BORN AGAIN IN THE USA (2006)

THE BLOG THAT NO ONE READS IS BACK! HAD SOME WORK TO DO.

ANYWAY LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SECOND LOOSE FUR (JIM, JEFF TWEEDY, GLENN KOTCHE) ALBUM. THE FIRST ONE WAS THIS COOL AND KIND OF PLAYFULLY LOOSE ROCK-ISH RECORD FOR AUTUMNAL GENTLEMEN OF THE MIND. I LIKED IT AND THOUGHT JIM'S CONTRIBS WERE JUST SWELL.

BORN AGAIN IN THE USA (6/10 TITLE, NOT A FAN OF REFERENTIAL HUMOUR IN ROCK ALBUM TITLES, SORT OF SAYS YOU DON'T CARE AS MUCH I'D LIKE YOU TO, THEN AGAIN THAT DETACHED INSINCERITY IS VERY JIM) IS A TIGHTER AFFAIR THAT FEELS MORE LIKE A JEFF TWEEDY RECORD. THAT IS TO SAY THERE'S A BREEZY SIXTIES-TURNS-SEVENTIES FEEL ACROSS EVERYTHING THAT IS AGREEABLE.

JIM'S SONGS ARE THE STAR TURN: 'ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS' COULD BE ON EUREKA, 'STUPID AS THE SUN' COULD BE ON INSIGNIFICANCE, AND 'THOU SHALT WILT' HAS THE BREEZY BACHARACH FEEL THAT WE NOW KNOW JIM IS PRETTY INTO.

THIS IS A GOOD RECORD IN THE MAIN. THERE'S A LONG INSTRUMENTAL CALLED 'WRECKROOM' THAT OTHER CRITICS DIDN'T SEEM TO LIKE BUT I FIND IT BUMBLES ALONG QUITE NICELY. IT'S JUST MORE OBVIOUSLY JEFF'S RECORD TO MY EAR.

TIMA FORMOSA (2010)

AN EARLY MEETING OF THE AMBARCHI / HAINO / O'ROURKE TRIO FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER NOT LONG AFTER O'ROURKE DECAMPED TO JAPAN FULL-TIME. I THINK, FROM SOMETHING ELSE I READ, O'ROURKE DIDN'T REALLY DO A LOT BETWEEN 2005 (HIS TIME WITH SONIC YOUTH AND WILCO) AND 2008. YOU CAN SORT OF SEE A BIT OF A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO BROAD ERAS (THOUGH THERE ARE MANY PHASES WITHIN EACH, OR SUB-NARRATIVES, OR WHATEVER). 

THE MAIN ONE IS THAT I THINK A LOT OF THE EGO SEEMS TO GO OUT OF JIM'S MUSIC. HE BURIES HIMSELF IN COLLABORATIONS AND MAKES MUSIC THAT IS LESS DEMONSTRATIVE, REJECTING THE POP GESTURES OF THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

ANYWAY WHILST I AM GENERALLY A FAN OF THIS TRIO THIS ONE DOESN'T HIT ANY SPOT. IT IS MOSTLY COMPRISED OF INTROVERTED SYNTH DRONES OVERLAPPING. NO ONE GETS TOO HEAVY UNTIL THE BACK QUARTER OF THE RECORD WHEN THERE ARE MORE PULSING INDUSTRIAL MOMENTS AND HAINO TURNS FROM FLOWERY GHOST INTO WAILING BANSHEE. 

GENERALLY THESE RECORDS SEEM TO LIVE AND DIE MORE ON WHETHER HAINO IS IN THE MOOD TO BRING THE FIRE. O'ROURKE AND AMBARCHI PLAY AS HIS BACKING BAND DESPITE THE DEMOCRATIC CREDIT SYSTEM. ANYWAY, IT ISN'T BAD, BUT GIVEN THAT THEY HAVE SIZZLED ON A COUPLE OF RECORDS THEY'VE A BAR SET THAT THIS DOESN'T EVEN REMOTELY GET CLOSE TO JUMPING.

INVITO AL CIELO (1998)

CONNOR LOCKIE OF THE BLOG SPECTRUM CULTURE REVISITED THIS ALBUM BY SONIC YOUTH AND JIM O'ROURKE, RELEASED AS PART OF THEIR SYR EXPERIMENTAL SERIES, JUST LAST YEAR. IN A SYMPATHETIC AND POSITIVE REVIEW HE SAID THIS:

When things are loud, they’re very loud; when they’re slow and dissonant, it’s like a funeral dirge. Improv purists might turn their noses up at the idea of pop musicians treading this ground, but Sonic Youth show that they have a deep understanding of both camps, such that they end up straddling the fine line that connects the two.

IMPROV PURISTS CAN ALL GO TO HELL AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED AND IT IS PRETTY CLEAR BY ANY YARDSTICK THAT ALL OF THE GROUP (BUT ESPECIALLY LEE AND THURSTON) ARE TIME-SERVED CARD-CARRYING MEMBERS OF THE NO WAVE WEIRDO MOVEMENT, HOWEVER LONG THEY HAVE SPENT IN 'POP MUSIC' LATTERLY.

 

MAYBE I'M JUST SCARRED BY THOSE DISKAHOLICS RECORDS AND THE MELBOURNE RECORD BY JIM AND THE SONIC YOUTH MEN BUT I CAN'T HANDLE IMPROV RECORDS BY THIS LOT ANYMORE. IT ISN'T OFFENSIVE OR ANYWHERE NEAR AS BAD AS DISKAHOLICS, AND I MUST STRESS AGAIN I RESPECT THE UNDERPINNINGS OF THIS, BUT IT JUST GETS ON MY LAST NERVE.

THE BEST BITS OF THE RECORD ON FINAL 30 MINUTE JAM 'RADIO-AMATOROJ' SOUNDS A BIT LIKE THE DYING FEEDBACK BITS IN 1988 CLOSING JAM ELIMINATOR JR FROM DAYDREAM NATION. IT'S JUST THAT IN THAT SONG IT WAS A BRIDGING METHOD BETWEEN SECTIONS: HERE IT IS THE ENTIRE THING IN AND OF ITSELF. 

THIS DOESN'T GET TO DUD DEPTHS BUT I AM NOT RECOMMENDING IT.

WEAPONS OF ASS DESTRUCTION (2006)

IF YOU ARE ON THIS ENTRY LOOKING FOR THE 2002 ADULT FILM STARRING BELLADONNA, THE POLITICAL THEORY BOOK BY ALFONZO RACHEL, THE HABANERO-LACED HOT SAUCE, OR THE RECORD BY DUNGEON MEAT THEN I AM VERY SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU. HOWEVER, MAYBE YOU LIKE COMPLETELY TUNELESS MUSIC TO FUCK TO, OWN THE LIBS TO, TO DOUSE ON YOUR FOOD, OR JUST SIMPLY TO LISTEN TO? IF SO, STICK AROUND.

FORTY MORE MINUTES ALONGSIDE MATS GUSTAFSSON AND THURSTON MOORE, DISKAHOLICS ROUND OUT THE SOLID CASE FOR THEM BEING THE WORST BAND THAT EVER LIVED. THREE ALBUMS OUT OF THREE OF ROTE AVANT IMPROVISATION THAT GOES NOWHERE AT ALL, SUCCESSFULLY EXPLORING NO MOOD, BREAKING NO GROUND, AND ONLY REALLY ANNOYING ANYONE WHO LISTENS.

JIM PLAYS SYNTH AND WHILE THIS BLOG IS ABOUT HIS WORK AND I'VE GENERALLY BEEN KIND, HE HAS TO SHOULDER SOME OF THE BLAME HERE WITH HIS SHITTY TONES AND ANTI-SOCIAL CREAKING AND BUZZING. YOU'RE IMPRESSING NO ONE MATE. GO AND HAVE A WORD WITH YOURSELF.

I HATE THIS AND I HATE DISKAHOLICS. DUD.

THE SUPREME INDIFFERENCE LIVE (2020)

THOUGH ACTUALLY RECORDED IN NEW YORK IN 2003 WHEN JIM WAS RUNNING WITH THE SONIC YOUTHS AND VARIOUS AVANT SUPERSTARS. HERE JIM WORKS WITH KIM GORDON AND ALAN LICHT WITH A DOUBLE DRUM LINE-UP OF TIM BARNES AND CHRIS CORSANO. 

THERE'S A FINE LINE BETWEEN SKILLED HORSEPLAY AND ACTUAL FUCKING AROUND AND I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GOOD ENOUGH TO SPOT THE DIFFERENCE. WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A LIVE CONCERT THAT MESHES THAT KIM GORDON SPOKEN WORD THING WITH THE SCRAPINGS AND KLANGINGS OF A 'NO WAVE' TYPE GIG. 

ULTIMATELY IT SOUNDS LIKE AN EARLY SONIC YOUTH SONG, THE KIND THAT LEE WOULD HAVE MADE, ALL HEADY BEAT POETRY AND TECTONIC GUITARS AND TRIBAL DRUMMING. THERE ARE SOME WELL-EXPLORED MOODS AND IT DOESN'T STICK AROUND TO BECOME A MASSIVE CHORE LIKE MELBOURNE DIRECT.

COMPLETELY INESSENTIAL BUT ENTIRELY OKAY.

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.

DISKAHOLICS ANONYMOUS TRIO (2001)

FAIR TO SAY THE ONE OF THE TWO 2006 RELEASES BY DISKAHOLICS DID NOT FLOAT MY BOAT (THE OTHER, WEAPONS OF ASS DESTRUCTION, AHAHHA, IS AS-YET-UNREVIEWED).

I JABBED THIS OFF FIRST TIME I HEARD IT. IT MAKES THE LIVE IN JAPAN DISC FEEL LIKE OUT TO LUNCH OR SOMETHING; JUST THREE GUYS IN ATONAL WANKATHON HEAVEN. I'M NO PHILISTINE: I THINK I UNDERSTAND THE *NEED* FOR FREE JAZZ AND ITS PLACE BOTH AS MUSIC AND VITAL COMMENTARY. I JUST DON'T PARTICULARLY LIKE IT ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S DONE IN AN OBNOXIOUS WAY LIKE THIS. 

GUSTAFSSON REALLY DOMINATES THIS ONE. IF CHUNKY SAX BLAPPING AND UNSTRUCTURED GUITAR NOISE DOES IT FOR YOU THEN DO CHECK THIS OUT. THEY'RE ALL PROS AT WHAT THEY DO: WHAT THEY DO IS NOT FOR ME.

I DO THINK MATS, THURSTON, AND JIM SHOULD BE BANNED FROM WORKING TOGETHER. I EVEN CONSIDER JIM LEAST GUILTY HERE. DUD.

FEAR NO FALL (1998)

THE 1997 KLAPSTUK FESTIVAL IN LEUVEN, WHICH IS KINDA HALFWAY BETWEEN BRUSSELS AND THE BORDER WITH THE NETHERLANDS, SAW SEVERAL BIG NAMES IN THE WORLD OF FREE IMPROVISATION, EXPERIMENTAL JAZZ, MODERN COMPOSITION, AND OTHER GENERAL FLAVOURS OF NON-CONFORMIST MUSIC-MAKING COME TOGETHER FOR A 5 DAY JAMBOREE OF INTERPLAY AND MAYHEM.

ON EACH DAY OF THE FESTIVAL A DIFFERENT LINE-UP OF MUSICIANS COMPRISING SOME *BUT NOT ALL* (EXCEPT ONE TRACK) OF THE ABOVE-NAMED PERFORMERS IN A KIND OF SHAPE-SHIFTING EXPLORATORY VOLTRON. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THEY HAD A BRIEF TO PURSUE A PARTICULAR THEME OR FOLLOW ON FROM THE PREVIOUS SESSION (IT DOESN'T REALLY SOUND LIKE IT) OR WHETHER THE PROMOTER JUST SAID "HAVE A GREAT TIME OUT THERE U GUYS" AND THE PERFORMERS DID THE REST.

THE BEST STUFF IS THE STUFF WITH BELGIAN PERCUSSIONIST DIRK WACHTELAER; HE'S A GREAT DRUMMER BUT IMPORTANTLY HE IMPOSES SOME SEMBLANCE OF STRUCTURE ON MUSIC THAT GETS, FOR ME, A BIT ONANISTIC IN PARTS. FOR INSTANCE THE PIECE BETWEEN VETERAN SAMPLER DAVID SHEA AND JIM O'ROURKE SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE TUNING UP AND THEN A JAW'S HARP OR SOMETHING. UNEDIFYING.

TO BE HONEST MOST OF THE BEST STUFF HERE DOESN'T FEATURE O'ROURKE: THE TOSHINORI KONDO/WACHTELAER TRACK IS A JAM. THE SHOWPIECE MEETING OF SIX MINDS ON ONE TRACK SUFFERS FROM A TOO MANY COOKS/NOT ENOUGH CHIEFS THING.

IT'S FREE IMPROVISATION FOR FREE IMPROVISATION FANS AND THUS IT ISN'T FAIR TO EXPECT TRADITIONAL FORMS. I DID EXPECT TO HATE IT FROM THE OPENING 5 MINUTES BUT THERE ARE SOME TREATS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT, BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR ME TO THINK THESE GUYS MISSED A CHANCE TO BECOME THE HOT BAND OF THE 00S. 

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.

UPGRADE AND AFTERLIFE (1996)

BECAUSE HE HAS DONE SO GODDAMN MUCH IT IS EASY TO FORGET THAT JIM O'ROURKE WAS IN GASTR DEL SOL, A BAND WHO I ONCE WROTE WERE "THE MOST OVERPRAISED BAND OF THE 1990S" (I WAS ANGRY ONCE). 

TO BE FAIR THEY WERE VERY HIGHLY-PRAISED WITH SOME OF THEIR MUSIC IN END OF YEAR LISTS FROM MAINSTREAM MAGAZINES WHEN ALL I HEARD WAS A BUNCH OF FUCKING AROUND. IT DIDN'T HELP THEY WERE CALLED POST-ROCK, A GENRE I WAS WILDLY INTO, BECAUSE I WAS REALLY INTO THE KIND OF POST-ROCK THAT WAS A BIG ATHEIST CRESCENDO. AND GASTR WERE NEVER THAT, NOT EVEN A BIT.

 

THERE'S A RANGE OF APPROACHES HERE, FROM THE AMERICAN PRIMITIVE BY WAY OF THE ACADEMY OF 'REBECCA SYLVESTER' TO THE ESOTERIC SOUND-ART LIVE FROM A DROWNED SHIP'S HULL OF 'THE SEA INCERTAIN' TO SOMEWHAT 90S POST-ROCK SOUNDING 'HELLO SPIRAL'. EACH SONG IS MUCH MORE DETACHED FROM BEING AN EXACT GENRE PIECE THOUGH.

DAVID GRUBBS, THE OTHER HALF OF GASTR, HUMANISES SOME OF THE LOFTIER ASPECTS OF THE RECORD WITH HIS BECALMED VOICE. SOME OF THE BETTER MOMENTS HERE ARE THOSE THAT SOUND LIKE COLLAPSED BALLADEERING RATHER THAN EXPLORATORY GESTURES.

THE CLOSING SONG (DRY BONES IN THE VALLEY (I SAW THE LIGHT COME SHINING 'ROUND AND 'ROUND) IS A FAIRLY STRAIGHT JOHN FAHEY / ROBBIE BASHO HOMAGE WHOSE 12 AND A HALF MINUTES ARE ENTIRELY PLEASANT. ADD THIS ONE TO YOUR NEXT MIXTAPE OF LONG SONGS THAT DEVELOP NICELY. PLAY IT ON A DRIVE TO NOWHERE.

ON THE WHOLE A MIXED BAG.

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.

YONA-KIT LP (1995)

YONA-KIT TRANSPORTS JIM AND TWO OF HIS TRUSTED COLLABORATORS OF THE TIME (THYMME JONES OF CHEER-ACCIDENT AND DARIN GRAY OF LOTS OF BANDS) INTO A BAND SITUATION WITH FELLOW CULT ARTIST AND EX-ZENI GEVA FRONTMAN KAZUYUKI KISHINO WHO YOU MIGHT KNOW AS KK NULL. THEY ALSO HAD A COOL LOGO.

JIM WOULD HAVE RECORDED THE FIRST US MAPLE RECORD AROUND THIS TIME AND I GUESS AS A SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON THEY'RE NOT A MILLION MILES APART. IT'S UNUSUAL BY THE STANDARDS OF BIG ROCK OF 1994/5 BUT NOT ESPECIALLY WEIRD BY VAGUELY MATHY/UNDERGROUND STUFF. IN FACT THEY SOUND MORE LIKE THE PROTO-US MAPLE BAND SHORTY, ONLY WITH MAYBE A LITTLE LESS CHARISMA AND MORE ATMOSPHERE.

THEY DIDN'T ALL LIVE NEAR EACH OTHER AND WROTE BY MAIL AND IT KIND OF SHOWS. MOST TUNES ARE JUST VAMPS AROUND ONE SPINDLY AND SINEWY RIFF. GETS A BIT DISCORDANT AND ESTRANGED THEN SOMETIMES VEERS INTO PLEASANTNESS BUT KEEPS ROCKIN' THROUGHOUT. THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN MORE FUN LIVE. ONE OF MELT BANANA SHOUTS INSCRUTABLY. ALBINI BEHIND THE DESK.  IF THAT'S YOUR AESTHETIC THEN HERE'S ONE FOR YOU.

LIVE IN JAPAN VOL. 1 (2006)

I ALREADY WROTE ABOUT THIS ON LOADS OF LOAD SO HERE IS THE ONLY CROSSPOST BETWEEN THAT BLOG AND THIS.

POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS TERRITORY FOR LOAD RECORDS HERE AS THIS IS A BONAFIDE RELEASE BY A BUNCH OF DUDES WHO WERE ALREADY CELEBRITIES IN MUSIC AT THIS POINT. I CAN'T QUITE EXPLAIN WHY BUT THIS SORT OF TURNS LOAD INTO A BIG INDIE EVEN THOUGH THIS RECORD IS POINTEDLY AGAINST ALL THAT SORT OF EVENT RELEASE SHIT BY BEING A SPONTANEOUS GRAB OF SOUND FROM A SHOW.

DISKAHOLICS ARE SONIC YOUTHIST THURSTON MOORE, SAXOPHONIST MATS GUSTAFFSON, AND GENERAL MUSIC GUY JIM O'ROURKE. AND IF YOU'RE THINKING "THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE LINE-UP FROM A SONIC YOUTH SYR SERIES RECORD" THEN YOU'D BE NEARLY RIGHT AND ALSO NOT FAR OFF SOUND WISE. IT'S IMPROV EXPERIMENTAL NOISE WHERE BARELY ANY OF THE INSTRUMENTS SOUND LIKE THE EXPECTED TONE/TIMBRE/OUTPUT OF THAT PARTICULAR INSTRUMENT.

LIVE IN JAPAN JUST STUTTERS ALONG NOT REALLY EXPLORING ANY MOOD. IT'S AN INTRO WAITING TO GET TO AN ACTUAL JAM. IT IS NEGATIVE SPACE IN MUSIC INCARNATE. THERE ARE MORE OFFENSIVE RECORDS THAN THIS - IT IS ACTUALLY QUITE RESERVED - BUT CHRIST THE IDEA OF SPENDING MONEY ON THIS SEEMS ABSURD IN 2020. MAYBE WE HAVEN'T LOST AS MUCH AS I THOUGHT WE HAD.

 

GENUINE DUD OF A RECORD.

MIMIDOKODESUKA (2006)

A BAND GOING BY THE NAME OF OSOREZAN MASKING A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH DARIN GRAY (WHO WAS IN BRISE-GLACE AND GENERALLY A LONGTIME PAL OF O'ROURKE) AND IN DEMAND DRUMMER EXTRAORDINAIRE CHRIS CORSANO (CIRCULAR BREATHING ON A DRUMKIT REMAINS ONE OF THOSE LIVE MOMENTS TO BE TOPPED).

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE YOU WOULD PROBABLY FILE UNDER JAZZ OR FREE ROCK BECAUSE OF BOTH TERMS HAVING SOME SENSE OF MALLEABILITY WHEN IT COMES TO 'NOT PAYING MUCH ATTENTION TO RULES OR YOUR ENJOYMENT'. 

WHAT GENERALLY PAINS ME ABOUT THIS KIND OF MUSIC, HAVING BEEN AROUND VARIOUS FREE ROCK/JAZZ SCENES AT THE TIME THIS WAS RECORDED (THAT CORSANO WAS ACTIVE IN) IS THAT THERE ABSOLUTELY *IS* AN ORTHODOXY HERE, A DOGMA, AN UNDERPINNING. AND I HATE TO SAY IT THAT THAT DOGMA IS 'AVOID DOING ANYTHING FAMILIAR'. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW QUICKLY THAT BECOMES BORING DESPITE PURPORTING TO VENTURE BOLDLY ON THE OPPOSITE PATH.

I HAVEN'T MATURED ENOUGH TO PRETEND TO GET INTO STUFF LIKE THIS. IT ISN'T THE MOST OBJECTIONABLE RECORD IN ITS CLASS AND AT TIMES MIGHT EVEN PITCH TOWARD THE WELCOMING SHORES OF BEING OK, BUT IT IS MUSIC THAT TRADES ON NAMES RATHER THAN MERIT. 

JIM DID A FEW GUITAR SKRONK RECORDS LIKE THIS WHILE HE WAS IN SONIC YOUTH AND WILCO, CLEARLY PERTURBED BY ALL THOSE ACTUAL MELODIES HE WAS COMPLICIT IN MAKING.

NOT QUITE A DUD BUT NOT FAR OFF.

WHEN IN VANITAS (1994)

RELEASED BY BRISE-GLACE ON THE LEGENDARY NOISE-ROCK PROVOCATION UNIT SKIN GRAFT, THIS RECORD SEES JIM AS PART OF A GROUP OF CHICAGO SCENE TITANS FROM GROUPS LIKE THE FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, CHEER ACCIDENT, AND VARIOUS SIDEMEN OF ALAN LICHT AND LOREN MAZZACANE.

WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO KNOW IS THAT JIM WAS ALSO THE EDITOR ON THIS AND HE DID IT ALL BY HAND, TAKING A RAZOR BLADE TO TAPE. THAT WAS KIND OF HOW IT WAS DONE PRE-COMPUTERS BUT IN 2020 THAT DOES SEEM LIKE QUITE THE FEAT, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING SOME OF THE SECTIONS HAVE QUITE FLUID JOINS. THE BAND ARE MUSICIANS, JIM IS TRYING TO MAKE THEM INTO FAUST.

BUT THAT IS LESS IMPORTANT NEXT TO OUR OLD CANARD OF PLEASURE AND I SUPPOSE BRISE-GLACE DELIVER A LITTLE OF THAT. THEY'RE A BAND THAT 'DECONSTRUCTION' WILL TYPICALLY BECOME INCORRECTLY APPLIED TO: WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS O'ROURKE AND FRIENDS CREATING ANEW BY TAKING THE BASICS OF AN AUGMENTED ROCK BAND AND TWEAKING IT IN THE MIX AND EDIT. ROCK HAS NOT BEEN 'DECONSTRUCTED' AT ALL. WE JUST HAVE A ROCK RECORD THAT HAS BEEN LOBOTOMISED, BLURRED, SMEARED, AFFECTED.

 

IT MIGHT HELP US APPRECIATE THIS MORE IF THE BASIC TRACKS THAT O'ROURKE WAS TWEAKING WERE A BIT MORE INTERESTING. THIS ISN'T A BAD RECORD BY ANY STRETCH BUT I CAN'T REALLY FIGURE OUT WHO IT IS FOR AT ALL. NOISE ROCK FANS WOULD SURELY BE DISAPPOINTED, BUT O'ROURKE'S PRESENCE ONLY GOES SO FAR.