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.

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.

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.

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.

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.