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.

STEAMROOM 19 (2015)

A RECORD SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE VARIOUS INTERSECTIONS OF TAPE MUSIC, DRONE, AMBIENT, MUSIQUE CONCRETE, AND SOUND ART. ONE TRACK OVER 42 MINUTES THAT GOES THROUGH SEVERAL IDENTIFIABLE SECTIONS, EACH UNIFIED BY SHARPENED METALLIC TONES AND AN UNMISTAKABLE ATMOSPHERE AKIN TO WHEN A FRIDGE HUMS ANNOYINGLY.

THERE IS A SENSE OF AN ACTIVE HAND THROUGHOUT AS WE HEAR INTERLOCUTIONS FROM UNIDENTIFIABLE PERCUSSIVE SOUNDS (LIKE STONES GRINDING TOGETHER) AND THE SUBTLE RAISING AND DECAYING OF ATTACK AND VOLUME THAT COMES FROM THE ANCIENT ART OF 'KNOB-TWIDDLING'. 

ULTIMATELY THIS FEELS BEST AS SOUND ART IN THE BACKGROUND OF AN INSTALLATION RATHER THAN AS MUSIC, IN WHICH IT DOESN'T YIELD ENOUGH OF ANYTHING TO BE REMARKABLE.

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.

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.

HAGYOU (2008)

YOSHIMI (SHE OF THE BATTLE WITH THE PINK ROBOTS IN THE FLAMING LIPS ALBUM TITLE) IS ARGUABLY ONE OF THE SICKEST DRUMMERS AND BEST EXPERIMENTAL MUSICIANS OF MY LIFETIME SO COMING TOGETHER WITH JIM AND VENERABLE SAXOPHONIST AKIRA SAKATA WILL BRING *THE HEAT* SURELY!

I AM NOT SURE WHAT THE DIVISION OF LABOUR IS HERE BUT SAKATA BLOWS A MEAN HORN - NOT PARTICULARLY ABSTRACT OR WEIRD STUFF, EITHER - IT'S JUST THE BACKING OF REVERBED KEYS AND SQUELCHY ELECTRONIC NOISES PUTS YOU IN A VERY LIGHTLY EXPERIMENTAL MODE. IT'S ACTUALLY PLEASANT. IT HAS A SUNDAY AFTERNOON FEEL TO IT. OCCASIONALLY SAKATA SINGS PLAINTIVELY.

THIS RECORD IS A NICE SURPRISE. IT LIVES NEARER TO TRADITIONAL FORMS OF JAZZ THAN I WAS EXPECTING, THOUGH THE STUFF JIM AND YOSHIMI ARE DOING AROUND THE EDGES IS DIFFERENT AND COOL AND MAKES FOR A LISTENING EXPERIENCE I'VE NOT HAD BEFORE. MAYBE IF YOU LIKE MATANA ROBERTS YOU COULD GIVE THIS A BASH.

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.

ONLY WANTING TO MELT BEAUTIFULLY AWAY IS IT A LACK OF CONTENTMENT THAT STIRS AFFECTION FOR THOSE THINGS SAID TO BE AS YET UNSEEN (2011)

ANOTHER COLLABORATION WITH AMBARCHI AND HAINO (THERE ARE A FEW OF THESE, AT LEAST SIX BY MY ESTIMATES) BUT COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE LAST ONE REVIEWED. THAT ONE SAW THE THREE STUTTER INTO ACID-FRIED SOLAR-POWERED EARTH-BATTERING ROCK, WHICH AT TIMES WAS TROUSER-FLAPPINGLY TRANSCENDENT. 

THIS RECORD IS A MORE RESTRAINED AFFAIR. JIM PLAYS THE 12-STRING ACOUSTIC, AMBARCHI STAYS BEHIND THE TRAPS, WHILE HAINO SINGS PLAINTIVELY AND SWITCHES BETWEEN AN ARSENAL OF INSTRUMENTS INCLUDING THE KANTELE/PSALTERY. LOOK:

RECORDED LIVE AT ROPPONGI ARTVENUE SUPERDELUXE (RIP), MELT... FINDS ALL THREE IN DECENT FORM. I THINK THEY'RE NATURAL COLLABORATORS AND ONE THING THAT IMPRESSES ME ABOUT AMBARCHI IS HIS RESTRAINT AND GIVING OF SPACE. HE'S LIKE THE CENTRAL MIDFIELDER YOU DON'T SEE IN A FOOTBALL GAME, DOING ALL THE DIRTY WORK AND LETTING OTHERS TAKE THE SPOILS.

SOUND-WISE THE RECORD DEVOLVES FROM A PLEASANT OPENING OF FOLK-INSPIRED CHANTING AND PLAYING INTO A FAIR OLD MESS OF NOISE. HAINO DOWNS THE KANTELE AND PLAYS A SYNTH WITH A LITTLE MALICE. ONCE YOU COME OUT OF THE OTHER SIDE, DEEP INTO SIDE B THEY RETURN TO EARTH WITH A GENTLE THUD. 

JUST DYING FOR THESE THREE TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER AND DELIVER FOR A FULL-LENGTH RECORD. IT CAN BE DONE! IT MUST BE DONE!

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.