Jim O'rourke

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:51 am

Hey Tape-op(ers)

I was thinking maybe we could compile some of the information on Jim O'rourke's recording techniques. I have read everything on this board about him so far and there is some great stuff but I think there is more to learn.

So if anyone has his article in Tape-op (now unavailable) a link to a scan or a summary might be a nice start. I would appreciate most any info.

I am in love with among other things his acoustic guitar sound. "Halfway to a Threeway" is completely amazing! for a song that is basically just acoustic guitar and vocals there is additional and unusual thought put into that recording that serves the song so well. Brilliant!

Here is a nice article on the Beth Orton sessions:
http://www.eqmag.com/article/beth-orton/mar-06/19096

SpencerBenjamin · Post by **SpencerBenjamin** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:56 am

Hmm, I've got to get me one of the "Shure SM57 ribbon" mics the article mentions.

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:44 am

Oh yeah

there might be a few errors to weed out

I dont think that mic has ever existed. Same goes for the AKG C12 bass amplifier.

LeedyGuy · Post by **LeedyGuy** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:01 am

I just listened to my Loose Fur 180 gram LP for the first time. It's pretty darn cool, but I feel like the mix is a little bass heavy. Jim O'Rourke's contributions are great though to the team of Kotche and Tweedy. What else should I check out by him?

Tragabigzanda · Post by **Tragabigzanda** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:42 am

Jim O'Rourke was a member of Sonic Youth for both "Murray St" and "Sonic Nurse," and his guitar playing fit right in, and he helped them create some of their best work ever. His old band Gastr del Sol is pretty great, but like his solo stuff, some of it is very easy to digest, and some of it is real experimental. As for his solo records, "Insignificance" is one of my all-time favorites; listen to that, then listen to Wilco, and you'll be able to hear how the last Loose Fur record falls right between the two.

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:57 pm

I think Jim had kotche on his stuff before he even introduced Glenn to Wilco.
Check out Halfway to a Threeway for some of that. His other main records
Eureka and Bad Timing are also really really thoughtful. and I love them.

I love his other stuff too but I had to start there. His work can really be broken up into too main areas(at least to me, who doesn't know better): on one hand there is his Pop/Rock/tunesmith/Arranger/Producer stuff
And then there is the Avant Garde side of his work, which has helped me develop into heavier full-on avant listening day in and day out.

For his behind the desk work see (if you haven't already)

Beth Orton - Comfort of Strangers
Smog - Red Apple Falls, Knock Knock
Joanna Newsom - Ys (mixing)
Sam Prekop - ST(I think)
ofcouse the wilco stuff and those SY records
Quruli - Team Rock
Gastr Del Sol - Camoflour

aghaller8 · Post by **aghaller8** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:43 pm

You might check out the bonus material for "Grizzly Man," the Herzog documentary. Good in studio stuff with Richard Thompson to boot. Not real technical, but valuable just to see how scores work with film, etc.

SpencerBenjamin · Post by **SpencerBenjamin** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:00 pm

broham wrote:
I dont think that mic has ever existed. Same goes for the AKG C12 bass amplifier.

*Stops googling "AKG C12 bass amplifier"...*

xonlocust · Post by **xonlocust** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:06 pm

the first thing i ever heard from him was u.s. maple "long hair in three stages" - fucking crazy sounding record. i seriously thought my speakers were shredding in places, yet the majority is a pretty clean/dry drum sound. totally blew my mind in 1995 or whenever it was i first heard it and opened up a whole new can of worms.

he was part of a bunch of great records back in that era that were tied to skin graft records. brise glace (i like "when in vanitas a lot"), you fantastic "homesickness"... all super cool/wierd sounding records. and remember it was all analog back then. listen to this and think about how they could have made this stuff. fucking cool. total "studio" records.

http://www.skingraftrecords.com/mp3/LP_ ... rYield.mp3
http://www.skingraftrecords.com/mp3/LP_ ... ddler1.mp3
http://www.skingraftrecords.com/mp3/LP_ ... tracti.mp3
http://www.skingraftrecords.com/mp3/LP_ ... oZZTop.mp3

i have no idea where i read it - but there's some article about recording US maple - and it talks about o'rourke rolling around on the floor holding his hands to his ears yelling 'all i can hear are the mistakes!' - which i always come back to whenever hearing my own work. even the 'pros' have theses problems.

and thanks for making this thread to give me a reason to relisten to these songs - i havent heard them in a while.

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:07 am

I have never heard 'You Fantastic' before
very cool.

I know Jim jumped up and down on a wood floor to get that sound on Smog's held.

If anyone has heard his sparks cover its crazy it sounds soo much like sparks. Its also great because its Jim O'rourke doing synthi noise pop. I wanna know how he did it ...I gotta track down that tape op article. I heard he is playing his own drums on his new Drag City record. I heard he is playing everything!

pantone247 · Post by **pantone247** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:53 am

aghaller8 wrote:You might check out the bonus material for "Grizzly Man," the Herzog documentary. Good in studio stuff with Richard Thompson to boot. Not real technical, but valuable just to see how scores work with film, etc.

well worth tracking down, some great stuff on that feature, some amazing playing too

the films pretty great too

comfortstarr · Post by **comfortstarr** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:07 am

I totally concur that o'rourke is a unique talent. I'm very partial to Eureka--it's his one disk that continually get play for me. Thanks for the list of his production credits, I'm going to check some of those out.

The avant garde stuff just doesn't reach me. I lived in Chicago for about 8 years. The avant garde scene there is pretty unique. On the one hand you had the John Corbett, O'Rourke, side of things, then you had the southside (CCMC? I can't remember that associations acronym) jazz guys: Fred Anderson, Art Ensemble of Chicago. The cross pollination was starting when I was leaving. While I can appreciate the jazz-based stuff--especially live--the other just leaves me scratching my head.

The Grizzly Man feature about its music is GREAT! It's really amusing seeing Herzog give direction to Richard Thompson. I enjoy Herzog movies, but I really get a kick out of Herzog himself (just watched Rescue Dawn, recommended). O'Rourke doesn't get any airtime if I recall correctly, we just see him. It's mostly between Herzog and Thompson.

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:01 pm

Found this except, thanks to the way back machine

http://web.archive.org/web/200212240146 ... sue16.html

First person to scan the full article will.. well.. rate very high in my books, hehe.

thanks

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:08 pm

man, i love long hair in three stages.

you guys should all check out "The Golden Age" by Bobby Conn. utterly astounding, produced by O'Rourke. it's one of my favorite sounding records, and every song sounds totally different. it's really hard to describe bobby conn!

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 4:59 pm

That Letter To ZZ Top.mp3 is the tits.

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