Originally Posted On November 16, 2007Chicago certainly seems to be in its creative element and Jim O'Rourke right in the middle. I admittedly only discovered the varied talents of Mr. O`Rourke (improviser,producer,classically trained musician) with the release of the movie "Love Liza" with Philip S. Hoffman in which a great deal of Mr. O'Rourke's music is in it's soundtrack. However I was not surprised to learn that he was once apart of a band called Gastr Del Sol on which I had vaguely listen to an album called Camoufleur. Jim O'Rouke's album Eureka thankfully carries on in a similar vain with more pop sensibilities (something big), lavish accompanies (female backing vocalists) and wonderfully eccentric lyrics ("its just my luck, I got hit by the car while carrying a cake" ghost ship in a storm). However that doesn't mean that your getting away with any m.o.r release, plenty of beautifully constructed scoundscapes and studio wizardry that you would come to expect from any cd that has been tampered with by Jim O'Rourke. Track one, "Prelude to 110 or 220/women of the world", starts the of simple but ends with everything but the musical kitchen sink and happens to be one of the the albums stand out tracks. Its a folky guitar piece with three lines of Jim's wisdom repeted about twenty times over eight minutes (notice how almost every time the lines are repeted another voice is seamlessly added to the mix, nice eh?). The rest of the album carries on in a similar style with nods to jazz, folk, lounge and or course easy listening. I have to admit to reaching for the skip button when ever the initially cringe worthy cover of bacharach's "something big" started, but was hooked after the first full listen, now its going to be used at parties in order to impress and amuse friends. Eureka's real gem is the albums title track with flawless O'Rourke trademarks, Minimal but effective backward and acoustic guitar, loose but perfectly positioned horns washed in a heartfelt landscape of dots and bleeps, used to create an extremely uplifting tapestry of sound. This also happens to be Eureka's most minimal but courageous assets. The main reason why I am so fond of this album is because anyone who is trying to dig the way through avant garde, post rock, experimental or improvised music will know that it can at times be a little dry (don't get me wrong Jim O'Rourke's previous back catalogue is some of the best music to ever grace my cd rack) and Eureka gives the perfect remedy for hard worked ears while showing us that even "pop" songs can be wonderfully inspiring if done with the correct care, love and attention that Jim O'Rourke has done with his latest effort.
Download This: This album is really best listen to as a whole, but if you have to choose get: A Ghostship In A Storm
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