WITH FUNNY (AND A BIT CRUEL!) LINES AND MORDANT BEAUTY. 

 

THIS COMES, AS YOU WILL SEE, TOWARD THE END OF A RUN WITH DRAG CITY WHERE JIM MAKES SOME NICE AND VAGUELY NORMAL MUSIC. THE EFFECT OF THIS RECORD IN CONTRAST WITH HIS INSTRUMENTAL AND DETACHED MUSIC FOR 'APPRECIATION' IS DEVASTATING WHEN YOU COMPREHEND HOW WELL HE'S MASTERED THE SYNTAX OF EACH. THE EFFECT IS AKIN TO USAIN BOLT TURNING UP IN THE OLYMPIC JAVELIN AND COMING SECOND. 

CERTIFIED: GOOD

SOME KIND OF PAGAN (1989)

PERHAPS THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE LOGICAL STARTING POINT WHAT WITH IT BEING JIM'S FIRST ACTUAL RECORD BUT THE TAGS ARE THERE TO YOUR RIGHT, NAVIGATE THEM AND IMPOSE YOUR OWN LOGIC ON THIS PROJECT. I DOUBT I'LL BE ABLE TO.

SOME KIND OF PAGAN PRESENTS ITSELF ON THE LABEL AS SOLO GUITAR AND I SUPPOSE IN A WAY THAT IS TRUE BUT ALSO THERE APPEAR TO BE SOME SUBTLE INTERVENTIONS AND ACCOMPANIMENTS FROM PERCUSSION BUT NO! IT IS GUITAR. JUST GUITAR. LONELY, DARK, INDUSTRIAL-SOUNDING GUITAR (INDUSTRIAL AS IN ACTUAL FACTORIES RATHER THAN IDK MINISTRY).

I LIKE THIS. MAYBE IT IS THE SUNBAKED QUALITY TAPE UNEARTHINGS GIVE IT BUT THERE'S A ROBERT TURMAN-ESQUE FEEL HERE, MAYBE EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF FRENCH ARTIST BRUME TOO. A LITTLE DOOR OPENING TO AN UNDERGROUND PORTAL WHERE THE RULES ARE SUBTLY DIFFERENT.

IT COULD BE CONSIDERED TRIPPY BUT RATHER THAN PSYCHEDELIC, WHICH SEEMS TO ME TO CONNOTE AN ALTERED STATE, THIS IS LIKE A RECORD OF INTENSE SOBER CONCENTRATION. ONE THAT LEAVES YOU EXHAUSTED AFTERWARD, BUT GLAD YOU DID IT.

EITHER WAY THIS ONE GETS A CERTIFIED: GOOD.

PS. I FOUND THIS ARTICLE WHILE WRITING THIS, WHICH GIVES A GOOD ENTRYWAY INTO VARIOUS ASPECTS OF JIM'S DISCOGRAPHY. WHAT IS ODD IS THAT THIS PERSON COULD BE ME INASMUCH AS I THINK A LOT OF WHAT HE THINKS ABOUT THE RECORDS AND ALSO HATES STEELY DAN. WEIRD.