Chris Ingalls
2015-06-04 13:25:36 UTC
Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs
I've been vaguely familiar with O'Rourke for many years - singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer, worked with everyone from Wilco to Sonic Youth to Stereolab. I acquired a couple of his solo albums a few years ago (from someone in this newsgroup, I think - maybe Tom Johnson?) and never really gave them enough of my attention.
I heard a lot of good things about Simple Songs (it just came out a couple of weeks ago) and I listened to the whole thing yesterday. It's pretty spectacular and may be of interest to folks here. Jim's background is definitely in the arty experimental indie scene (nothing wrong with that), but this album definitely has a folkie/quasi-prog feel to it. It has a bit of an early Genesis feel to it (think of the more "song"-type songs on "Selling England By The Pound"), combined with the eerie acoustic vibe of "Wooden Smoke." Exquisite arrangements. And his voice sounds a little bit like Cat Stevens, which I find oddly comforting. A reminder of my childhood, perhaps?
Definitely worth a listen - a bunch of YouTube users have posted the album in its entirety, but beware: a lot of them have them posted in the wrong speeds, which I guess is a way to fool the copyright police. This playlist seems to work:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsPFlJVVDXQn-UfNLafPzYQcBabI3EZE9
I've been vaguely familiar with O'Rourke for many years - singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer, worked with everyone from Wilco to Sonic Youth to Stereolab. I acquired a couple of his solo albums a few years ago (from someone in this newsgroup, I think - maybe Tom Johnson?) and never really gave them enough of my attention.
I heard a lot of good things about Simple Songs (it just came out a couple of weeks ago) and I listened to the whole thing yesterday. It's pretty spectacular and may be of interest to folks here. Jim's background is definitely in the arty experimental indie scene (nothing wrong with that), but this album definitely has a folkie/quasi-prog feel to it. It has a bit of an early Genesis feel to it (think of the more "song"-type songs on "Selling England By The Pound"), combined with the eerie acoustic vibe of "Wooden Smoke." Exquisite arrangements. And his voice sounds a little bit like Cat Stevens, which I find oddly comforting. A reminder of my childhood, perhaps?
Definitely worth a listen - a bunch of YouTube users have posted the album in its entirety, but beware: a lot of them have them posted in the wrong speeds, which I guess is a way to fool the copyright police. This playlist seems to work:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsPFlJVVDXQn-UfNLafPzYQcBabI3EZE9