Jim O'Rourke

i guess around the time he was finishing this news stories started coming out about how it was a misunderstanding that he quit music, rumors of death greatly exaggerated, that he's been working on music the entire time, etc. makes sense since o'rourke never made a statement about it, it's just been coming from other people's mouths that he was more interested in films now and by extension not working on music anymore

Where does this 'he's quit' thing even come from? He released an album with Loren Conners just this year (Two Nice Catholic Boys). Plus he released three (!) albums last year, one of them being a double album.

Anyway, so psyched for this! I hope it's following up 'Insignificance'.

the "he quit" thing came out around the time he stopped playing with Sonic Youth, but seemed sort of like BS ... But I can understand wanting to take a break -- he had a pretty much nonstop 10 years or so there. But I'm glad there's a new record coming out! Will be interesting to see what direction he's taking.

all the other recent o'rourke output has been archival, including the connors, with the excellent touch 7" being the only exception i can think of

i have a vague memory of O'Rourke saying he hadn't made a proper solo record in so long because his conception for it would be too pricey to actually record -- don't know if this record is what he had in mind, but it would be cool if someone kicked in the cash!

I guess The Visitor being a euphemism for The Man Who Fell to Earth.

No, I think he just really, really loved the Richard Jenkins movie. I'm expecting djembe on at least half the tracks.

you think it's going to have the same cover as the prop used for the lp in the movie?

i think that joke went over jaymc's head...

Does one need a $15,000 stereo to properly appreciate his more abstract stuff (Terminal Pharmacy, etc.)?

that, or $15,000 worth of primo weed

i think that joke went over jaymc's head...

What makes you think that? Matinee thought that The Visitor was a reference to The Man Who Fell to Earth, presumably since O'Rourke's previous solo albums have all been named after Nicolas Roeg films. (Of course, it'd make more sense if it were called Castaway, since Bad Timing, Eureka, and Insignificance were all in chronological order, and Castaway follows in the Roeg filmography.)

you think it's going to have the same cover as the prop used for the lp in the movie?

Unless you mean this joke, in which case you're right, I don't know what he's talking about.

When is O'Rourke going to release "Full Body Massage"

Bowie's character (Newton) in The Man Who Fell to Earth records an LP called The Visitor. I don't see why he'd need to follow Roeg's filmography chronologically starting from Bad Timing

and, ya, my comment about the prop is just an unfunny, dorky joke. the only way i have right now to vent my excitement for the lp.

also, i'm happy to hear that drag city has a convincing way of insinuating a hi-fi into their record's listening experience. i would like to see that copy :)

Oh OK, nice. I've never seen Man Who Fell to Earth (admission of which will probably be fodder for Steve Shasta to make some kind of derisive comment). Anyway, I thought I was the one making the unfunny joke by referencing the Jenkins film.

i have a vague memory of O'Rourke saying he hadn't made a proper solo record in so long because his conception for it would be too pricey to actually record -- don't know if this record is what he had in mind, but it would be cool if someone kicked in the cash!

interesting if true. same thing happened with the second plush album

The rumor started because he moved to Tokyo and spent most of his time learning Japanese & obsessing over Kiyoshi Kurosawa and contemporary Jap cinema & expressed an interest in involving himself with film. He's always admitted that he's more passionate about movies than he is about music, though. Can't wait to hear the new release.

fed was released just in japan. hmmmm. . . .

Apparently it's one long track called The Visitor.

He also said "pretty much everyone will be disappointed"

Context for that quote (from an interview he gave last year):

this is def. “pt 4,” [after Bad Timing, Eureka and Insignificance] but it’s not going to be what people expect. pretty much everyone is going to be disappointed, and i think i avoided doing it for a while because of that. not because i care so much about it being “accepted,” but i couldn’t figure out how to get the right context for it. but, it’s def. connected, but it’s not linearly connected, it’s folding back, and very much with a purpose. the record i started 6 years ago is the next one, and makes more sense being after this one now. but it’s gonna take forever to record, if it is going to be at all possible. i’m gonna try. that is probably the one people will have been hoping for. oh well.

P4K compares it to Bad Timing

that interview is actually pretty great - thanks for the link

http://givemetakeyou.com/thevisitor.jpg

it is one long track and i guess you can file me in the "disappointed" grouping. not that i was hoping for Eureka/ Bad Timing Mk. II or what have you, but it seemed a tad...aimless?

are there vocals?

ysi

maybe more like a mirror record?

JO'R gives good interviews

Review up of the new one here: http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=6&p=1252&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#more1252 intriguing!

That sounds very promising.

like the sound of it indeed. i am looking forward !

http://hongkonginthe60s.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/orourke-covermain.jpg

oooh i'm up for 38 minutes of Ghost ship in a storm-ness

Fuck that's an awesome cover image.

Is anyone familiar with the "Seven Stars" track he contributed to the Tiny Mix Tapes Darfur compilation?

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/FOR-SALE-Tiny-Mix-Tapes-Vol-1

Visitor sounds promising but it is also on 38 minutes long and is all instrumental.

you are the human wikipedia.

i wonder if the pieces really fell like that, or if they were arranged on the floor.

so is this any good?

Wow, loving this so far. Reminds me of Bill Frisell at times. Kind of constantly changing, so there isn't really anything to stick your hat on, but sounds gorgeous.

this is amazing

haven't we seen enough broken disco balls on LP covers?

interesting question henry s

not sure there's an answer, just musin' is all...

it sounds pretty but it's really boring

It's not boring at all. It's magnifiicent.

Don't know if it's magnificent yet, but boring: surely not!

the production feels so clean and antiseptic, lacking immediate "meat," or overt texture. it's so well-mixed that it feels too perfect, very refined-sounding. some of the instrumental pauses remind me of the concise cuts you can hear in squarepusher's more recent, acoustic-based compositions. some very nice moments, especially the motif that occurs/repeats at around 12 minutes in. there are nice, subtle pedal steel? sound-wafts. i heard an autoharp at one point. some nice cymbal-play at parts, too. the album sounds more like an exercise in composition and arrangement than it does an affecting piece of music. did he play everything on the album?