Jim O'Rourke
 

where should i start?
I get the impression his stuff is pretty varied.

My favourite SY is stuff is stuff with him, and i'm loving the 2 he did with Wilco if that helps

cheers

I enjoy Terminal Pharmacy, 1995

If you want to hear the pop side, check: Eureka, Insigificance, Halfway To A Threeway, I'm Happy, And I'm Singing, And A 1, 2, 3, 4, Bad Timing. Also check: Gastr Del Sol and Loose Fur
As you said, he's stuff is pretty varied. There are more avant-garde intersting pieces. You should take a look!

ok no worries
get the four DOMINO Lps
1) insignificance
2) halfway to a threeway
3) eureka
4) bad timing (that's more if you dig Fahey)

once you've got this, there are loads of varied things he's put out that are really good.
you can't really do without "I'm happy, and I'm singing and a 1, 2, 3, 4"
on Mego, that's amazing stuff

and also
"Happy days" (varied reissues)

i will let the "walking encyclopedia team" answer for the rest of his noisy / experimental stuff

DOGET THESE 6 RECORDS.
they are good.

yeah if you like Wilco stuff w/ Jimo get the Loose Fur first LP at least.

Gastr is something else altogether.
But anyone would enjoy at least " camoufleur'

gastr del sol, easily one of the greatest bands of all time. upgrade and afterlife!

i wish i had happy days... :(

Agreed, a great place to start w/ Jim O'Rourke. There's also stuff that he & John Fahey did together.

ive been listening to 'tamper' alot. anyways, my fave 5 o'rourke solo albums in order:

1. terminal pharmacy
2. im happy and im singing a 1,2,3,4
3. tamper
4. eureka
5. bad timing

but, gastr del sol's 'upgrade and afterlife' and 'the serpentine similar' are the best records hes been involved with.

i love all his collaborative work, especially the records he did with derek bailey, fennesz, nurse with wound, merzbow, thurston, and mats gustaffson.

the work he did with sonic youth was the best the band did since the 80s. in my opinion, 'murray street' was their best full length record since 'ddn'. syr3 is my fave syr as well.

his stuff as a band member is all worth checking out. especially the supreme indifference's 'a lick in time' and 'male communication', loose fur's s/t, diskaholics anonymous trio's live in japan albums, fenno'berg's 'the return' and 'the magis sounds of', all the brise glace (this is my favorite o'rourke band besides gastr) albums, and yona kit's s/t.

everyone knows hes one of the best underground producers around. i think his best production was on us maple's 'long hair in three stages', wilco's 'a ghost is born' (he turned an alt country band into an experimental psychedelic noise country band, total headsfuck of a record that was considering stuff like 'am'), stereolab's 'cobras and phases group play voltage in the milky night', and bobby conn's 'rise up'.

in short, jim o'rourke is one of the true geniuses of modern music. there is absolutley NO ONE who plays such a diverse number of styles, and has such a varied body of work in music, and has almost no misteps. o'rourke is the man.

i think his best work was the cello playing on bathysphere by smog

I have Eureka and Insignificance, but my favorite is the album he did with Superchunk. And by chance the first hit on google I found had a link.



http://www.mediafire.com/?jj9ezf3lhzt

or the steel guitar on "Captain Easychord" by stereolab.

between those two that's pretty muich everything you need from jim o'rourke

ha ha the dude has got like 20 LPs to buy now
hahahahaha


fennoberg is great yes
and his production on Smog is good also

I own Happy Days and Terminal Pharmacy, they're great if you're into minimalism

Many Thanks!

As far his solo stuff, my short answer would be Eureka and Computer Hotel.

Gastr Del Sol should not be disregarded. The middle three albums are my favorites.
For the record, Serpentine Similar doesn't have Jim O'Rourke on it.

i own
happy days
insignificance
bad timing
eureka somewhere on some data cd
and as for gastr del sol
upgrade and afterlife
and
camafelur
all of them are amazing.
i think i like upgrade and afterlife and insignificance the best

yeah, cheers guys!

right, so i'm gonna get eureka, insignignificance, and the Gastr Camafelur


if they're shit you lot are gonna get it (as if they'd be shit)

what a supprise.
HMV or Virgin dont have any Jim or Gastr or anything good at all

ha ha
amazon marketplace man
do yrself a favour

I layed my hands on Insignificance the other day, and the immediate sensation i felt was that if i had bought it when it came out (2001), i was 16 and would have probably loved it to pieces, as it is ive found it pretty good and worth buying but i cant help imagining being younger and having heard it.

My thing about gastr del sol, my favorite song was always dry bones in the valley... then I found out it was a Fahey cover. But then I got into Fahey. So, actually, maybe it was a good thing.

"Halfway to a Threeway" is such a great ep , goddamn...

agreed, i've been listening to that lately, awesome stuff.

Gastr Del Sol are just sublime, one of my favourites.

underrated masterpiece

i listen to halfway to a threeway a lot. ive noticed its a great record for driving home from shows late at night, very relaxed and mellowing. it reminds me of (gulp, please dont kill me) the best grateful dead recordings at times. or maybe its just the fact that i like listening to grateful dead live recordings in the same situation of driving home late night from shows.

This is how far my Jim O'Rourke obsession has taken me so far (solo/collabs/production work) - be careful, it can be costly! One of the great things about really delving into his catalogue is the many avenues his work can point you in - I can thank him for an introduction into Smog, Stereolab, Wilco, John Fahey (that alone!), David Grubbs, Mirror and tonnes of drone thereafter!

Mind you, it was probably Sonic Youth who introduced me to Jim O'Rourke...

I don't see the Superchunk album I posted. Would you perhaps consider buying it from me?

ok so now i've got to check out this John Fahey guy too

my wifes gonna kill me and my baby's gonna go to school in a potatoe sack

You're right, I've not gone down that route as yet. I'm sure we could come to some agreement... That said you did post a link to the album earlier in the thread!

Yeah, but you want a physical copy, don't you?

I'm sure you could find it on Amazon or something. I got mine at my local Hastings in the $.49 bin UNOPENED. It was a promo copy with a "not available for retail sale" stamp on it, although I think the stamp was on the wrapping.

Fahey is an absolute legend. You need The Legend Of Blind Joe Death. Classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93v6eoTjpig

Jim is baladeering now, still in Japan of course. < link to brief fader article with embedded vid, link to vid below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIzPi...layer_embedded

at 0:45 is where Jim comes in.

http://www.twentyfourbit.com/post/28...greenwood-lisa