MIZO NO NAI UMI (2005) aka STEAMROOM 11

RECORDED IN 1990 AND THEN LEFT IN A BOX FOR 13 YEARS, UNTOUCHED, UNLOVED, FORGOTTEN. AND THEN RECOVERED, REVIVED, AND RELOVED. PERFORMED LIVE. AND THEN INCLUDED IN THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL. AND ALL INCLUDED HERE.

THE LIVE VERSION AND THE STUDIO VERSION ARE MOSTLY SIMILAR, WITH SOME INSTRUMENTATION ADDED TO THE LIVE VERSION THAT IS MOSTLY UNOBSTRUSTIVE AND ALLOWS THE ORIGINAL BEATIFIC DRONES TO COME THROUGH. THIS IS DRONE MUSIC FOR A NEAR EARTH COLONY, A NEW START, A LABORATORY ON VENUS. IT SHIMMERS AND RADIATES A CALM ENERGY. 

THE STEAMROOM RELEASE ADDS A TRACK RECORDED AT THE SAME TIME AND INCLUDED ON A COMPILATION ALONGSIDE PIECES BY RALF WEHOWSKY AND TONY CONRAD, WHICH DOUBTLESS MADE JIM PLEASED. IT IS OF A SIMILAR PIECE AS MIZO NO NAI UMI, THOUGH MORE UNSETTLED. 

A SOLID RELEASE FOR DRONE FANS.

LONG NIGHT (2008) aka STEAMROOM 27

RECORDED IN 1990 AND RELEASED JUST AFTER THE HEIGHT OF JIM-MANIA, LONG NIGHT PRESENTS NEARLY THREE HOURS OF O'ROURKE'S TAPE-Y DRONE-Y AMBIENT-Y SYNTH-Y MUSIC OVER THE COURSE OF TWO VERY LONG TRACKS. 

 
LET'S SEE WHAT SOMEONE ON DISCOGS SAID ABOUT THIS:

Long Night by Jim O'Rourke is a record that demands deep listening. There is a great number of wave phenomena and sound filtering, to be able to catch it all will require concentration akin to the effort of meditation. It is a record about sound morphology, escape velocity and personal abstraction. While drones have an apparent simplicity at face value, complexity is the true characteristic of this work and Jim O’Rourke puts to the test the famous lesson by La Monte Young, that sounds are interesting in and of it selves and they should be played for a long time. Long Night will be a great listening if you're by yourself, but it will be even better if you share it with someone. It will develop a solemn ambience, an unawkward silence of resonating contemplation – a true demonstration of intimacy and communing. Someone will always ask "what's this we're hearing?", and you know you've just presented them with something grand and new.

THIS PRESENTS A SERIOUS STATEMENT ABOUT THE MUSIC AND IT WOULD BE UNFAIR TO DISMISS IT OUT OF HAND. I LISTENED TO IT ALONE, IN FULL, AT A GOOD VOLUME. I ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE WITH IT ON THE *REAL* AND LIKE EVERY SINGLE RECORD HERE I HAVE TRIED TO LIKE IT (FUNDAMENTALLY THIS BLOG SHOWS I AM RIGHT ABOUT O'ROURKE, HE IS  A TALENT, AND MUCH MORE COMPLEX THAN HE IS GIVEN CREDIT FOR).

 

IT'S NOT LIKE I WANT THE TIME BACK OR ANYTHING. IT'S JUST THAT 'DEEP LISTENING' AND CONCENTRATION DIDN'T SEEM TO REWARD ME ANY EXTRA. THE RECORD IS FINE - DROP THE NEEDLE ANYWHERE AN A RICH DRONE WILL PLAY, AND OCCASIONALLY THERE WILL BE SOMETHING SUBTLY MELODIC HAPPENING AGAINST IT. SKIP 15 MINUTES AND YOU WILL NOTICE CHANGES THAT YOU DIDN'T NOTICE HAPPENING IN REAL TIME. IT IS CONSIDERED AND ALL...I JUST DON'T CARE VERY MUCH FOR IT.

SINCERELY IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF 2HRS 37 OF CONTEMPLATIVE AMBIENT DRONE FOR A VICODIN NIGHT OF THE SOUL, LONG NIGHT BY JIM O'ROURKE IS FOR YOU.

TERMINAL PHARMACY (1995)

As any fan knows, there are many sides to the often shadowy Jim O'Rourke, and one of those involves a true love for the abstract. But while this has led to more than a few fascinating pieces over the years, there are those that are definitely not for O'Rourke newbies — high among them 1995 head-scratcher Terminal Pharmacy.
    - Exclaim Guide to Jim O'Rourke

The two suites of Terminal Pharmacy (Tzadik, 1995) are among his most radical compositions: Cede, for trombone, clarinet, bass and samples, is a daring half-hour collage of barely audible chords, orchestras, accordion and noises "found" (Cage, Stockhausen, Coltrane, Mnemonists, Negativland)...
    - Piero Scaruffi Guide to Jim O'Rourke

    
GOING INTO THIS I WAS AFRAID. JIM'S HAD A FEW MOMENTS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO LISTEN TO AND SOME THINGS I WAS GLAD WHEN THEY WERE OVER, BUT TERMINAL PHARMACY SEEMS TO HAVE RILED THE MOST PEOPLE UP OVER THE YEARS.

WHILST THERE IS ONE TRACK OF A VERY DAUNTING LENGTH AND A SHORTER MODERN CLASSICAL PIECE BROKEN UP BY A MINUTE OF SILENCE (ON A CD, PERHAPS TRYING A BIT TOO HARD) I CAN SEE NO REASON TO DISLIKE THESE ANY MORE THAN A RECORD YOU DISLIKE NORMALLY - AND I DON'T DISLIKE IT!

THE OPENER 'CEDE' PROBABLY NEEDS MORE THAN A PARAGRAPH TO REALLY BREAK INTO IT, BUT IT IS A LONG PIECE OF DRONING MUSIQUE CONCRETE PUNCTUATED BY SILENCE. AFTER A FEW MOVEMENTS THAT SET A MATURE AND AUSTERE SOUND, THERE IS A BRIEF INTERLOCUTION OF A CAR STARTING UP. PEOPLE LAUGH AND WRITE MEAN THINGS, BUT OFTEN FAIL TO NOTICE THE STIRRING BEAUTY THAT EMERGES LATER IN THE PIECE AND SUSTAINS FOR MOST OF THE REMAINDER.

OF ALL HIS MUSIQUE CONCRETE-TYPE PIECES THUS FAR I LIKE 'CEDE' THE MOST. MUSIQUE CONCRETE WILL NEVER BE MY GO-TO FOR A FUN TIME, BUT I FEEL LIKE O'ROURKE HAS BROUGHT ME A LITTLE CLOSER TO IT.

THE CLOSER AND TITLE TRACK SEEMS TO GET SHORT SHRIFT TOO BUT IT'S A NICE SMALL ENSEMBLE PIECE THAT REMINDS ME OF CHARLES IVES; SLOW LONG BOWED SOUNDS WITH THE OCCASIONAL PRICKLE FROM HARSHLY-ATTACHED REED INSTRUMENT. 

I CAN'T CALL THIS CERTIFIED: GOOD IN THE BEST OF FAITH. THIS IS NOWHERE NEAR JIM'S NADIR, OR EVEN A DIFFICULT RECORD ON THE WHOLE. IT IS COMPLEX AND REQUIRES ATTENTION TO GET THE BEST OUT OF IT. TRY IT.

STEAMROOM 31 (2017)

THREE LONG PIECES FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL FILMIC WORKS OF MAKINO TAKASHI (GENERATOR (2011), STILL IN COSMOS (2009), AND THE SEASONS (2008)). CINEMATICALLY THESE ARE WORKS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN BRAKHAGE, JONAS MEKAS, AND BILL VIOLA - MEDITATIVE, ABSTRACT, DIFFICULT TO APPLY SINGLE READINGS TO.

AND YET SOMETHING ABOUT TAKASHI'S IMAGE MAKING CLOSES DOWN MANY AVENUES OF MUSIC THAT CAN POSSIBLY EXIST ALONGSIDE IT. O'ROURKE'S PIECE FOR GENERATOR IS AN EFFECTIVE DRONE PIECE PAIRED WITH THE IMAGE. ALONE - IT IS FINE.

O'ROURKE IS ACCOMPANIED BY CHRIS CORSANO AND DARIN GRAY (THE SAME LINE UP AS OSOREZAN). NO ONE PLAYS TOO DEMONSTRABLY - THIS IS MUSIC DESIGNED TO CONJURE UP GREAT MYSTERIES BY WAY OF INDUSTRIAL PULSING AND THRUMMING.

 

I'D BEGUN TO THINK THAT O'ROURKE'S LIKELIEST VOCATION AFTER POP WOULD BE TO MAKE CINEMATIC SOUND, AS HE HAS THE MASTERY OF BOTH THE ATMOSPHERIC AND THE COUNTERPOINT ASPECTS. 'THE SEASONS' IS A LONG PIECE, SLIGHTLY MORE AGGRESSIVE IN PARTS, THAT CYCLES THROUGH A NUMBER OF MOODS. AGAIN THIS ALL WORKS PERFECTLY WELL WITH THE IMAGES IN THE FILM, BUT NOT SO MUCH OUTSIDE OF IT. WHICH IS FINE. SOUND FOR FILM IS COMPLIMENTARY.

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

RULES OF REDUCTION (1993)

WHILST THIS WILL NEVER BE THE MOST FAMOUS, MOST POPULAR, MOST INTERESTING, MOST ENJOYABLE, OR MOST DISCUSSED JIM O'ROURKE RELEASE, THERE IS A REASONABLE ARGUMENT TO SUGGEST IT COULD BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT.

METAMKINE HAD BECOME FRANCE'S LEADING RELEASER OF MUSIQUE CONCRETE AND IN ITS FIRST DECADE PUT OUT RELEASES BY WALTER RUTTMANN (LONG DEAD, BUT A DIRECTOR OF TREMENDOUS IMPORT), RALF WEHOWSKY (WHO ONCE STATED THAT THE PROBLEM WITH MUSIC WAS HUMAN MEMORY: THAT WE CANNOT REMEMBER REPETITIONS BEYOND A CERTAIN LENGTH), ELIANE RADIGUE, MICHEL CHION (A FILM SOUND THEORIST OF SOME REPUTE), LUC FERRARI (JIM'S IDOL; REMEMBER HIS BAND BRISE-GLACE? THAT WAS A FERRARI PIECE) - AND NOW, LITTLE JAMES HENRY O'ROURKE FROM THE NICE SUBURBS BETWEEN O'HARE INTERNATIONAL AND WRIGLEY FIELD.

THIS MEANS THAT FROM 4/5 YEARS AGO OF DOING GROT-ROCK AND PREPARED GUITAR IN HIS BEDROOM O'ROURKE HAS NOW JOINED THE CREAM OF THE EUROPEAN AVANT-GARDE. THIS MAY ONLY BE ONE OF THOSE CURSEDLY STUPID 3" CDS (GREAT IF YOUR TRAY HAS A SPINDLE, FUCKED IF YOU DON'T) BUT WHAT IT REPRESENTS IS HUGE. I AM SURPRISED HE DIDN'T JUST MOVE TO PARIS OR MUNICH AND REAP THE REWARDS OF "MUSIC-THOUGHT".

ANYWAY RULES OF REDUCTION IS A SOLID PIECE OF MUSIQUE CONCRETE SLASH TAPE MUSIC. I CAN TELL WHAT A LOT OF THE SOUNDS ARE AND THEY DON'T SEEM PARTICULARLY 'TRANSFORMED' (ART IS, AS THE FORMALISTS SUGGESTED, TRANSFORMATION OF MATERIAL) BUT IT DOES PAINT AN INTERESTING SOUNDWORLD TO LIVE IN FOR 17 MINUTES. I DON'T KNOW HOW IT STACKS UP TO FERRARI AND WEHOWSKY, AND I DOUBT I HAVE THE EARS OR THE LEARNING TO CREDIBLY EXPLAIN SHOULD I CHOOSE TO EXPLORE. STILL, IT'S DECENT STUFF.

REMOVE THE NEED (1993) aka STEAMROOM 22

HEY DON'T YOU MEAN REMOVE THE NEED 1989, THE EARLY RECORD OF PREPARED GUITAR MADE AROUND THE SAME TIME AS THE JIM'LL ROCK CERTIFIED-GOOD RELEASE SOME KIND OF PAGAN? 

NO, HEATHEN READER. THIS IS A DIFFERENT RECORD RELEASED FOUR YEARS LATER CALLED REMOVE THE NEED, ALSO FEATURING PIECES PERFORMED EXCLUSIVELY ON PREPARED GUITAR.

NOW YOU HAVE BEEN SCHOOLED MY CHILD LET US LOOK INTO THIS RECORDING, THE 1993 RELEASE OF REMOVE THE NEED.

 

IF YOU LIKED THOSE EARLY PREPARED GUITAR PIECES - AND I KNOW I DID - THEN YOU'RE IN FOR A TREAT HERE. A BLOG I HAVE LINKED TO A COUPLE OF TIMES HAD THIS TO SAY:

like Some Kind of Pagan, this features live solo guitar except this time longer tracks of dronier music. it’s got some interesting parts but feels a bit aimless at times where Pagan does not. 

I DISAGREE WITH THIS ASSESSMENT. YES THERE IS A 30 MINUTE TRACK IN THERE BUT ON THE WHOLE THERE'S A SENSE OF A CLEAR JOURNEY IN ALL THE TRACKS, AND I THINK THE METHOD IS REVEALED A LITTLE MORE. AT TIMES IT FEELS LIKE THE TEXTURES OF A GUITAR WHERE EARLIER PREPARED GUITAR MATERIAL FELT LIKE THE LAST THING O'ROURKE WANTED TO DO WAS MAKE THE AXE SOUND LIKE AN AXE.

 

THE STEAMROOM 22 RELEASE APPENDS TWO TRACKS FROM OTHER JIM RELEASES:

- SIX STRINGS '87 WAS RELEASED ON A LIMITED 12" IN 2004, THOUGH THE PIECE WAS RECORDED IN 1987. THE SONG FROM THE B-SIDE (SIX OSCILLATORS) IS NOT HERE.

- SOME KIND OF WAS JIM'S HALF OF A SPLIT NON-COLLABORATIVE RECORD WITH ITALIAN DUO MY CAT IS AN ALIEN. AGAIN, THE PIECE WAS RECORDED IN THE LATE 1980S.

THIS WAS A GENERALLY FINE RELEASE. JIM'S PREPARED GUITAR MATERIAL MAY NOT BE THE MOST ORIGINAL IN HIS BACK CATALOGUE, IN THRALL AS IT MAY BE TO THE MID-CENTURY MUSIC THINKERS, BUT IT DOES YIELD HIGH RETURNS.

TWO ORGANS (2004) aka STEAMROOM 28

 I PUT THIS ONE ON STRAIGHT AFTER THE LAST RECORD (THE GROUND BELOW ABOVE OUR HEADS) AND THOUGHT 'WOW IT IS AMAZING HE HAS FOUND A SIMILAR SOUND 13 YEARS LATER' BUT IT TRANSPIRES THAT TWO ORGANS WAS ACTUALLY RECORDED AROUND THE SAME TIME AND THEREFORE POSSIBLY COMES OUT OF SOME OF THE SAME PRECEPTS AND OBSESSIONS.

I WOULD GUESS I AM NOT THE FIRST ONE TO SUGGEST THIS SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT LIKE STEVE REICH - MORE HIS ERA OF PHASING THAN HIS BYZANTINE REPETITIVE ENSEMBLE MUSIC. ON THE SURFACE I SUPPOSE IT IS DRONE/AMBIENT MUSIC WITH A NOD TOWARD THE KOSMICHE, BUT WHAT IS PROBABLY WAY MORE INTERESTING IS THE INTERNAL SOUND OF THE ORGAN AND THE WAYS, UNIQUE TO EVERY ORGAN, THAT THE WIND SYSTEM WORKS AND PRODUCES THESE QUIVERING RHYTHMS AND DIFFERENT INTENSITIES AND EMPHASES. JIM'S JUST HOLDING DOWN ONE MASSIVE CHORD ACROSS TWO ORGANS, BUT IT FEELS LIKE A UNIVERSE OF SOUND TWISTING AND GYBING IN THE WIND.

THE TWO PIECES ARE FUNCTIONALLY SIMILAR BUT BOTH HAVE THIS EFFECT THAT REWARDS CLOSE LISTENING WHILST ALSO BEING TOTALLY LULLING IF YOU SWITCH OFF MOMENTARILY, GETTING LOST IN THE FLUID RHYTHMS LIKE EDDYING WATER. THE HARMONIES ON TRACK ONE ARE MORE PLEASANT WHILST ON TRACK TWO THERE IS A SLIGHT DISQUIETING TENSION INSERTED INTO THE MIX NOW AND AGAIN.

INTERESTING STUFF. NOT QUITE CERTIFIED: GOOD BUT DEFINITELY WORTH A LISTEN.

THE GROUND BELOW ABOVE OUR HEADS (1991) aka STEAMROOM 9

WHEN I WAS WRAPPING UP MY DEGREE I WAS WORKING IN A BETTING SHOP AND DIDN'T HAVE THE ENERGY TO DO SHIT ALL ELSE: HOW JIM WAS UNDERTAKING A DEGREE AND BEING INVOLVED IN LIKE 6 PROJECTS IS BEYOND ME. EVEN WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC I CAN'T SPREAD MYSELF ANY THINNER THAN ONE THING AT ONCE. I'M NOT A NATURAL, NOR AM I EDUCATED, SO MAYBE THERE'S YOUR ANSWER. ANYWAY IT DOES SEEM LIKE ONE THING THAT SEPARATES O'ROURKE FROM THOSE WITH A REASONABLY NORMAL RELEASE SCHEDULE IS SOME SUPERHUMAN CAPACITY FOR INDUSTRY.

MARKING A LITTLE BIT OF A CHANGE FROM THE PREPARED GUITAR MUSIC THAT WE SAW JIM ENGAGE WITH IN 1989 AND EARLY 1990, THIS IS WHAT I GUESS YOU MIGHT CALL A DRONE RECORD. THERE'S A NICE ORGANIC FLOW TO IT THAT SUGGESTS USE OF TAPES, AND I LIKE HOW THERE'S SOME MANIPULATION OF THE MATERIAL TO CREATE INTERNAL RHYTHMS (SOMETIMES I FEEL RHYTHMIC EXPLORATION IS TOO OFTEN ABSENT FROM DRONE/AMBIENT MUSIC).

BOTH TRACKS WOULD MAKE A NICE AMBIENT SCORE FOR A SLOW-BURNING FILM CONTAINING A SIMULANT LOOSE AT A POLAR ICE STATION, PICKING OFF HUMANS ONE-BY-ONE. IF BROODING AND SUBTLY EVOLVING DRONE MUSIC IS YOUR THING THEN CHECK OUT THIS.

STEAMROOM 3 (2013)

A RECORDING OF A LIVE SET IN KOBE, THOUGH A QUESTION IS FOR SETS THAT INVOLVE A GREAT DEAL OF COMPUTER IS HOW MUCH OF THE LIVE EXPERIENCE IS LIVE, AND WHAT EXACTLY IS LIVE MUSIC ANYWAY? IN THIS ERA WHERE GIGS ARE VERBOTEN I FEEL LIKE I WOULD GO AND SEE SOMEONE PRESS PLAY ON A TAPE IN A ROOM JUST FOR THAT EXPERIENCE OF BEING THERE.

THIS IS A NICE DRONE RECORD THAT WAS PROBABLY GREAT FUN LIVE. THERE ARE PROGRESSIVE DYNAMIC CHANGES BUT NEVER VVV FORTISSIMO OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. THE INTERVALS MOVE BETWEEN COSMIC, TROUBLED, AND PLAINTIVE. USE IT TO SOUNDTRACK THE LAUNCH OF YOUR NEXT LUNAR MODULE.

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

FRONTIÈRES? (1993) aka STEAMROOM 6

ORIGINALLY RELEASED AS A SPLIT WITH SYLLYK AKA ERIC LA CASA, A FRENCH FIELD RECORDIST OF SOME GREAT REPUTE, AND RE-RELEASED UNDER O'ROURKE'S STEAMROOM SERIES WHICH I NOW FIND IS NOT ALL NEW ORIGINAL MUSICS BUT SOME ARE OLD OBSCURE AND HARD TO FIND STUFF RE-PRESENTED. I HAVE GONE THROUGH ALL 50 THUS FAR AND WILL TRY AND POINT OUT WHERE OLD STUFF HAS A NEW NAME.

NO DISRESPECT TO ERIC LA CASA BUT I AM JUST REVIEWING THE JIM PORTION OF THIS RELEASE. WHAT WE HAVE HERE ON A TRACK CALLED 'SCAN' APPEARS TO BE A BRINGING TOGETHER OF SEVERAL FIELD RECORDINGS, SOME MANIPULATED MORE THAN OTHERS, TO CREATE A KIND OF AUDIO SURVEY THAT RANGES FROM NAIVE PERCUSSION TO EARTHY DRONES AND WHAT ALMOST FEEL LIKE INTERRUPTIONS (WE HEAR THE TAPE 'CLUNK' OFF INDICATING A SWITCH, PERHAPS?

THIS IS NOT THE MOST COMPELLING JIM RELEASE TO BE HONEST. THE AESTHETIC RIGOUR IS THERE BUT I NEVER FELT A COHERENCE NOR A COMMITMENT TO A LACK OF UNITY. IT JUST FEELS ARBITRARY, AND I THINK THAT THAT IS THE KEY TO UNCOMPELLING AVANT-GARDE MUSIC. I WATCHED THIS STOCKHAUSEN DOCUMENTARY YESTERDAY AND HE TALKS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF AN AVANT-GARDE APPROACH TO DYNAMICS AS MUCH AS NOTES/RHYTHMS/INTERVALS/TEMPI ETC., AND HOW AN UNDYNAMIC PIECE SOUNDS FLAT AND UNYIELDING. THIS IS KIND OF THAT. IT'S WEIRD BUT IT DRIFTS AND NEVER TAKES YOUR EAR.

STEAMROOM 16 (2014)

SUPERDELUXE WAS, FOR THE BEST PART OF TWO DECADES, A NUCLEUS FOR THE JAPANESE EXPERIMENTAL CIRCUIT. I HAVE SOME PALS WHO LIVE IN JAPAN AND THEY WOULD POST PICS OF THIS QUITE NICE-LOOKING SPACE WITH SOMEONE (OCCASIONALLY THEM) DOING SOMETHING DARING WITH AN INSTRUMENT AND I WOULD THINK "I AM GLAD THESE PLACES EXIST IN THE WORLD" EVEN THOUGH NOW SUPERDELUXE IS SHUT AND POSSIBLY DEMOLISHED.

JIM WAS A REGULAR PATRON AND PERFORMER THERE. ON STEAMROOM 16, A LIVE RECORDING OF A PERFORMANCE THERE, WE SEE HOW THE STEAMROOM SERIES CAN BE CONSIDERED DIARISTIC. THIS IS A RE-VISITING OF A SERIES OF TAPE CONCERTS JIM GAVE WHILE A STUDENT IN THE LATE 80S AND EARLY 90S: A TENT OR A LOT OF TENTS FEATURE, BUT I AM NOT SURE HOW. MANY TENTS? MANY TAPES IN ONE TENT? IS THE TENT ON STAGE OR IS IT LIKE AN ART SPACE? I DO NOT KNOW. WRITE ME.

WHAT WE HEAR ON STEAMROOM 16, I THINK, IS A COLLAGE OF VARIOUS TAPES FOR A FEW MINUTES EACH, SPLICED TOGETHER INTERESTINGLY. SOME ARE CLANGING INDUSTRIAL THINGS THAT THE DRILLING OUTSIDE MY HOUSE WENT WITH VERY NICELY. SOME ARE GENTLE AND DRIFTING, SOME ARE STOIC AND DISTANT BUT MUSICALLY PRESENT. SOME SEEMED FAMILIAR? ALL ARE WORDLESS AND ULTIMATELY INEFFABLE.

I DID QUITE LIKE THIS ONE THOUGH

IT TAKES TIME TO DO NOTHING (1990)

ANOTHER EARLY CASSETTE RELEASE FROM JIM WITH THE SAME CAVEAT THAT CAME WITH SOME KIND OF PAGAN - THIS IS ALL PREPARED GUITAR WITH NO EFFECTS EXCEPT THE USE OF REVERB. HE IS GOOD TO MAKE THIS SEEMINGLY PEDANTIC POINT, AS FROM A GUITAR PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE SOME OF THE SOUNDS HE GETS HERE ARE EXCELLENT.

 

MANY PEOPLE WON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE PROVENANCE OF SOUNDS: SIMPLY IF IT SOUNDS GOOD OR FEELS GOOD, THEN THAT'S SUCCESS. I GET THE FEELING THAT THE ORIGIN OF SOUNDS AND THEN THE PROCESS BY WHICH THEY ARE MANIPULATED ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO O'ROURKE. I EVEN HEARD ONCE THAT O'ROURKE COULD IDENTIFY HOW ANY GIVEN SOUND WAS MADE. WISH I COULD VERIFY THAT.

THIS COMMENCES WITH SOME SUPERB WIDESCREEN DRONES BUT BEGINS TO FOLLOW A SLIGHTLY DARKER AND MORE UNSETTLING PATH AS IT DEVELOPS. BY THE MIDDLE OF SIDE B THE FEEL IS LIKE WANDERING IN A DARKENED INDUSTRIAL UNIT AT NIGHT WITH OCCASIONAL ORIENTAL-SOUNDING INTERLUDES REBOUNDING OFF THE THINGS OCCLUDING HIS PREPARED GUITAR STRINGS. 

PRETTY GOOD STUFF ON THE WHOLE.

STEAMROOM 37 (2017)

THE OFFICIAL BANDCAMP PAGE KEEP CALLING JIM'S STEAMROOM SERIES 'A MUSICAL JOURNAL' BUT SURELY ALL MUSIC IS THAT. ANYWAY, HERE'S ANOTHER FROM HIS ONLINE SERIES. 1 TRACK OF ABOUT 35 MINUTES.

IT'S A SOLID RIDE OF GENTLY UNDULATING DRONES THAT SLOWLY MORPH IN TIME. THE INTERVALS USED BECOME MORE SUSPENSEFUL AS THE PIECE DEVELOPS BUT NEVER BECOMES TRULY UNHOLY OR BRANCAESQUE. THE LOW-MID END HAS A GOOD PRESENCE, WHICH SOMETIMES DRONE/'AMBIENT' MUSICIANS FORGET TO INCLUDE ENOUGH OF. 

NOT ESSENTIAL BUT CERTAINLY NOT A WASTE OF O'ROURKE'S OR YOUR TIME.

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

SCEND (1992) aka STEAMROOM 21

I REMEMBER BROADENING MY HORIZONS IN THE EARLY 00S AND GETTING THE WIRE (MAGAZINE, NOT TV SHOW) AND TRYING TO LISTEN TO SOME OF THE NAMES THAT WOULD REPEAT BACK ON ME LIKE THE HAFLER TRIO AND NURSE WITH WOUND AND KALI Z FASTEAU. THE EXPERIENCE LED TO AN ALMOST PARODIC SESSION OF BEING SNEERED AT IN A RECORD SHOP IN ARCHWAY, NORTH LONDON, WHERE I LEFT WITH THE MOST POPULIST THING THEY STOCKED (THE NEW FENNESZ).

I'M NOT PRO- OR ANTI-GATEKEEPING. IT SEEMS LIKE A NATURAL PHENOMENON BUT ALSO PEOPLE COULD BE LESS DICKISH GENERALLY. THIS EXPERIENCE DID MAKE ME RELUCTANT TO DELVE FURTHER AND HOPE THAT, ORGANICALLY, THE WORLDS OF ATMOSPHERIC/DETACHED/CEREBRAL MUSIC AT THE FRINGES OF ACADEMIC AND MUSIQUE-CONCRETE WOULD REACH ME.

I SUPPOSE IT KIND OF HAS, BUT IT HAS TO BE SAID THE EXPERIMENTAL/ACADEMIC MUSIC I LIKE IS THE STUFF THAT DOES MAINTAIN A LINK TO SOMETHING TRADITIONALLY ENJOYABLE. ELIANE RADIGUE'S L'ISLE RE-SONATE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE, MANAGING TO SOUND LIKE BOTH A SINISTER DECODING OF A TRANSMISSION AND THE MANGLED HAUNTED TRANSMISSION OF A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF MUSIC ITSELF.

SCEND IS JIM - A COLLEGE STUDENT AT THE TIME, I THINK - OUT DOING CEREBRAL MUSIQUE-CONCRETE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT; THE KIND OF MUSIC THAT THE WIRE BACK IN 2001 WERE HOPING PEOPLE LIKE ME WOULD GO OUT AND GET GROOVY TO. IT'S A SERIOUS AND HEAVY UNDERTAKING AND PRIMARILY A DARKLY TEXTURAL ONE. I THINK I LIKE IT THOUGH, DESPITE MUS-CONC NOT BEING MY NORMAL CUP OF TEA EVEN THESE DAYS.

I'M SURE O'ROURKE WANTS US TO LISTEN IN DEPTH TO EVERYTHING HE DID BUT OF EVERYTHING I'VE HEARD SO FAR IN THIS BLOG, THIS IS THE ONE THAT MOST SEEMS TO REQUIRE YOU TURN IT UP AND LISTEN CAREFULLY. IT IS VERY FULL AND RICH AND CONVINCING THOUGH PROBABLY BEST NOT THROWN ON WHEN THE LADS ARE OVER FOR A BARBEQUE.

SCEND WAS RE-RELEASED DIGITALLY AS PART OF JIM'S STEAMROOM SERIES. THIS RELEASE APPENDS A SHORTER TRACK CALLED PURGE THAT IS IN THE SAME VEIN, THOUGH TREBLIER AND NOT AS SUCCESSFUL.

STEAMROOM 1 (2013)

OK THIS IS A CURVEBALL - NOT MUSICALLY - BUT I HAD NO IDEA THAT THIS STEAMROOM SERIES EXISTED. SINCE 2013 (POSSIBLY WHEN HE MOVED TO JAPAN) JIM HAS BEEN PUTTING OUT RECORDS ONLINE W/NO PHYSICAL RELEASE. AND BECAUSE HE'S A MASSIVE PRECOCIOUS PROLIFIC BASTARD WITH NO SENSE OF WHAT THE BLOGGER OF THE FUTURE MIGHT WISH THERE ARE, AT TIME OF WRITING, 50 OF THESE THINGS. IN FOR A PENNY, IN FOR A POUND.

 

TWO TRACKS BOTH ABOUT 19-20 MINUTES HERE. THE FIRST ONE IS A NICE COSMIC DRONE UNDERPINNING SOME GENTLE MEANDERINGS AWAY. THE SECOND ONE FEELS LIKE A REVISITING OF THE SAME MATERIAL BUT WITH HEAVILY PROCESSED GUITAR BORDERING ON FEEDBACK THAT MAKES THINGS SWIRL IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND PICK UP SOME DUST.

IF THIS IS THE APPROXIMATE QUALITY FOR THE NEXT 49 THEN THIS IS DOABLE BUT I WOULD HOPE IT PICKS UP SOME.

SHUTTING DOWN HERE (2020)

SHUTTING DOWN HERE WAS REVIEWED ON PITCHFORK TODAY SO LET US QUICKLY SEE WHAT IS BENEATH THE HOOD OF THE 8.0 SCORE IT WAS AWARDED.

His album is almost memoiristic, even though it eschews the literal for the heady crafts of recording and arrangement.

NOW I AM A 37 YEAR OLD MAN AND JABBING PITCHFORK IN THE RIBS IS A GAME BEST PLAYED BY YOUNGER AND MORE BITTER PEOPLE THAN I (AND I STILL CONSIDER MYSELF YOUNG AND A LITTLE BITTER) BUT I DO NOT THINK THAT BEING "LITERAL" (THAT IS TO SAY, MEMOIRISTIC IN AN OVERT, HERE IS MY LIFE KIND OF WAY) AND BEING CEREBRAL ABOUT RECORDING AND ARRANGEMENT NEED BE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.

 

WHAT MR. FELSENTHAL IS GRABBING AT IS THAT O'ROURKE IS WRITING A RECORD THAT REFLECTS THE VARIOUS PASSAGES OF STUDY AND APPRECIATION HE HAS ACCUMULATED OVER HIS 30+ YEARS IN THE BIZ; A REFLECTION ON HIS ORIGINS AND SUCH.

THIS RESULTS IN A MIX OF TAPE-Y SOUNDS OVERLAPPING WITH ELECTRONIC SOUNDS AND SOME ORGANIC BITS OF PIANO AND STRING. I THINK WE USED TO CALL THIS APPROACH 'ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC' OR 'ACOUSMATIC'. 

IT IS QUITE CEREBRAL AND THAT'S GENERALLY WHAT I EXPECT THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT. MY EXPERIENCES WITH JIM ARE SIMPLY NOT TO EXPECT THE INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR NAKED AND HONEST EXPRESSION, EVEN WHEN HE VEERS INTO STYLES THAT APPEAR TO CORRESPOND WITH IT. 

 

IF THIS IS A MEMOIR, IT'S A MEMOIR OF BEING EXCITED BY THE POSSIBILITY OF LESS DIRECT FORMS OF EXPRESSION; MOTIVATED BY ALIENATION, PERHAPS? SOMEONE ON BANDCAMP SAYS HE HEARS 'QUOTES FROM MORTON FELDMAN' IN IT: I WOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT SORT OF THING, I AM JUST ONE MAN AND ONE BLOG.

IT'S A PRETTY SOLID RECORD AND GETS BETTER AS IT TRUNDLES ALONG AS HIS CLINICAL ATMOSPHERES AND TEXTURES MEET THE GUT ON STRING LULL OF A VIOLIN.

JIM:COMPUTER:HOTEL (2000)

SO MY FRIEND DAVID SAW JIM AROUND THIS TIME DOING 'LAPTOP MUSIC' WHICH SOUNDS IN 2020 LIKE IT COULD BE ANYTHING BUT AT THE TIME IT WAS GENERALLY ASSOCIATED WITH A PARTICULAR TYPE OF AMNIOTIC, ELUSIVE, "AMBIENT" (WE WILL ENCOUNTER AND PERHAPS DISSECT THIS LATER) MUSIC THAT WAS BY TURNS DISTANT FROM CONVENTIONAL STRUCTURES BUT ALSO, BECAUSE OF THE WAY LAPTOPS AND DIGITAL WORKSPACES WORK, INEVITABLY STRUCTURED.

THIS IS A FAIRLY APPROACHABLE SET OF ELECTRONIC EXCURSIONS THAT PERHAPS HERALDS THE DAWNING OF "LAPTRONICA" WITHOUT EVER REALLY COMMITTING TO IT OR SOUNDING OUT OF PLACE ON A LABEL RUN BY AVANT VETERAN MATS GUSTAFSSON (MUCH MORE OF WHOM LATER I WOULD VENTURE). 

I HEAR BITS OF OVAL AND FENNESZ HERE IN THIS REVISITING OF FLUTTERING AND DECAYED SNATCHES OF ELEGIES; NOT QUITE RIVERS OF SOUND BUT OBSESSIVELY FOLLOWING THE SMALLEST TRIBUTARY UNTIL IT RUNS OUT AND THEN WE RETURN TO THE MAIN SOURCE. 

THE LONG MIDDLE TRACK TAKES SOME TIME TO GET INTERESTING SO MAYBE I WOULDN'T RUSH OUT TO CHECK THIS OUT AGAIN ANY TIME SOON BUT AS INSCRUTABLE COMPUTER COMPOSITIONS WRITTEN ON THE ROAD GO THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD BATCH.