THE MAGIC SOUND OF FENN O'BERG (1999)

THE PLAYFULNESS THAT ACCOMPANIED THIS ERA OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC, TONGUES FIRMLY PUSHED IN CHEEKS AS CEX, KID606, APHEX, BOGDAN RADCYNZSKI, CEEPHAX, V/VM, THE MEMBERS OF FENN O'BERG (JIM, FENNESZ, PETER 'PITA' REHBERG) AND MANY MORE HELPED ESTABLISHED NOT JUST AN ELEMENT OF THE MUSICAL LANGUAGE BUT A SLIPPERY FORM OF IDENTITY FOR MORE RAREIFIED FORMS OF EXPERIMENTAL COMPUTER SOUND. TRICKSTERISH BY NATURE, I THINK IT DID A LOT TO OFFER ITSELF UP AS THE PISS-TAKING FUN FORM OF MUSIC WHILE GUITAR MUSIC GOT REALLY PO-FACED.

THIS ALBUM COMPILES PERFORMANCES FROM A EUROPEAN TOUR OF IMPROVISED LAPTOP PERFORMANCES (I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THAT EVEN WORKS, SORRY). YOU CAN HEAR BITS THAT ARE IDENTIFIABLY FENNESZ (BITCRUNCHY WHIRLWIND GUITAR FLUTTERING) BUT MOSTLY THEY HAVE A GOOD INTERPLAY OF LIGHT-HEARTED ELECTRONIC EXPLORATION. THERE ARE LITTLE SNATCHES OF FAMILIAR MELODIES (IE FROM FAMOUS SONGS) THAT JUMP INTO THE EAR AND OUT BEFORE YOU CAN PLACE THEM.

WHILE THAT MIGHT NOT SEEM LIKE THE PRESS PHOTO OF A GROUP OF LADS WHO ARE A BARREL OF LAUGHS, THIS IS AVANT-GARDE MUSIC THAT HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH THE SURREALIST/DADAIST TRADITION: IT WOULD RATHER MAKE YOU REACT PHYSICALLY THAN OVERTHINK IT TOO MUCH. IT'S A SIDE OF O'ROURKE WE RARELY SEE AND I THINK IT IS QUITE APPEALING ON THE WHOLE.

LIKE A LOT OF IMPROVISED MUSIC WITH TOO MANY BIG NAMES ON THE MARQUEE PERHAPS IT DOESN'T EXPLORE A PARTICULAR MOOD FOR LONG ENOUGH, UNLESS THAT MOOD IS RESTLESS GLEE, IN WHICH CASE IT DOES THAT FOR THE ENTIRE ALBUM.

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