Eureka finds Chicago-based musician, composer and producer Jim O'Rourke exploring accessible and even pop-influenced idioms. Here O'Rourke blends various influences from folk and country to jazz and lounge, even exploring the glitchy electronica territory on the lengthy title track that combines folky guitars with electronic bleeps, shimmering organ drones and unhurried brass. This is the most experimental track on the record, but still fairly accessible and melodic compared to O'Rourke's other lengthy experimental compositions. Other long track, "Movie On the Way Down" evolves from quiet, moody jazz explorations with string bass, shakers, acoustic guitar and horns into a sort of a piano ballad with brass counterpoint and some lovely violins at the end. O'Rourke also opens the album with an 8 minute folky rendition of Ivor Cutler's "Women of the World", wherein the song's lyrics form a mantra repeated throughout, where various subtle elements are added one by one, the result of which is that harmonies and textures get denser throughout the repetition of the mantra. These lengthy pieces are contrasted with shorter numbers such as the folky vocal numbers "Ghost Ship In A Storm" and "Happy Holidays", as well as shorter instrumentals like "Through The Night Softly" and "Please Patronize Our Sponsors". The former sounds like the most arranged track on the record, it sounds like a curious mix between Brian Wilson's pocket orchestration and a bit of Dark Side of the Moon like bombast, especially when Ken Vandermark kicks in two minutes into the track with a tenor sax solo reminiscent of "Money" backed by a slow groove reminiscent of "Great Gig In the Sky". The latter evolves from upbeat jazz-based excursion into a languid piano ballad with strings. O'Rourke even does a rendition of Burt Bacharach's "Something Big" here, matching his own baritone voice in the verses against the female vocals in the chorus and offering a fine dose of brass and even a bit of strings as well. While some of the longer tracks seem a bit overindulgent and, paradoxically, some of the shorter tracks leave the listener wanting more; Eureka is an outstanding excursion into accessible territory from the eclectic and avant-garde luminary that is Jim O'Rourke.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Jim O'Rourke - Eureka
Eureka finds Chicago-based musician, composer and producer Jim O'Rourke exploring accessible and even pop-influenced idioms. Here O'Rourke blends various influences from folk and country to jazz and lounge, even exploring the glitchy electronica territory on the lengthy title track that combines folky guitars with electronic bleeps, shimmering organ drones and unhurried brass. This is the most experimental track on the record, but still fairly accessible and melodic compared to O'Rourke's other lengthy experimental compositions. Other long track, "Movie On the Way Down" evolves from quiet, moody jazz explorations with string bass, shakers, acoustic guitar and horns into a sort of a piano ballad with brass counterpoint and some lovely violins at the end. O'Rourke also opens the album with an 8 minute folky rendition of Ivor Cutler's "Women of the World", wherein the song's lyrics form a mantra repeated throughout, where various subtle elements are added one by one, the result of which is that harmonies and textures get denser throughout the repetition of the mantra. These lengthy pieces are contrasted with shorter numbers such as the folky vocal numbers "Ghost Ship In A Storm" and "Happy Holidays", as well as shorter instrumentals like "Through The Night Softly" and "Please Patronize Our Sponsors". The former sounds like the most arranged track on the record, it sounds like a curious mix between Brian Wilson's pocket orchestration and a bit of Dark Side of the Moon like bombast, especially when Ken Vandermark kicks in two minutes into the track with a tenor sax solo reminiscent of "Money" backed by a slow groove reminiscent of "Great Gig In the Sky". The latter evolves from upbeat jazz-based excursion into a languid piano ballad with strings. O'Rourke even does a rendition of Burt Bacharach's "Something Big" here, matching his own baritone voice in the verses against the female vocals in the chorus and offering a fine dose of brass and even a bit of strings as well. While some of the longer tracks seem a bit overindulgent and, paradoxically, some of the shorter tracks leave the listener wanting more; Eureka is an outstanding excursion into accessible territory from the eclectic and avant-garde luminary that is Jim O'Rourke.
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