mimaroglu music sales ☞ artists ☞ jim o’rourke

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... happy spring everyone !!! to commemorate our favorite season (and to help* get this place back to some sort of workable condition)* we're having a "spring cleaning" sale !!! please visit the *spring (2013)* cleaning page to view a list** of (recent, mostly 2012) releases that we're now offering at reduced prices (while supplies last, no rainchecks, etc) ...

previous artist: jim o’rourke		there are 54 titles featuring jim o’rourke in stock. they are listed below.		next artist: daniel o’sullivan

$9.24

back in stock as of
february 19th, 2009

first in stock on
july 23rd, 2005

threads:
guitar-themed
harsh-noise
analogue-synth
digital-musics
concert-recordings

best of 2005 !!!

antiopic (usa) #an 005 cd
antiopic live series (usa) #ls 001 cd

carlos giffoni / lee ranaldo / jim o’rourke “north six” three inch compact disc

north six (18:58)

neat combo room/desk-recordings of an ad-hoc blast from the super group of carlos giffoni, lee ranaldo, and jim o’rourke ...

jim is especially “on”, delivering wave after wave of synthi-blasts; lee is buried slightly (his “wall of guitar” lacking the succinct peaks of the synth/computer envelopes) ; carlos’ dc-offset noises & synth-filtering occasionally climbing to the front ...

way too musical for mere “power electronics” (i.e., there’s a “form” at work here beyond the usual “plug in and rage” aesthetic of williamburgtronixxx.) ...

a nice one, often overlooked ...

antiopic press release...

carlos giffoni: computer, synth, guitar
lee ranaldo: guitar, fire bell
jim o’rourke: synth

recorded 31 august 2003, north six, williamsburg, brooklyn, ny. recorded by bob teagen (room) and dave curran (soundboard.) foh mix by dave curran.

a seething, screaming set of power electronics and guitar with hardly a moment's pause for air, this recording finds the trio of carlos giffoni (computer, synth, guitar), lee ranaldo (guitar, firebell) and jim o'rourke (synth) in devastating form. this is classic free bombast, alternately sounding like a "rock band" interpretation of merzbow's rainbow electronics or a punk update of a musica elettronica viva session. the instantly identifiable ranaldo / sonic youth guitar sound is joined by blurting digital scree and analog filter abuse, melding to create a heavy tidal rush of ecstatic cosmic noise. the bliss of the set is confirmed by the brooklyn audience's joyful reaction at the close.

$15.13

new to stock as of
august 22nd, 2008

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
modern-psych
free-improvisation

atp/recordings (uk) #atpr 012 cd

white out / jim o’rourke / william winant “china is near” compact disc

ghost mirror image (13:07)
lost in grey (6:28)
stifled moom (2:15)
mutinous (9:10)
the empty center (5:38)
favorite jungle (7:36)

atp/recordings press release...

china is near by new york's pioneer experimental group white out, represents their third album and promises to be their most adventurous release to date.

this session busts out of the gate, and careens all over the tonal soundscape zagging from icy calm to furious insurrection in sixty seconds. the estimable talents of multi-instrumentalist lin culbertson and drummer tom surgal are fused with the efforts put forth by master eclectic jim o'rourke, their frequent collaborator in recent years. rounding out the session is special guest william winant, the supremely gifted percussionist who has worked with everyone from john cage to yo yo ma to sonic youth.

the unorthodox instrumentation (analog synthesizers, drums, autoharp, bells, chains, timpani, vibes, scrap metal, springs, gong, etc.) employed by these maverick innovators, helps to create an electro-acoustic collage like no other. the electronic cries and soul stirring blips of the synthesizers, accompanied by the spectral strains of the autoharp, emphatically combine with the clang, spit and growl of the extended percussion. the listener is instantly transported to another sonic realm altogether. a space place where dark mystery resides and possibility is infinite.

$23.51

new to stock as of
april 17th, 2013

threads:
guitar-themed
concert-recordings
free-improvisation
modern-psych

black truffle (germany) #bt 09 lp
medama (japan) #mr04 lp

keiji haino / jim o’rourke / oren ambarchi “now while it’s still warm let us pour in all the mystery” long playing record

once again i hear the beautiful vertigo? luring us to "do something, somehow"
who would have thought this callous history would become my skin
only the winding “why” expresses anything clearly
a new radiance springing forth from inside the light
even that still here and unwanted can you and i love it? just like us it was born here too
now while it's still warm let us pour in all the mystery

april 2013 release ; ... fourth full-length album from this international trio of experimental-music a-listers, recorded during their yearly gig at super deluxe in tokyo (the other label co-credited is s.d.’s in-house imprint) ...

... featuring special guests charlemagne palestine & eiko ishibashi during the record’s opening moments (listen to the sound-sample ; the wavering sine-wave-field hovering in the background behind haino’s devil-angel whisper consists solely of wineglasses played by the whole ensemble) things get decidedly more aggro with the entrance of the classic power trio dynamic, ushering in the kind(s) of chaos you’d more readily associate with the group ...

black truffle press release...

following on from 2012's acclaimed imikizushi (bt 007cd/lp), now while it's still warm let us pour in all the mystery is the fourth release from the established power trio of keiji haino, jim o'rourke, and oren ambarchi, recorded in january 2012 at their yearly concert at superdeluxe, tokyo. while the trio's two previous double lp releases featured sprawling, side-long performances, the music here is presented in six shorter pieces, each one displaying a different side of the trio's interactions, from holy minimalism to cave-man rock.

the record begins with the trio joined by special guests charlemagne palestine and eiko ishibashi, conjuring ghostly tones from wine glasses as an accompaniment to haino's angelic vocals. this 10-minute piece, which moves from near silence and the sound of onstage footsteps to a stunning passage of clean guitar work from haino, is steeped in the same mysterious atmospherics as haino's great folk-drone project, nijumu. when haino turns to the flute on the lp's second track, a performance that clearly demonstrates the importance of the special concept of space and silence (ma) that haino has developed from traditional japanese aesthetics, o'rourke and ambarchi transform into the delicate and probing rhythm section of a classic '70s fusion side. when the trio returns to the crushing free-rock of their last two records, o'rourke's heavily effected bass rolling alongside ambarchi's tumbling rhythms as haino's guitar squeals and slashes above them, their performances display a new purposefulness and concision.

now truly operating as a band after a number of years of playing together, the pieces here feel like instant rocks songs -- o'rourke and ambarchi instantly locking into solid riffs over which haino alternates between jarring no-wave chords, intense soloing and his signature vocalizations. when the trio slow down and stretch out, the rhythm section plods like an abstracted crazy horse on the brink of collapse, and haino elicits long, mournful solos reminiscent of the first classic fushitsusha double live lp. perhaps more accessible than the trio's previous recordings because of its range and concision, now while it's still warm... exudes the dark, alien quality of haino's greatest recordings and testifies to the strength of the musical bond that has developed between these three players.

- francis plagne, jan 2013.

limited edition lp in a lavish gatefold with a printed inner sleeve. design by stephen o'malley with high quality live shots by ujin matsuo and stunning artwork by shunichiro okada.

$17.01

new to stock as of
april 17th, 2013

threads:
guitar-themed
concert-recordings
free-improvisation
modern-psych

black truffle (germany) #bt 09 cd
medama (japan) #mr04 cd

keiji haino / jim o’rourke / oren ambarchi “now while it’s still warm let us pour in all the mystery” compact disc

once again i hear the beautiful vertigo? luring us to "do something 6somehow" (9:52)
who would have thought this callous history would become my skin (5:32)
only the winding “why” expresses anything clearly (6:38)
a new radiance springing forth from inside the light (9:12)
even that still here and unwanted can you and i love it? just like us it was born here too (10:42)
now while it's still warm let us pour in all the mystery (3:29)

black truffle press release...

released as a 6 panel digipak cd. design by stephen o'malley with high quality live shots by ujin matsuo and stunning artwork by shunichiro okada.

$17.01

back in stock as of
april 17th, 2013

first in stock on
february 14th, 2012

threads:
concert-recordings
modern-psych
guitar-themed
free-improvisation

black truffle (australia) #bt 07 cd
medama (japan) #mr03 cd

keiji haino / jim o’rourke / oren ambarchi “imikuzushi” compact disc

still unable to throw off that teaching
a heart left abandoned
unable to get inside that empty space
nerves freezing
that unconcealed sadness?
ready and waiting
ready and tired of waiting
this happiness
hovers for a while opaque..
invited in
practically drawn in by something
facing the exit of this hiding place
who is it? that went in..
an acute sensitivity is
not simply a "madness"
an acute sensitivity
to the resonance of "i love you"
teaches us just a little something
it's not that we can't do something
it's just that we haven't done it yet...

january 2012 release ; ... third collective outing from the super-group of jim o’rourke (the mel schacher of the trio, here on weird a-synchronous harmonizer-bass), oren ambarchi (ditto, the don brewer on pretty much continuous motorik pulse ), and keiji haino (well ... i guess that makes him the mark farner, largely on shred-oriented electric guitar & the occasional pained epithet) ...

black truffle press release...

keiji haino / jim o’rourke / oren ambarchi
imikuzushi
label: black truffle
format: cd
catalogue number: bt07

release date: 2/28/2012

the yearly summit of keiji haino, jim o'rourke and oren ambarchi continues with imikuzushi, which finds the group extending the power-trio strategies of 2011's highly-praised in a flash everything comes together as one there is no need for a subject (bt 005lp) and bringing to them a newly-sustained intensity.

for this performance, haino limits himself to electric guitar and vocals, forming complex networks of slashing rhythm work, noise squall and chromatic shredding, moving at times to near-silent passages of howled vocals and isolated, hanging guitar strums.

the tendency towards driving free-rock which surfaced on moments of the trio's last release is cemented here, with o'rourke's fuzzed-out, non-linear bass riffing moving the music into almost garage-rock areas, combining with ambarchi's drums to form a bedrock of hypnotic, metronomic pounding which transforms itself effortlessly into passages of flowing free-time.

like all of haino's best work, the trio transcends any 'rock' genre exercise to enter a non-idiomatic zone of ritual intensity, creating a music formed purely out of instrumental and group-mind possibility. presented as four unedited excerpts salvaged from an epic show that lasted well over three hours, the sometimes raw nature of the recording only adds to its directness and harshly emotive quality.

- francis plagne, melbourne, november, 2011

design by stephen o'malley (sunn o)))) with high quality live shots by ujin matsuo and stunning images by tokyo-based photographer and sound artist shunichiro okada.

$12.61

back in stock as of
november 22nd, 2011

first in stock on
may 30th, 2008

threads:
plunder-phonic
playback-music
electro-acoustic-composition
harsh-noise
free-improvisation

blossoming noise (usa) #bn 032 cd

miss high heel “the family’s hot daughter” compact disc

pity squashed your flowers (3:27)
name lady entirely over ‘was’ (5:39)
lace maker of perfect arse (3:49)
bad by proust ‘a’ (3:40)
teeh, d.h., woman as fur (2:57)
odor party at labia palace (2:11)
tell her ‘rose-teat’ (3:42)
a holocaust offered to soft-moloch (5:42)
to 80s, the ‘is’ collection (1:58)
‘view of delft’ as weepcore emetic (4:59)
the fucked ‘aunt’ moment (3:25)
‘ahhhhhh-her’ series the the arched (2:02)
shoving it traveling (3:13)
if nub, the ‘ohhhhhh!’ knew not (2:06)
for hung-still, idea throaty (3:30)
you girl, do the “good eyes been” (2:37)
me coming, come hoarse! (3:47)
rose aw suck (9:54)
joyce ‘she’ little smelling (magnatroid, 1 jan 96) (2:54)
‘viscera’ in at tower (magnatroid, 1 jan 96) (4:25)
is reports i practiced ignorance? (1:28)

may 2008 release ; kind of an archival set, given that this particular super-grouping of to live and shave in la’s tom smith, james “marlon” magas, weasel walter, scissor girl azita, and mr. chicago himself, jim o’rourke burned bright/out back in the late 90s ...

tlasila’s omniverse is prob. the closest on the star-map to the puerile goings-on here, with much plunderphonic jump-cut xackpy cut w/ walter’s instantly identifiable full-kit abuse & all kinds of in-situ noisemaking, crammed onto what sounds like a ridiculously overdriven dat/minidisc deck ... which is to say it’s a hell of a lot of fun, on par w/a john oswald remix of that grob “tribute to masayuki takayanagi” disc ... balls up.

blossoming noise press release...

the family's hot daughter
miss high heel

in their consumptive four-month existence this meta-stuporgroup annihilated no-wave distant past, banal present, and dystopic future. the family’s hot daughter, mhh’s sole studio document, was meticulously restored for this release from the original, wholly ungovernable recordings. the platinum, members-only standard of insanity... featuring tom smith, james marlon magas, weasel walter, azita youseffi, jim o'rourke, bill pisarri, chuck falzone, odi m'khan, nandor nevai, & mike green.

$13.41

back in stock as of
january 30th, 2012

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

threads:
modern-composition
minimalism-drones
electro-acoustic-composition

drag city (usa) #dc 362.2 cd

jim o’rourke “tamper” compact disc

spirits never forgive (18:16)
he felt the patient memory of a reluctant sea (15:14)
ascend through unspoken shadow (12:55)

may 2008 release ; domestic, drag city reissue of this former extreme / p-vine title ...

this is amongst jim o’rourke’s earliest solo output (i believe on a handful of cassettes and entenpfuhl / frank dommert’s “the ground below above our heads” predate it) ; three drone-oriented electro-acoustic pieces utilizing acoustic instrumentation (performed by jim, warren fischer, ken novotny, jeff cortazzo, sue wolf, dave klingelhoffer, gretchen wells, matt guerrieri, geoff fontaine, and scott shell) as source material ...

lovely, evocative pieces that have aged remarkably well ; not a week goes by wherein i’m not met w/a regional cd-r release attempting this sort of thing with far less grace and clarity - a testament to jim’s continued relevance ...

drag city press release...

jim o’rourke
tamper
dc362.2 cd

part two of the multi-part jim o’rourke “old timing” reissue series is tamper, from 1991.

tamper is a set of three acoustic instrumental compositions recorded on analogue tape during the final days of the first digital wave (we’re at the end of at least the third wave nowadays), when everyone but a certain young schoolboy in short pants were looking towards cds and dats as the things of the future. fools! as both those purely transitory formats fade into obsolescence (what’s dat?), tamper‘s analog sound rises again — and even though it comes to you on the frighteningly emaciated cd format, it’s still a reminder of the reward that pure sound before all definition has to offer us.

the spaced-out minimalism of tamper is as forward-looking today as it was seventeen years ago — and as such, it’s a seminal work in jim o’rourke’s catalog. that’s what this reissue series is all about, bringing it all back home to some of the young master’s less-known works — all remastered and shit. and with tamper, the goal is to get back to listening to the sound rather than what we expect of it — the literal sound of a piano as opposed to us hearing our expectations regarding the playing of a piano.

as sweet and virginal as all this sounds, we the listener find ourselves straining to hear unvarnished acoustical sound throughout the album — there’s some of that here, but there’s definitely some pixie dust in jim’s methods. tamper’s three pieces move quite fluidly along — so much so that you might never consider that they’re actually mapped out in a constant series of crossfades. no particular sound lasts more than 10 or 20 seconds, a process which interprets things in its own mind- (and ear-) bending manner — and gives tamper a blazed trail all of its own!

$14.85

back in stock as of
january 30th, 2012

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

threads:
free-improvisation
electro-acoustic-improvisation
concert-recordings

best of 2008 !!!

drag city (usa) #dc 362.1 lp

osorezan “mimidokodesuka” long playing record

form of collapse (7:43)
all we know so far (13:43)
in addition (19:38)

may 2008 release ; one-off trio free-improv date by jim o’rourke, darin gray, and chris corsano, recorded at tokyo’s pit-inn in 2005, issued shortly thereafter as a pricey japanese import, and now available in a reasonable drag city edition ...

what starts off as pure wind-tunnel ambience (jim’s guitar drones & chris’ bells summoning david jackman’s future & past ghost(s) ...) morphs into a busy, shards-of-sound type affair that assuredly had masayuki takayanagi looking down from on-high in appreciation (jim’s on record as a takayangi acolyte, going so far as to record a tribute album w/ weasel walter & fred lonberg-holm back in 1996) ...

blinders-on fans of just jim’s long-form / drone-based music will want to re-think their priorities a bit (and not just regarding music) but for this with open minds & hearts, this is a good one ...

drag city press release...

osorezan
mimidokodesuka
dc362.1 lp

“do you like derek bailey?”

this was the question posed to jim o’rourke on his first meeting with bass-playing fury darin gray. fifteen years later, this osorezan record might help you guess the answer... but in case you’re on the dense side: yes, jim liked derek bailey and he got on famously with darin too. they’ve made lots of great records together (brise glace, hoffman estates, “all most heaven,” jim’s solo albums) and had lots of laughs making ‘em.

osorezan came about when jim was given the opportunity to bring some players to japan to basically do whatever he wanted. a wide, kinky net for sure — but after considering his options, what he chose to do was a “deep roots” project (spoilsport!), a return to the kind of music he played before anything else, way back at the beginning (circa the 80s and his teenage years, in case you’re wondering when the beginning was). the very nature of “free jazz / improvisation” means that you are always joining up with other people — and over the years, jim had participated in plenty of sessions such as these (developing a guitar style that has grown and changed but remains essentially the same one he started with), but had never initiated one of his own. he’s been a shy lad, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the wire.

and so osorezan was formed! jim on electric guitar and darin on contrabass bonded with chris corsano, who’s blown the free world on its tony ass with his unbridled power, intensely collaborative nature and smooth stickwork behind the kit (before you get any ideas, he’s a drummer). plus, björk’s fans seem to like him too.

mimidokodesuka was recorded live at the pit inn in tokyo during a 2005 residency that included sets with alto sax legend akira sakata (recordings of which have been released separately and elsewhere). the music appears here pretty much as played, all from the first set. the agreement between players is kinetic and immediate, with everybody playing alternately for each other and to the skies. there’s lots of color and dynamic tension, for those of you who like that sort of thing. lots of good awesomeness too, if you’re interested in that.

mimidokodesuka means, “where’s my ear?” you’ll find the question appropriate to the listening experience, especially if you do the right thing and play it loud.

$13.41

back in stock as of
january 30th, 2012

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

best of 2008 !!!

drag city (usa) #dc 362.1 cd

osorezan “mimidokodesuka” compact disc

form of collapse (7:43)
all we know so far (13:43)
in addition (19:38)

drag city press release...

osorezan
mimidokodesuka
dc362.1 cd

“do you like derek bailey?”

this was the question posed to jim o’rourke on his first meeting with bass-playing fury darin gray. fifteen years later, this osorezan record might help you guess the answer... but in case you’re on the dense side: yes, jim liked derek bailey and he got on famously with darin too. they’ve made lots of great records together (brise glace, hoffman estates, “all most heaven,” jim’s solo albums) and had lots of laughs making ‘em.

osorezan came about when jim was given the opportunity to bring some players to japan to basically do whatever he wanted. a wide, kinky net for sure — but after considering his options, what he chose to do was a “deep roots” project (spoilsport!), a return to the kind of music he played before anything else, way back at the beginning (circa the 80s and his teenage years, in case you’re wondering when the beginning was). the very nature of “free jazz / improvisation” means that you are always joining up with other people — and over the years, jim had participated in plenty of sessions such as these (developing a guitar style that has grown and changed but remains essentially the same one he started with), but had never initiated one of his own. he’s been a shy lad, though you wouldn’t know it from reading the wire.

and so osorezan was formed! jim on electric guitar and darin on contrabass bonded with chris corsano, who’s blown the free world on its tony ass with his unbridled power, intensely collaborative nature and smooth stickwork behind the kit (before you get any ideas, he’s a drummer). plus, björk’s fans seem to like him too.

mimidokodesuka was recorded live at the pit inn in tokyo during a 2005 residency that included sets with alto sax legend akira sakata (recordings of which have been released separately and elsewhere). the music appears here pretty much as played, all from the first set. the agreement between players is kinetic and immediate, with everybody playing alternately for each other and to the skies. there’s lots of color and dynamic tension, for those of you who like that sort of thing. lots of good awesomeness too, if you’re interested in that.

mimidokodesuka means, “where’s my ear?” you’ll find the question appropriate to the listening experience, especially if you do the right thing and play it loud.

$13.41

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
november 20th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych

drag city (usa) #dc 343 cd

the red krayola / art & language “sighs trapped by liars” compact disc

fairest of all
jumping through the mirror
laughing at the foot of the cross
il ne reste qu’a chanter
hostage
jerry fodor’s story
the big vacation
four stars: the ideal crew
igor zabel’s song
a pest
perfection
forty thousand words on a chair
sighs trapped by liars

drag city press release...

the red krayola with art & language
sighs trapped by liars
dc343 cd

with the entirely new music statement, sighs trapped by liars, the red krayola renew their association with conceptual artists art & language. beginning in 1973, their collaboration includes the video projects “nine gross and conspicuous errors,” and “struggle in new york,” as well as the much-acclaimed and -decried music releases corrected slogans, kangaroo?, and black snakes. thirty years has mellowed the various parties not at all. the faint-hearted might want to swallow something calming before giving sighs trapped by liars a spin.

sighs trapped by liars is as much a delightful bit of latter-day entertainment as it is a sensational musical excursion not trapped in any era. the composers of red krayola classics such as “keep all your friends,” “portrait of v.i.lenin in the style of jackson pollock,” ”black snakes,” and “born in flames” have made another try at negotiating the relationship between language and music in this new collection. speaking in a contemporary (and frequently foul-mouthed) voice they say something we could all stand to hear — in a popular music format that we can all enjoy.

those expecting a further trip into the radical leftist pamphleteering of the former works will have to listen closely; these are new songs for new days. perspectives are taken from quotes, exhibits and jokes of history and translated into material that addresses the state of the art. this music couldn’t be made without the experiences and politics of former days. the questions the 60s asked about the very idea of music and objects inform the practice today; the relationship of these new songs to the old ones is projective and analytical, subject to change without notice.

art & language’s lyrical contributions were put to music and played by mayo thompson, accompanied by tom watson, john mcentire, noel kupersmith and jim o’rourke. the music is an intimate and expansive setting, a pop framework for deliberate and meditative language. red krayola vocalists elisa randazzo and sandy yang stepped forth to the mic for a lead vocal performance that runs the register from ethereal-to-nursery-rhyme-to-adult-contemporary, with the odd obscenity smoothly integrated into its logic. jumping through the mirror so that you have to follow, the red krayola with art & language bring you sighs trapped by liars.

$13.41

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

drag city (usa) #dc 309 cd

loose fur “born again in the usa” compact disc

hey chicken
the ruling class
answers to your questions
apostolic
stupid as the sun
pretty sparks
an ecumenical matter
thou shalt wilt
wreckroom
wanted

drag city press release...

loose fur
born again in the usa
dc309 cd

rising from the undead three years after their debut is loose fur with an album of all new, all-american rock and roll called born again in the usa.

listening to the licks a-flyin’ and cowbells a-ringing, it’s clear that born again in the usa is more the work of a full-fledged rock band than the first loose fur album — which isn’t to say that kotche, o’rourke and tweedy didn’t bother to weave the ever-lovin’ kitchen sink into this brand-new sonic tapestry. on the contrary ... for their second coming, they gave everything they had — because our modern way of life hangs in the balance! if this shit don’t save you, then nothing will.

don’t get us wrong — born again in the usa is good old-fashioned fun for the whole family and all — but if you’re one of those types who wants to understand your yes albums, your king crimson concepts and your elo rockarias, loose fur have a few distinctly un-subliminal messages for you that are going to cut through all that middle-earthian crap and free your mind to go dancing in the streets. get your heads out of the clouds, kids — we need you here on terra firma. ain’t you heard? there’s a war on! no, not that one! open your eyes! and your ears...

with all messages aside, the loose fur ii sound is irreverently all over the place. twinned electric guitarmonies and stop-on-a-dime rhythms give way to breezy acoustics and melodious whistling, which in turn fades into an ominous well of vibes, percussion and ... distant thunder? throughout born again in the usa, loose fur keep the changes (and the chuckles) coming, crafting a complete album of classic and questing pop music that threatens to satisfy fans of wilco, o’rourke, on fillmore and even godspell all at once. it’s just that all-encompassing — a populist entertainment that takes no prisoners. what would we do with them, anyway? this is war!

the kingdom of heaven is coming — so duck and cover — and get born again in the usa!

$13.41

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

threads:
modern-psych

drag city (usa) #dc 203 cd

loose fur “loose fur” compact disc

laminated cat
elegant transaction
so long
you were wrong
liquidation totale
chinese apple

january 2003 release ; debut album by the trio of jim o’rourke & wilco’s jeff tweedy & glenn kotche ...

drag city press release...

dammit, loose fur is glenn kotche, jim o'rourke and jeff tweedy -- three guys playing musical songs featuring singing, aka popular music. but you didn't hear it from us. so anyway, in the dead of night, when everyone else in the fucking world was partying, so were they -- down at the fantasy factory, naturally. that's what we in the biz call your everyday, average, all-american recording studio. not loose fur, though. no, they just call it a recording studio, just like everyone else.

some people say we're crazy. for those of you out there in the fucking world who've enjoyed records from any of these three people who made it, loose fur is a record for you. it's an amazing, powerful, hypnotic release -- and everyone is going to be talking about it in the year to come -- so beat the rush and get interested now.

$13.41

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
november 20th, 2007

drag city (usa) #dc 202 cd

jim o’rourke “insignificance” compact disc

all downhill from here (4:59)
insignificance (5:12)
therefore, i am (4:53)
memory lame (5:57)
good times (4:04)
get a room (6:57)
life goes off (6:21)

drag city press release...

jim o’rourke
insignificance
dc202 lp/cd

hot damn! we’d heard this new o’rourke was going to be great. but nobody told us it was gonna rock us so!

yeah, jim’ll rock ya — and once you too have heard insignificance, there will be no argument about that. and whether the opener, “all downhill from here,” is a “message number,” of one kind or another, its raucous nature alone pops a hilarious pie into the face of your average o’rourke follower’s expectations, don’t it? it’s a red herring too of course. because in jim’s hands, the screaming love of rock n’roll is still not just “only rock ‘n’ roll.” instead, insignificance consists of rock plus: multiple musical allusions, layers of discreet noises, great playing from all the players and, to top it all off, funny pop tunes laced with lyrical arsenic. as the moving finger of o’rourke points (and clicks...just kidding! insignificance is an all analog affair), moments will come and go — to remind you of other moments. moments will arrive that have no precedent. and different, conflicting emotions will flash within you. he’ll have total control of you, the helpless listener.

and we like it like that!

and that’s just for starters. elsewhere, insignificance widens the screen of the o’rourke sound — whatever that is. as mentioned above, along the way, you’ll find a riff or two that one can truly ride. there’s more than one classic invitation for the lead vocalist to sneer and shout over it all — but of course, our jim prefers instead more to murmur and moan quite melodically, to a most — shh! — sensual effect. there’s a spacious ballad to cool you down, then another one of those sick love songs in the mold of “halfway to a threeway,” as well. it’s all in the name of fun, jim, we know! and it sounds great.

cut quickly with a skeleton crew after two years of indecision, insignificance brims with a newfound — we can’t really call it maturity — it’s more like a newfound immaturity, actually. the man is finally emancipated, speaking out, and telling it like it is. which guarantees not just a view to a bleeding heart of love, but also a more flinty soul of scorn. prettiness — and bitterness — abounds throughout the album. they go together like some loving confection, don’t they? however it may taste to you, insignificance clearly signals a new day for us all.

as a bonus while listening to insignificance, one can reflect upon how often catchy little tunes can be extended to, well, extended length — five to seven minutes per pop song is a lot, if you think about it — without resorting to needless jamming (or even mindful jamming). instead, o’rourke and co. take the option to extend the construction of whatever great song is at hand, leading to the thing we call “further development” (as opposed to “furthur development,” which has it’s time and place as well). time gets compressed, and before you know it, insignificance has sprung all sorts of moves on you and moved on out. it’s a vital, breathless experience that leaves all wondering where we’re going to be the next time o’rourke comes out with it. until then, the truth of insignificance hurts a little bit.

still, you’ll have to admit — insignificance is another triumph!

$13.41

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
november 20th, 2007

drag city (usa) #dc 162 cd

jim o’rourke “eureka” compact disc

prelude to 110 or 220 / women of the world (8:46)
ghost ship in a storm (3:54)
movie on the way down (7:37)
through the night softly (4:47)
please patronize our sponsors (3:04)
something big (3:13)
eureka (9:11)
happy holidays (1:36)

drag city press release...

jim o'rourke's reputation as an inaccessible avant-garde music boffin is shattered by the beguiling charm of eureka. after more than a decade of abstraction, experimentation, and improvisation, o'rourke unleashed this playful curveball as if to prove he was human after all. lush and complex arrangements decorate these slightly bizarre songs. the nearest comparison is probably van dyke parks's 1968 magnum opus song cycle. both albums are richly rewarding if you're prepared to persevere beyond the initial strangeness.

nimble acoustic guitars dominate the trance-like opener "women of the world" (written by deadpan scottish absurdist ivor cutler). o'rourke is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, and his playing is imaginative and full of rich texture, but there's nothing po-faced about eureka. a light and happy mood is sustained throughout the album. the latin-flavored "something big" takes its cues from the exotic pop of esquivel, and is a joyful highlight.

...

eureka is an album by american musician jim o'rourke. it was released on drag city in 1999. it is named after the 1984 nicolas roeg film of the same name. it is one of three albums recorded by o'rourke that are named after roeg films.

"women of the world" is an ivor cutler song and "something big" is by burt bacharach. "prelude to 110 or 120", "movie on the way down" and "through the night softly" are named after chris burden performance pieces.

$13.41

back in stock as of
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first in stock on
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drag city (usa) #dc 147 cd

stephen prina “push comes to love” compact disc

cums for shove
the devil, probably
too strong
the sobriquet
no one calls me a friend
trevor
the achiever
little lips
community
this is not it
hand in glove

1999 release ; song-based solo album from interdisciplinary audio/visual artist stephen prina, produced by the gastr del sol team of jim o’rourke and david grubbs ... one track features lyrics by dennis cooper ...

drag city press release...

in the spirit of those great la pop records of the seventies (notably the work of steely dan) these combined talents [lyrics: david grubbs, mayo thompson, dennis cooper, lynn tillman, etc.; production: grubbs & jim o'rourke; drums & vocals: john mcentire & sam prekop] have produced further expansions and refinements to the world of breezy, intellectually informed pop music. prina's own keyboard and guitar work have been augmented with synthesizer, pedal steel, cornet and a smooth rhythm section of bass, drums and, occasionally, a drum machine.

like the classical, pure vocalists who have come before him (sinatra, streisand, joni mitchell, morrissey, manson), prina wraps his voice around the diverse material, presenting an lp as the soundtrack for every man, whether that man is a woman, an academic, a performance artist, a homeowner, a lover, somebody's stepson, 'mr. generosity,' or you.

$12.81

back in stock as of
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threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
guitar-themed
free-improvisation
electro-acoustic-improvisation
modern-psych

drag city (usa) #dc 043 cd

gastr del sol “crookt, crackt or fly” compact disc

wedding in the park (1:02)
work from smoke (12:30)
parenthetically (1:20)
every five miles (7:49)
thos.dudley ah! old must dye (2:40)
is that a rifle when it rains? (1:29)
the c in cake (3:36)
the wrong soundings (14:49)

second album from gastr del sol, but actually the first to feature the twin-headed hydra of david grubbs & jim o’rourke that we came to know & love throughout the 90s ...

an all-over-the-place set of acoustic/electric guitar pieces (fairly prog-oriented), a few passages of room-tone/cassette-recorded piano (with grubbs’ occasional free-associative lyrics), and a few full-blown rock-band extrapolations, and some extended forays into studio manipulation and full-blown musique concrète ...

$11.76

back in stock as of
november 8th, 2011

first in stock on
february 16th, 2007

threads:
free-improvisation
analogue-synth
live-electronic
free-jazz

ecstatic peace! (usa) #e# 096b cd

white out / jim o’rourke “drunken little mass” compact disc

fury breath flying at half mast (16:43)
revenging agent (3:52)
least shred of (3:04)
maelstrom and tear (20:40)
longings of underdevelopment (4:50)
cloaking (7:53)

ecstatic peace! press release...

white out with jim o'rourkedruken little mass
cat: cd#96b

"white out is a sound terrorist collective of two, arising from the freedom-charged excitement of the nyc improv community. drunken little mass marks the summit meeting between the combustible duo of multi-instrumentalist lin culbertson (analog synthesizers, autoharp, flute, and treated voice) and tom surgal (drums, gongs and infinite percussion), and free agent/renaissance maestro jim o'rourke (powerbook and guitar).

the contents of this album are totally improvised, recorded in one take, with no overdubs or studio effects. the end result is impressive, the range of sound expansive, the interplay precise. every note put forth was the combined effort of three performers working as one."

$27.51

back in stock as of
april 17th, 2013

first in stock on
march 27th, 2012

threads:
concert-recordings
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-improvisation
plunder-phonic
minimalism-drones

editions mego (austria) #emego 141 lp

fenn o’berg “in hell” double long playing record set

christian rocks
vampires of hondori
omuta elegy
concrete onions
it came from nagoya

april 2012 release ; ... while jim is still in self-exile in japan (exile perhaps begin too strong a word ... extended working vacation” more like it) the only chances for every-so-often reunion gigs of his fenn o’berg duo with fennesz & peter “pita” rehberg come when the other two visit him on the island(s) ...

... this last happened in late november, 2010, where the trio did a 5-date sortie, recordings of which the four sides of music herein are comprised ... the palette & instrumentation reman the same (peter :: largely virtual synths & assorted bleepy filigree ... christian :: gaseous pads & atmospheres ... jim on plundered & re-contextualized audio fragments) ; but the dynamic range & general formal senses are much wider, offering frequent moments of real transcendence (such as in the sound-sample there) that are light-years removed from the endless tongue-in-cheek referentiality (ok, there’s a giant boston sample in the middle of the a-side ; other than that we’re good) of the past ...

editions mego press release...

emego 141 / fenn o'berg
in hell
2lp

release date 10.04.2012

performed by christian fennesz, jim o'rourke and peter rehberg at the following locations:

20 nov 2010, oita, oitaweb.tv beppu tower hall
19 nov 2010, hiroshima, club quatro
21 nov 2010, fukuoka, omuta fuji
24 nov 2010, kyoto, club metro
22 nov 2010, nagoya, club quatro

assembled by jim o'rourke at steamroom tokyo, 2011
cut at dubplates & mastering, berlin, 2012
photograph by shunichiro okada

superb collection of fenn o’berg jams from their 2010 japan tour, in which they forged further west for some wild sets in beppu and omuta. while maintaining the sophistication of the in stereo sessions and tour, these recordings hark back to some classic 20th century fenn o’berg fare, complete with the odd cheeky samples.

$19.51

back in stock as of
april 17th, 2013

first in stock on
may 4th, 2011

threads:
concert-recordings
digital-musics
musique-concrète

best of 2011 !!!

editions mego (austria) #emego 110.2 lp

fenn o’berg “live in japan • part two” long playing record

kyoto 2 (17:38)
nagoya 2 (18:08)

october 2010 release ; ... second in the pair :: the opening pulse-chime into reckless pointillist abandon is a goddamn beautiful thing :: so much so i’m going to put up the majority of that whole stretch as the sound-sample as it’ll do more than my words ever will to assuage you into gripping this (& the other) fine side(s) ...

editions mego press release...

emego110.2 / fenn o'berg
live in japan part two
lp

kyoto 2 recorded 27.10.2009 at club metro, kyoto.
nagoya 2 recorded 26.10.2009 at club quattro, nagoya

$19.51

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threads:
concert-recordings
digital-musics
musique-concrète

best of 2011 !!!

editions mego (austria) #emego 110.1 lp

fenn o’berg “live in japan • part one” long playing record

kyoto 1 (16:57)
tokyo 1 (20:01)

october 2010 release ; ... first in a necessary (if spartan) pair of lps, here covering a pair of late 2009 concerts given by jim o’rourke, peter “pita” rehberg, and christian fennesz on jim’s chosen home turf ...

this simultaneously hits most of my pleasure-centers while making me feel a twinge of nostalgia for the by-gone days in which setting up a computer in front of an audience was considered a renegade act, as opposed to the de facto norm it’s become for any kind of electronic music performance (in increasingly excuse-oriented steps away from any sort of real-time component) ... hearing these guys fly by the seat of their collective pair of pants, even this late in their communal game, is a real treat ...

editions mego press release...

emego110.1 / fenn o'berg
live in japan part one
lp

kyoto 1 recorded 27.10.2009 at club metro, kyoto.
tokyo 1 recorded 24.10.2009 at superdeluxe, tokyo

$21.01

back in stock as of
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threads:
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-composition
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones

editions mego (austria) #emego 050 cd

jim o’rourke “i’m happy, and i’m singing, and a 1,2,3,4” double compact disc set

i'm happy (11:13)
and i'm singing (8:11)
and a 1,2,3,4 (21:19)
lets take it again from the top (4:09)
getting the vapors (39:01)
he who laughs (17:57)

may 2009 release ; reissue of this classic slice of 90s/00s “laptop” music, augmented with a full bonus disc of era recordings (including the neon gallery brösarp “he who laughs” lp) ...

editions mego press release...

emego 050
jim o'rourke: i'm happy, and i'm singing, and a 1,2,3,4 double cd
release date: 08.05.2009

total time: 01:43:53
recorded 1997-1999 in ny, osaka, tokyo, toronto and malmö
originally released on mego in 2001

of course, jim o’rourke needs no introduction being well known as a performer, producer and all round top chap, as well membership of various pop and rock combos for more than two decades.

‘im happy, and i’m singing, and a 1, 2, 3, 4’ was called by many common folk jim’s laptop record or his powerbook album. we prefer the simple term computer when referring to the instrument used for the creation of this milestone album.

equal parts - schizoid pop, cracked minimalism, concrete drama and melancholic contemplation. it strikes us as a highly personal release. given the nature of this warm beast, it seems likely to appeal across the board - electronic nuts, indie rock kids and yes, even the good folk of the established experimental world may take pleasure in the delicate nuances of jim's hard drive.

this reissue is long overdue (the album being out of print for 5 years), and comes with a bonus disc featuring unreleased material from same period sourced from jim’s vast archive, as well as new artwork.

file under 'handsome'

$21.01

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threads:
digital-musics
concert-recordings
electro-acoustic-improvisation
plunder-phonic
playback-music
site-specific
live-electronic
machine-music

editions mego (austria) #emego 031-054 cd

fenn o’berg “the magic sound of fenn o’berg • the return of fenn o’berg” double compact disc set

shinjuku baby pt. 1 (6:51)
steam powered oscillation (0:53)
horst und snail mit markus (3:53)
gürtel eins (6:55)
escape from hamburg (2:34)
shinjuku baby pt. 2 (12:41)
gürtel zwei (4:34)
fenn o’berg theme (10:27)
(5,6m of) fenn o’berg (5:33)
floating my boat (5:36)
a viennese tragedy (14:28)
riding again (11:38)
we will diffuse you (10:16)
adidas sun tanned avant man (3:54)

may 2009 release ; ... handy double-disc pack containing newly remastered (at the capable hands of marcus schmickler, no less) takes on the first two fenn o’berg full-lengths ...

editions mego press release...

emego 3154 / fenn o'berg
magic & return
2cd

total time: 01:40:08

recorded at:
icc, tokyo, 17.01.1999 (1.1 & 1.6)
some old raft floating in hamburg harbour, 08.05.1998 (1.2 & 1.5)
die insel, berlin, 05.05.1998 (1.3)
rhiz, vienna, 15.07.1999 (1.4 & 1.7)
büro 1 @ le garage, paris, 10.05.1998 (1.8)
porgy & bess, vienna, 10.05.2001 (2.1 & 2.2)
centre pompidou, paris, 21.03.2001 (2.3 & 2.4)

all tracks by christian fennesz, jim o'rourke & peter rehberg
artwork by tina frank
remastered at piethopraxis, köln, january 2009

the legendary fenn o’berg are resurfacing eight years since their last performance. starting with this double cd reissue of their two albums; ‘the magic sound of...’ and ‘the return of...’, originally released in 1999 and 2002.

fenn o’berg (christian fennesz, jim o’rourke and peter rehberg) first hit the scene after a surprise appearance at the nickelsdorf festival in 1997. throughout 1998 and 1999 the trio toured extensively throughout austria, germany, belgium, france, italy, switzerland and spain, as well as shows in north america and japan. the highlights of these trips were presented on ‘the magic sound’. although they were not first group to utilise mainly mobile computing devices, they were the first to bring such a set up to venues that would not normally book or even be interested in such things. this resulted in some very polarised reactions from both audience and promoters alike. in many instances the group needed to ‘escape’ the city they played. in rome jim o’rourke was even given an acoustic guitar and more or less forced to play a short acoustic set before anyone could leave the building. despite all of this, there was a generally positive response, with some shows going down as local legend. however its worth considering that the technology at the tine didn’t offer the convenience of ‘plug in and play’ of current operating systems and applications. this of course led to set of recordings like no other. not only was the rule book ripped up but the tour book as well. each show became an improvised twisted journey through the various strands of electronic music where popular music sources (some more obvious than others) clashed with more academic tricks, but never sounding like being part of either.

by 2002, the groups live output was drastically reduced due to all three members schedules moving in different directions. only two performances were committed that year, and although the sound was more polished and one could even suggest that ‘they knew what they were doing’, their polarising effect was still there. one show was a sold out over enthusiastic centre pompidou in paris, and the other a miserable ‘count them on one hand’ turnout at a jazz club in vienna. edited highlights of these shows made up ‘the return of..’

since then the trio has been on a constant pause. in october 2009 they will get together in tokyo to record a new studio album planned for early 2010 release. this reissue is repackaged with new artwork by tina frank, and contains two bonus tracks from the same period.

$13.44

back in stock as of
january 27th, 2010

first in stock on
january 13th, 2009

threads:
concert-recordings
guitar-themed
modern-psych
free-improvisation

best of 2009 !!!

family vineyard (usa) #fv 59 cd

loren connors / jim o’rourke “two nice catholic boys” compact disc

maybe paris (22:05)
or possibly koln (14:16)
most definitely not koln (10:41)

january 2009 release ; archival dig of a trio of pieces performed by the guitar duo of loren connors & jim o’rourke way back in 1997 during a european tour ...

after a few “rockier” (read :: distorted / aggressive) starts, these pieces settle into the kind of stormy-weather playing that made us all fall in love with loren’s music in the first place (echoes of his “live in pittsburgh” set are prevalent throughout) ... jim proves himself admirably as an accompanist, his modern chord-progressions (which should be familiar from gastr del sol’s concurrent releases & the earliest stages of his “song-based” solo career) ringing out the new, while simultaneously paying homage to loren’s 80s work ...

always room on the shelf for anything involving either of these two ; this one features both at their prime ... highly recommended !!!

family vineyard press release...

loren connors & jim o’rourke
two nice catholic boys

these two nice catholic boys, loren connors and jim o'rourke, met at the crossroads each night during a 1997 european tour. by this time o'rourke already reissued connors' seminal heartbreak album in pittsburgh on his dexter's cigar label and and was preparing to produce the guitarist's big-band mash-up with alan licht, hoffman estates.

together, connors-o’rourke unravel slow motion ghost blues across three extended pieces that evolve from the elder’s martian style to the thundering, feedback splattered lead grooves of that whippersnapper. the spontaneous melodies shift from devastating, country road intimacy to hypnotic overamped rock. it's ferocious, epic, and an utter beauty capable only from two who know themselves and each other all too well.

this live cd is only the second duo release by these musical partners despite performingtogether since the mid-90s. during the past decade, o'rourke has repeatedly returned to the hours of recordings captured across europe to select these 47 minutes.

$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
harsh-noise

file under:
free-improv

grob (germany) #grob 208 cd

weasel walter / fred lonberg-holm / jim o’rourke “tribute to masayuki takayanagi” compact disc

for jojo/freebasing styrofoam (31.17)
endless corridor of roasted babies (10.52)
slitted tit (03.56)
give me head 'til you're dead (15.15)
triumph of death (12.10)

assorted 1996-2000 blow-outs from assorted combinations of weasel walter (solo on two of the tracks), fred lonberg-holm, and jim o’rourke; assembled in deference/defiance of masayuki “jojo” takayanagi’s “new direction unit” (more on him/them shortly...)

i remember being really amped about this when it came out, but thinking it was almost too “metal” - how times have changed... in fact through the use of huge, cavernous reverb on everything this echoes recent “black metal” sides (especially walter’s 12+ minute “triumph of death” outro...)

a pretty essential link from the free-improv gauntlet of the mid-90s through the short-lived “brutal prog” gambit, clean on through to the current free-metal fascination...

grob press release...

fred lonberg-holm/ jim o'rourke/ weasel walter - tribute to masayuki takayanagi (08.2000)

weasel walter, drums, 12-string guitar
fred lonberg-holm, cello
jim o'rourke, electric guitar, apparition guitar

asides from keith rowe and fully independent of him, masayuki takayanagi was the first guitarist to use the table-top guitar, thereby instigating a purely incomprehensible noise. the japanese priest of noise, keiji haino, otomo yoshihide and merzbow all went to his "school."

for weasel walter, drummer and mastermind of the flying luttenbachers, this was cause enough to dedicate an entire cd to him.

no, one doesn't have to say much about this. this is highly dynamic no-compromise noise, packed in an aesthetic that ostensibly plays with clichés of violence and has o'rourke as "lycanthrovampyr." it rocks, uncontrolled and still on the dot. weasel walter's bottomless black calculation proves right.

we also need not mince words about o'rourke, the todd rundgren of our epoche, or about fred longberg-holm, the inspired cellist, who has played with everyone, from peter brötzmann to anthony coleman.

what else? the cd presents two sessions, one from 1996, one from 2000; there are a few overdubs (on the session from 2000) and o'rourke plays kevin drumms' guitar (on the session from 1996). the cover art, the liner notes and the mix are from weasel walter. and don't get the idea to bother the group with interview inquiries.

fred lonberg-holm
jim o'rourke
weasel walter

$9.33

new to stock as of
april 21st, 2008

threads:
modern-composition
analogue-synth
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones
musique-concrète

minority (czech republic) #min 20 ep

gastr del sol “twenty songs less” seven inch single record

twenty songs less side one
twenty songs less side two

... kind of an odd reissue choice for the czech minority records label, but then again this has long been the only unavailable side by the o’rourke / grubbs / mcentire/ brown lineup of gastr; here at their deconstructionist best with jim handling the tape-splice duties throughout ...

again, i balked a bit @ the price, but after these arrived & i (re) listened to this about 4 times in a row (first time i’ve heard it 10 years) & i now have not the buyers’ remorse ... extremely well-done edition, from the whisper-quiet 7” pressing (listen to the sound-sample) to the clear vinyl & replication of the original teen-beat label-art ...

minority press release...

gastr del sol - twenty songs less 7"ep

executed in chicago by bundy k. brown, david grubbs, john mcentire and jim o'rourke in 1993.
painting by paul green.

limited edition of 1000 copies.

line-up:
jim o'rourke - electronics, engineering, editing
john mcentire - drums
bundy k. brown - acoustic
david grubbs - acoustic guitar, piano

$13.41

back in stock as of
august 25th, 2008

first in stock on
november 20th, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
plunder-phonic

moikai (usa) #m 09 cd

space ponch “the world shopping with space ponch” compact disc

barefoot in baltimore (3:34)
raymint scott (2:06)
batanga cha cha cha (3:12)
kinga crew (3:10)
gmw (2:47)
debard (1:15)
how to murder your wife (3:02)
tati suite including: after the fox traffic play time (9:05)
tengs of thugs (3:33)
pheasants (3:44)
the world shopping with space ponch (15:08)
great budda airmail (2:26)

plunderphonic weirdness by this “mysterious japanese artist” (who may just be jim o’rourke himself...)

moikai press release...

space ponch is strange even by japanese standards.

the world shopping with space ponch is the sound of an odd electronic orchestra, a digital dance band, somehow not out of place if you imagine a 1970s ballroom and a stage full of keyboard players, all pecking away at their silicon instruments. vocoded vocals are overused all over the world, but here, they go far beyond what you may have previously heard. giorgio moroder's got nothing on space ponch.

this would have been perfect for ken russell. and cinematic comparison isn't that far off. there's a medley of music from jacques tati, as well as other good-times standards, a cartoon-cutup style of perry and kingsley, the pre-video game sound of yellow magic orchestra, the electronic equivalent to dr. buzzard's original savannah band.

yet somehow space ponch goes somewhere very strange that they haven't been before. it's a case of mistaken identity, because you can't quite identify them.

~~$11.95~~
... on sale for only ::
$8.74

new to stock as of
june 7th, 2011

threads:
analogue-synth
electro-acoustic-composition
electro-acoustic-improvisation
live-electronic
machine-music

best of 2011 !!!

spring cleaning !!!

no fun productions (usa) #nfp 999 cd

jim o’rourke / carlos giffoni “japan tour 2011” compact disc

carlos giffoni - acid queens-prototype version (12:13)
jim o'rourke - canadian bonus track (14:51)
jim o'rourke / carlos giffoni - roulette (17:42)

june 2011 release ; ... first new no fun release in a dog’s age (apparently carlos is back on the books ; expect a split with oren ambarchi in the near future) acting as “tour merch” for a recent spell in japan just weeks after the tsunami & resultant nuclear disaster(s) ...

... while carlos’ 12-minute mind-fuck head-swirler of a drum-less acid coup is of course, bonkers, i have to hand it to jim’s gorgeously fluid synth-concrète track, recalling the work made available via this month’s “old news #5”, albeit in an even more mellow & flowing nature, replete with processed field recordings ...

... this all culminates with an extended collaborative work, merging the pair’s communal love of unfettered analogue drone with increasingly frenetic synth-blurt, eventually working some of carlos’ acid-magic against jim’s a-temporal fm-ed clusterings to great effect ... great disc, pretty much only available during the tour and, now, here ...

no fun productions press release...

999 - jim o'rourke / carlos giffoni 'japan tour 2011' cd

despite all odds jim o'rourke and carlos giffoni toured japan in april of 2011, this was a release put together exclusively for the tour and limited to 500 copies. it includes one completely new studio track from each jim and carlos as well as a long collaboration of intense psychedelic electronics. file under new acid / analog electronics / synth / psychedelic / 21st century all out music.

these tracks are only available on this cd which is limited to 500 and will not be released digitally for download. a handful of copies left from the tour are available trough a few select distributors world wide.

$11.95

back in stock as of
june 7th, 2011

first in stock on
april 17th, 2007

threads:
harsh-noise
analogue-synth
concert-recordings

overlooked !!!

no fun productions (usa) #nfp 15 cd

merzbow / carlos giffoni / jim o’rourke “electric dress” compact disc

electric dress (52:16)

late april 2007 release; a recording of a concert that took place at tokyo’s uplink factory on september 30th, 2006 featuring the debut trio of masami “merzbow” akita (ems synthi ‘a’, handmade instruments and various effects), carlos giffoni (custom synthss and analog filters), and jim o’rourke (synth and microphone.)

“electric dress” is a single 50+ minute synth-blast that delivers on a bunch of levels; it has a nice, narrative flow; lingering in “space machine” territory for the first half before amping up into full-on annihilation for the second... the recording is actually quite clean; not the “in-the-red” lineage tape-saturated blowout you’d expect, much closer to the sound of the zero gravity records from the mid 90s (incidentally, also mostly recorded @ uplink - i’ve got to check that place out!)

no fun productions press release...

15 merzbow/carlos giffoni/jim o’rourke 'electric dress' cd

electric dress covers the full spectrum of sound color possibility, from totally brutal walls of destructive noise to beautiful minimal synthetic interplay, analog drone and shifting alien electronics. a total mind melting collaboration recorded live in tokyo using synths and a variety of custom analog equipment, even including merzbow's classic spring/junk metal instrument. warm, varied, and obsessive this is what industrial music should have been, the sound of infinite machines demolishing a planet and creating a new structure where live organisms have been eradicated.

edited and mastered by jim for maximum sonic annihilation. documents one of nowadays very rare merzbow's all analog live shows, one of jim o'rourke's rare live appearances since his move to japan and the culmination of carlos giffoni's japan synth destruction tour. all this at the same time! 100% essential!

electric dress is recommended for fans of analog period merzbow, early noise and industrial music, academic electronic and analog synth music-and for those adepts of beautiful and invigorating evil music.

$27.51

new to stock as of
september 12th, 2012

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
minimalism-drones
modern-composition
musique-concrète

best of 2012 !!!

old news (austria) #old news 8 lp

jim o’rourke “old news no. 8” double long playing record set

mere pt 1 (15:19)
mere pt 2 (17:10)
mere pt 3 (13:48)
merely (18:23)

october 2012 release ; ... as a young, new jersily-sequestered teenage loner, the original issue of this music (the 1992 staalplaat double-disc set “disengage” ; picked up that year on a whim, blindly, in a tower records in paramus, after hearing o’rourke’s name mentioned a few times) was not just the first music of his i’d heard ... but likely (and i’m playing all my cards here folks) the first real long-form and/or “drone” record that really “clicked” for me ...

... many memories of just sitting in my bedroom during the summer break ; blinding white light coming in from outside ... but wanting nothing to do with any of that, staying indoors & listening to the first disc (i.e. the contents of the first three sides of this double-lp, which adds an exclusive fourth live variant) over & over again, knowing that something significant was going on (in my brain, in the music) but having absolutely no vocabulary to say or know why...

... flash forward ; 20 years (20 ... fucking ... years) ... i might have a slightly better technical grasp on the how of this, but i’m still completely blown away by the beauty & power of this music, merging acoustic minimalism with jim’s productorial prowess in the tape-studio (even then, back in 1991, he had an innate knack for “extending” timbre via time-based effects & comparatively simple post-processing) ...

... i still think this rates as one of the best things he’s done ; this contemporary, high-spec vinyl issue is the one i’ve been waiting on the most ... highly recommended !!!

old news press release...

old news 8 / jim o'rourke
old news no. 8

release date 01.10.2012

mere pts 1-3
recorded 91-92
originally released as part of disengage by staalplaat.
special thanks to geert-jan hobijn and frans de waard for their years of support.

trombone: jeff cortazzo
cello: sue wolf
shortwave: michael prime
voice: geoff fontaine, gretchen wells, matt guerierri, scott shell

merely
recorded live at depaul university 1991
percussion: carrie biolo

remastered 2012 steamroom tokyo
this one is for billy f

$27.51

back in stock as of
september 12th, 2012

first in stock on
february 14th, 2012

threads:
analogue-synth
electro-acoustic-composition
concert-recordings
modern-composition
minimalism-drones
musique-concrète

best of 2012 !!!

old news (austria) #old news 7 lp

jim o’rourke “old news no. 7” double long playing record set

welcome to the django part one (18:07)
welcome to the django part two (20:28)
natural bonbon killers (17:10)
tacere fas (18:19)

february 2012 release ; ... closer to “old news 5” (in that it’s a grouping of otherwise disparate work spanning a 17-year period & not a single, 4-part musique concrète pieces) is this third entrant in an ongoing series of emego-produced double-lp sets of jim o’rourke’s experimental music ...

... the first 2 sides cover a pretty damn impeccable pair of pieces executed in the mid-90’s on a serge modular (what we discover anew, jim has secretly mastered, then hidden every trace of said for a good decade-and-a-half ; bastard) ... “natural bonbon killers” offers a classic rising synth-overload piece on par with pierre henry’s “mise en musique du corticalart” (the motif in the middle could have been lifted directly from said ; listen to the end of sound-sample) before the comparably restrained concrète of “tacere fas” (reissuing a piece that appeared in 1994 on a these records compilation, alongside zoviet france & the hafler trio ; the only previously available piece in the set) grounds us down to the earth ...

... an excellent set ; as essential as #5 ; highly recommended !!!

old news press release...

old news 7 / jim o’rourke
old news no. 7
2lp

release date 21.02.2012

side one & two recorded 96-97 steamroom, chicago

side three recorded live in nagoya at tokuzo april, 2011.
thanks to carlos giffoni

side four recorded 93-94.
originally released on these records. thanks to andrew & howard jacques

more archival works from jim o’rourke seeing the light of day.
‘welcome to the django’ is 2 sided mid 90s excursion of o’rouke’s first experiments with a serge modular system.
‘natural born killers’ is a recent live jam recorded in nagoya.
‘tacere fas’ is legendary early 90s piece finally available again. orginally appearing on the compilation ‘unentitled’ (these 011cd), released by these records in 1994.

$27.51

back in stock as of
september 12th, 2012

first in stock on
august 16th, 2011

threads:
musique-concrète
analogue-synth
electro-acoustic-composition

best of 2011 !!!

old news (austria) #old news 6 lp

jim o’rourke “old news no. 6” double long playing record set

all that's cold is new again • part 1 (19:14)
all that's cold is new again • part 2 (17:48)
all that's cold is new again • part 3 (15:50)
all that's cold is new again • part 4 (18:09)

august 2011 release ; ... second “old news” issue, covering a single, 70-minute musique concrète piece, commissioned by christian zanesi & perfectly in thrall with the grm’s technical & conceptual modus operandi ...

... a mix of field recorded events, awesome channel-hopping electronic spray & almost imperceptibly backgrounded environments & events, this is jim both at his most abstract & technically capable ; highly recommended !!!

old news press release...

old news 6
jim o'rourke
old news no. 6
2lp

recorded at steamroom, tokyo, 2009-2011

hot on the hells of old new #5 comes #6. a new 70+ minute electronic piece split over four sides. two years in making, ‘all that’s cold is new again’ was partly commissioned by christian zanesi for grm’s présences électronique festival in paris.

an intense and rewarding listen rich in detail and of full of some classic o’rourke hooks and turns, which he has masterfully developed over the last two decades.

this one is for peter f.
available only in this format.

$25.01

back in stock as of
september 12th, 2012

first in stock on
may 25th, 2011

threads:
concert-recordings
analogue-synth
electro-acoustic-improvisation
electro-acoustic-composition
digital-musics
minimalism-drones
modern-composition
live-electronic

best of 2011 !!!

old news (austria) #old news 5 lp

jim o’rourke “old news no. 5” double long playing record set

pedal & pedal (15:54)
detain the man to whom (20:20)
it's not his room anymore (19:05)
mother and who (16:32)

may 2011 release ; ... despite the catalogue number, this is the debut release on “old news” ; an (editions) mego sub-label set up to issue contemporary & formative work by jim o’rourke ...

this collection, featuring four side-length pieces recorded over an 18-year stretch, starts out with a bang ; namely “pedal & pedal” ‘s lovely floating aphorisms, owing (more than) a little bit to alvin curran’s prime-era work ... from there, the crackling morass of analogue mid-high tones, metallic klang, & grinding encephalography of “detain the man to whom” go in the other direction (listen to the sound-sample for an extended sip from wells on deep) ...

record #2 picks up with a gorgeously minimal, reverb-bathed synth-overdub piece that invokes the chattering splendor & odd, a-linear temperaments of tom hamilton & françois bayle’s live-electronic work, which leads directly into the b&m of the closing “mother and who” (which approaches the kind(s) of live-synthi blow-outs that hiroshi “astro” hasegawa has been dropping as of late) before receding into the aleatorical tonal wanderlust of the opening cut ...

... unlike the purely static / drone-based music jim has been pulling deep from his “archives” over the past few, these pieces are each tiny festivals of micro-detail ; personally speaking i’m hearing this as one of jim’s best releases thusfar (i can only wonder where he’ll take the series from here) ; highly recommended !!!

old news press release...

jim o'rourke
old news no. 5
2lp

1 recorded live at super deluxe, tokyo, 2010
2 recorded at steamroom, chicago, 1992
3 recorded at steamroom, tokyo, 2010
4 recorded at steamroom mobile, london, 2003

introducing a nearly regular series of vinyl albums documenting analog synth and tape works (both studio and live) from the depths of jim o’rourke’s archive, spanning a near quarter century of active duty in the field.

old news #5 kicks off with pedal and pedal, a refined beauty of a live set at tokyo’s super deluxe, to only be followed by a massive blast from the past in the shape of the monstrous detain the man to whom, recorded in 1992.

record two delivers the genuine weirdness of studio session its not his room anymore, backed with the ripping mother and who, which is an alternative version of what would become o’rourke’s live set at the 2003 all tomorrows parties festival in uk.

available only in this format.

$24.02

back in stock as of
june 4th, 2008

first in stock on
february 28th, 2008

threads:
guitar-themed
electro-acoustic-improvisation

p-vine (japan) #pcd 23009 cd

jim o’rourke “remove the need” compact disc

chicago one (8:08)
zurich one (5:04)
zurich two (8:07)
chicago two (30:02)

1999 japanese reissue of jim o’rourke’s 1993 extreme-label release “remove the need” (completely different music than on the 1990 complacency tape of the same name) ; a series of table-top guitar improvisations performed in zurich and chicago ... with new cover art by sam prekop.

$12.61

back in stock as of
may 6th, 2010

first in stock on
january 25th, 2010

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète
modern-composition
minimalism-drones
field-recordings

perdition plastics (usa) #per 012 cd

illusion of safety “probe” compact disc

probe (1) (18:18)
probe (2) (25:30)
probe (3) (9:23)
probe (4) (4:59)

january 2010 release ; notable as one of jim o’rourke’s first recorded outings (predated only by a batch of regional cassette releases, the “ground below above our heads” lp & the “tamper” & “disengage” disc/sets) it’s also (in my mind at least) the finest ios outing, due to the meshing of jim’s nascent musique concrète leanings (the pacing belies a great love of luc ferrari, certainly) and dan’s more visceral / event-oriented sensibilites & humor (at times bordering on inaudibility, the predominance of sudden, jarring transitions by the end becomes the piece’s reigning leitmotif) ...

amazing to think was released 18 years ago ; in many ways jim & dan’s love-letter to the whole ina-grm universe & something of a classic ; highly recommended !!!

perdition plastics press release...

release date: january 2010

artist: illusion of safety
title: probe

format: full-length cd (58 minutes)
label: perdition plastics
catalogue number: per 012

this is the first re-issue of illusion of safety’s probe since its only appearance in 1992. in a limited edition of 500 copies, perdition plastics is proud to reintroduce this notable work of contemporary composition. veteran provocateurs, illusion of safety, examine an audio landscape found between youth and innocence, manufactured entertainment, and suburban complacency. using a pastiche of field recordings and suggestively composed elements, dan burke and jim o’rourke strikingly capture ambivalence and their own personal interactions within this environment.

probe was one of several early, pinnacle works to foreshadow the unique and prolific audio fingerprint of renowned producer/player, jim o’rourke, when still a compositional student in chicago. this release fits neatly into o’rourke’s recent issuing of forgotten and initial recordings.

as the constant center of illusion of safety since 1983, dan burke has consistently edited and evolved more than 20 cds from ambience to electronica, from sound collage to post-industrial noise. the complexity and restraint found within probe marked a compelling new direction for burke and a great many others influenced by his music.

illusion of safety has been released by such labels as die stadt, experimedia, silent, soleilmoon, staalplaat, tesco, and waystyx among others. collaborations include cheer-accident, thomas demuzio, kevin drumm, ben vida, and others.

probe will be of interest to those who enjoy hafler trio, throbbing gristle, luc ferrari, etc.

~~$13.27~~
... on sale for only ::
$9.86

new to stock as of
july 15th, 2011

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète
field-recordings
minimalism-drones

spring cleaning !!!

streamline (usa) #streamline 1029 cd

jim o’rourke / christoph heemann “plastic palace people • vol. 2” compact disc

untitled (50:22)

july 2011 release ; ... second in this on-going series of collaborative works recorded in the early 90’s by christoph heemann & jim o’rourke, later conceptually aligned with the mythos of noel scott “walker” engel ...

... contrasting vol. 1’s “synth freakout” bluster entirely, this is instead a single, extended musique concrète piece (heavily reminiscent of luc ferrari’s later “east-west news” series of travelogue pieces) concerned with tape-slown ambiences, prickly percussive installations, and some lovely, reedy droning (the sound-sample covers most of that in roughly reverse order) ...

killer disc ; we’re all blessed if these issues of two-decade-old music continue to spring forth in regular intervals ...

streamline press release...

jim o’rourke & christoph heemann plastic palace people vol. 2 cd

july 19, 2011

the windows
are ringing.

shaking
ight-nites
for angels,

rattling throats
up and down
on a beam.

cooling
the hearts,
cooling the plasma,

keeping
ice junkies
packed hard
on a seam.

(n.s. engel)

produced by jim o’rourke and christoph heemann in aachen, germany 1992, mainly composed from field recordings and found sounds of all sorts. part of an ongoing process (and a real departure from the first album) : volume 3 is in preparation now ...

$19.49

back in stock as of
july 15th, 2011

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

threads:
minimalism-drones
modern-composition
electro-acoustic-composition
analogue-synth

best of 2008 !!!

streamline (germany) #streamline 1023 cd

jim o’rourke “long night” double compact disc set

long night pt. 1 (78:10)
long night pt. 2 (79:09)

august 2008 release ; epic long-form work by jim o’rourke, completed in 1990 and released here for the first time, 18 years later, by christoph heemann on his streamline label ...

dedicated to david behrman (in fact, “on the other ocean” isn’t such a bad a reference point here ...), “long night” consists of slowly mutating clusters of band-passed electronic tones in harmonically close combinations, yielding a tonal bed that’s consistently pleasant for the piece’s entire 157:19 (!!!) duration ...

of jim’s recently unearthed early 90s home tape-studio music (see: “6 oscillators” on no fun, “3 organs” on three poplars, etc ...) i’m going to place this on at the top of the heap, if only for the extended fidelity (clearly this was transferred & remastered for digital with love) and clarity of vision ...

long-term and recent converts to the long-form spec, this one comes highly recommended !!!

ps. as the standard 1:20 sound-sample really wasn’t going to do this one justice, i’ve put up a clean 6:00 segment nearing the end of the piece ... enjoy !!!

streamline press release...

long night, a 2 1/2 hour electronic drone work produced by jim o'rourke in 1990 around the time of his graduation from music school had been buried in the archives along with several other electronic music pieces jim had created before he went about to explore other musical territories. unearthed, remastered and now released for the first time, its ageless qualities shine as brightly as ever.

...the tower was not a tower; it was a needle. standing on top a high hill, it jabbed a finger heavenward. at the base it measured a good six feet across, tapering to a sharp point a hundred feet or more above the ground. it was of a rather nasty pinkish color and was made of a substance that appeared similar to the substance of which the cube had been constructed. plastic, he thought to himself, although he was fairly sure it was not plastic. when he laid his hand flat against its surface, he could feel a slight vibration, as if the wind out of the west, playing upon it, was causing it to vibrate along its entire length as a freestanding, tapering, most unlikely violin string would vibrate to the bow. it was not generally loud, although at times it became a little louder. despite the fact that more often than not it was a soft music, it had fantastic carrying power.

journey to the end of long night

out today, august 19th, is a new streamline release of, as mentioned above, a recording jim o’rourke made way back before you were born (again), though by the time he finished making it, whole families had probably been conceived. it’s just that epic! but seriously, jim rolled this work out over the course of one very long night in 1990 (the very night that gives this piece its title!). then he moved on and made another dozen records before the year was over — the kid was moving fast back in those days, and not just with the ladies.

like other pieces from the early years of o’rourke (tamper, anyone?), long night is a work of minimalism, and in fact, outright drone. truth be told, both cds of this double-disc release contain one single drone! admittedly, it wiggles all over the place, but it’s undeniable one long-ass tone doing it’s minimal thang. sure it could have been released in the early 90s — but who would have noticed? just a bunch of high-nosed aficionados of avant sounds and egg-headed academic types. by waiting until now, streamline is opening long night up to a whole new world of listeners born into a much more permissive time (in terms of music, that is — sadly, none of ‘em give a fuck without putting a sheet of plastic between ‘em — oh, for the days of truly free love!).

anyway, we’d like to congratulate streamline for taking the time to put this out, as it should definitely be heard, double-cd or no. and, show of hands here, who’s up for a triple-lp version?

$13.27

back in stock as of
july 15th, 2011

first in stock on
november 20th, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

best of 2007 !!!

streamline (usa) #streamline 1001r cd

mimir “mimyriad” compact disc

mimyriad (1) (4:58)
mimyriad (2) (14:51)
mimyriad (3) (3:38)
mimyriad (4) (4:30)
mimyriad (5) (5:00)
mimyriad (6) (5:21)

2007 release ; reissue of the 2nd album by mimir; a super-group of sorts consisting of christoph heemann & andreas martin, edward ka-spel, silverman, and (debuting on this album) jim o’rourke ...

a single extended piece in distinct episodes (ala the hafler trio) taking in cues from all over the stylistic map (musique concrète, avant-folk, field recordings, psychedelic synthesizer weirdness, drones, etc... ) ; one of my favorite albums from this clique, extremely glad to have it back in print & accessible to future-generations ...

streamline press release...

jim o'rourke first joined mimir for mimyriad in 1992. it was completed and released as the first streamline cd in 1993. in 1998, a radically remixed and re-edited version was issued as a limited edition streamline lp. this new cd release contains a re-mastered version of the mimyriad lp material and comes in a reworked and updated package

...peering down, he tried to gauge how close he might be drifting to solid ground, but the darkness made it impossible to judge. he found himself tensing, then consciously willed himself to relax. when he hit, he had to be relaxed. the spatter of brilliance that was the space port was almost dead ahead. a blackness intervened to shield out the spaceport lights and he hit the ground, knees buckling under him...

$16.38

back in stock as of
april 29th, 2008

first in stock on
april 26th, 2007

threads:
modern-composition
minimalism-drones
fluxus
guitar-themed
sound-art

syr (usa) #syr 4 lp
sonic youth (usa) #syr 4 lp

sonic youth “goodbye 20th century” double long playing record set

christian wolff - edges (16:02)
pauline oliveros - six for new time - for sonic youth (8:08)
james tenney - having never written a note for percussion (9:04)
john cage - six (3rd take) (3:01)
takehisa kosugi - + - (7:02)
yoko ono - voice piece for soprano (0:12)
nicolas slonimsky - pièce enfantine (2:21)
cornelius cardew - treatise (page 183) (3:29)
john cage - four6 (30:20)
john cage - six (4th take) (3:02)
christian wolff - burdocks (13:16)
george maciunas - piano piece #13 (carpenter's piece) - for nam june paik (3:49)
steve reich - pendulum music (5:56)

syr press release...

the band gets back to their roots in avant-garde classical music. 100+ minutes of modern compositions on double lp or double cd.

music composed by john cage, yoko ono, cornelius cardew, steve reich, takehisa kosugi, nicolas slonimsky, george maciunas, james tenney, pauline oliveros and christian wolff.

sonic youth the syr series

having completed construction on their manhattan studios in 1996, sonic youth suddenly found themselves in a position to create unadulterated by the tyranny of time and space. as a result of their natural writing process, whereby collective improvisation congeals over time into song structures, they began to amass a small mountain of tape, most of it containing raw, wild, spontaneous music they reckoned wouldn't be "commercial" enough for geffen to release.

yet the material seemed just as essential and true to their mission, and showed an important side of the band and their process that was usually inacessible to their fans. so instead of a problem, sy saw an opportunity — they decided to release these secret sonic glimpses themselves. sonic youth recordings was born.

$16.38

back in stock as of
april 29th, 2008

first in stock on
april 26th, 2007

threads:
modern-composition
fluxus
minimalism-drones
guitar-themed
sound-art

syr (usa) #syr 4 cd
sonic youth (usa) #syr 4 cd

sonic youth “goodbye 20th century” double compact disc set

christian wolff - edges (16:02)
john cage - six (3rd take) (3:01)
pauline oliveros - six for new time - for sonic youth (8:08)
takehisa kosugi - + - (7:02)
yoko ono - voice piece for soprano (0:12)
steve reich - pendulum music (5:56)
james tenney - having never written a note for percussion (9:04)
john cage - six (4th take) (3:02)
christian wolff - burdocks (13:16)
john cage - four6 (30:20)
george maciunas - piano piece #13 (carpenter's piece) - for nam june paik (3:49)
nicolas slonimsky - pièce enfantine (2:21)
cornelius cardew - treatise (page 183) (3:29)
video - george maciunas - piano piece #13 (carpenter's piece)

syr press release...

$8.58

back in stock as of
april 29th, 2008

first in stock on
april 26th, 2007

threads:
analogue-synth
modern-psych
guitar-themed
electro-acoustic-improvisation

syr (usa) #syr 3 cd
sonic youth (usa) #syr 3 cd

sonic youth / jim o’rourke “invito al cielo” compact disc

invito al cielo (20:51)
hungara vivo (6:12)
radio-amatoroj (29:15)

syr press release...

the third syr release documents sonic youth's first collaboration with jim o'rourke. this sharp esparanto-addled edition contains 3 new songs, and 50+ minutes of music.

three platters in and no signs of slowing; more deep swells of clang from echo canyon. it's starting to get a little absurd calling these things "eps" (number three clocks in at over 50 minutes of music), but why complain b/c it just means a mad bargain for you! especially considering that these sessions were graced by the presence of yours and my favorite "omni musician", chi- town's own jim o'rourke, whose impossibly numerous associations include gastr del sol, faust, tony conrad, john fahey, smog and henry kaiser. while in town to join takehisa kosugi and the merce cunningham dance company (which thurston also participated in), j.o. swung by for an afternoon of intense improvised ensemble alchemy. this time around, the ill-fated "universal language" esperanto adorns the sleeve, in keeping with the series' (ir)reverent faux euro-art-music design themes. the opener "invito al cielo" is all amp-moan and synth scratch, yet placid (in the storm-eye sense), featuring some inspired trumpet-brut and more whispered scats from kim. the shimmering vibes and sine-pulse of "hungara vivo" actually recalls the digi-mosaics of oh-so-au currant electronicsters like microstoria, yet nonetheless was performed by the band in good ole real time and space. "radio-amatoroj" is another long-form spelunk into an audiotectonics of cathedralic proportion. more cymbal-spray and guitar-gong percussives, shifting textures ebb and fade in some kind of psycho-sensory algebra you don't even need to know how to solve. just hear...

sonic youth the syr series

having completed construction on their manhattan studios in 1996, sonic youth suddenly found themselves in a position to create unadulterated by the tyranny of time and space. as a result of their natural writing process, whereby collective improvisation congeals over time into song structures, they began to amass a small mountain of tape, most of it containing raw, wild, spontaneous music they reckoned wouldn't be "commercial" enough for geffen to release.

yet the material seemed just as essential and true to their mission, and showed an important side of the band and their process that was usually inacessible to their fans. so instead of a problem, sy saw an opportunity — they decided to release these secret sonic glimpses themselves. sonic youth recordings was born.

$13.26

back in stock as of
april 21st, 2010

first in stock on
november 21st, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
minimalism-drones
musique-concrète

table of the elements (usa) #toe 019 cd

gastr del sol “the harp factory on lake street” compact disc

the harp factory on lake street (17:12)

2006 reissue of this classic david grubbs / jim o’rourke jam, originally released just prior to the tote-sponsored tony conrad / simon wickham-smith & richard youngs / zeena parkins & jim o’rourke tour in 1994 (i know - i bought a copy at the show in hartford @ real art ways - the printing on the disc was flipped upside down - i still have the damn thing 12 years later...)

table of the elements press release...

is 90s nostalgia underway yet? if not, this reissue may be just the thing to get it started. in 1994, chicago is the fountainhead for a bona-fide scene, in which bands are giving timbre and texture priority over riffs and power chords. to the chagrin of many, the press will label it all "post-rock." it's the definitive movement of the decade, and front and center are gastr del sol, comprised of david grubbs (previously: squirrel bait, bastro) and jim o'rourke (subsequently: wilco, sonic youth). some of their city-mates may shift more units; gastr, with a relentless drive for reinvention, shift the boundaries of where a band can go. avant punk, atonal song-styling, musique concrète, delicate piano-guitar interplay, raw electronics and modernist chamber music — all are fair terrain, traversed with subtlety and finesse. behind the obligatory horn-rims, grubbs and o'rourke have vision.

a dozen years later, this overdue reissue of 1994's the harp factory on lake street ep provides the missing piece in gastr's otherwise available discography. to hear it again is a treat. it's their notorious "big band" record, and the ten-piece ensemble is a veritable all-star team of mid-90s chicagoans, including members of tortoise, sea and cake, shellac, dazzling killmen, brise glace and the vandermark 5; through studio maneuvering courtesy o'rourke and engineer john mcentire, they blossom into a small-sized orchestra. remarkably confident in the use of space and dissonance, harp factory also emphasizes the conceptual "scrape", the friction between nuance and noise, that plays such a prominent role in gastr's subsequent upgrade and afterlife lp. familiar signposts are still in sight — o'rourke's compositional skills, grubbs' associative, absurdist musings — but this is definitely their boldest outing. it's a record full of blissful confoundment, one that aptly vivifies the spirit of an era. gastr del sol may have lasted a brief five years, but they are to the 1990s what the magic band, this heat and sonic youth were to their respective decades: intrepid trailblazers through the backwoods of sound.

format: cd
release date: february 2006
file under: rock
catalog no: swc-cd-19
upc: 600401019221

$15.29

new to stock as of
november 25th, 2008

threads:
guitar-themed
concert-recordings
minimalism-drones
free-improvisation

victo (canada) #victo 014 cd

henry kaiser / jim o’rourke “tomorrow knows where you live” compact disc

all aboard the futuresville!
last of the few
just as a wall of quiet flowing stands near
stations of the tide
born on snowshoes
a long life is a slow death
the ocean of truth
the palace of memory

had forgotten about this one ; a nice disc of guitar/electronic duets by a young jim o’rourke and one of his many mentors, henry kaiser ... pretty far removed from the through-and-through avant shred-fest you might expect (although there are, of course, a few pieces heavily involving kaiser’s impossibly notey lines) - long bits of blown-out guitar drone (shades of “remove the need”) are hedged with bursts of delay-line static ...

$16.51

back in stock as of
june 26th, 2012

first in stock on
june 4th, 2008

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
modern-composition
minimalism-drones
digital-musics
field-recordings
harsh-noise
sound-poetry
machine-music
free-improvisation

ash international (uk) #ash 6.6 cd

“krev x • the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the kingdoms of elgaland-vargaland” double compact disc set

marcus davidson - the national anthem (2:23)
sten hanson - citizen sit down (4:58)
andreas karperyd - customers, prospects, partners and competitors (3:14)
thomas liljenberg - march (5:00)
heitor alvelos - involuntary voice projections (7:40)
mika vainio - there is a land behind every fridge (3:38)
ulf bilting - krevmorse (2:01)
bjnilsen - state of emergency (4:33)
gen ken montgomery - a holy unproblematic event (6:25)
unknown artist - home rule (1:00)
ryoji ikeda - untitled 020402 (2:49)
henrik rylander - feed (1:00)
mats gustafsson - no more coffee for king leif i (8:01)
bigert & bergstrom & richard walton - afternoon birth (0:34)
john duncan - territory (1:47)
per svensson - royal explosion (3:26)
johannes heldén - what-even (3:42)
oren ambarchi - excerpt from krev kids celebration (1:12)
rozenhall - exile in krev (3:02)
people like us - the national humm (2:20)
thanasis chondros and alexandra katsiani - mmm (1:00)
unknown artist - what's going on? (1:23)
olga nane - the national anthem (1:19)
chris watson - beyond ol tokai pt.1 (3:58)
chris watson - beyond ol tokai pt.2 (4:24)
unknown artist - an ambassador's lot is not a happy one (happy one) (1:10)
jim o'rourke - when i first saw phauss... (3:14)
dj guacamole - the national anthem (sweet chambers remix) (0:07)
dj guacamole - the national anthem (minestry of broken wings remix) (0:07)
johannes bergmark - from the coffin (5:36)
lary seven - the national anthem (theremin version) (3:39)
aer - soundtrack for demonstrating the brace position (2:10)
kent tankred - information (6:02)
bruce gilbert - lullaby (3:09)
cecilia heisser - tracer (1) (1:37)
adam hayward - study for the impossibility of science 1 (1:02)
jean-louis huhta - schlaraffenland (10:14)
edvard graham lewis - queen becomes citizen after 101 years of babylonian resistance (5:37)
maja foss hagerup - maja chants for gaia (1:49)
paul williams - black hair (1:00)
steven travis pope - gates still open: eternal dream 1 (1:37)
steven travis pope - gates still open: eternal dream 2 (3:58)
steven travis pope - gates still open: eternal dream 3 (4:03)
steven travis pope - gates still open: eternal dream 4 (1:37)
ingrid engarås - vibradisc (4:19)
fennesz - a name with no horse (1:20)
unknown artist - holy water (0:25)
pontifex maximus - religio tollendum est (8:23)

... not sure if this is a repress or a warehouse-find ; but i’ll take it any way i can get it ... double-disc compilation featuring something of a who’s who in contemporary sound-arts, celebrating the aluminum anniversary of the formation of the kingdoms of elgaland-vargaland (krev), founded by these two gentlemen ::

ash international press release...

krev x - the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the kingdoms
double cd
ash # 6.6
barcode 5027803046627
2002

2 cds in plastic wallet + insert photography by annika von hausswolff

with exclusive tracks from ryoji ikeda, mika vainio, bigert & bergstrom, john duncan, oren ambarchi, chris watson, jim o'rourke, lary 7, aer, bruce gilbert, edvard graham lewis, fennesz and many others ...

the kingdoms of elgaland-vargaland [krev] were proclaimed in 1992 and consist of all border territories: geographical, mental & digital. elgaland-vargaland is the largest – and most populous realm on earth, incorporating all boundaries between other nations as well as digital territory and other states of existence. every time you travel somewhere, and every time you enter another form, such as the dream state, you visit elgaland-vargaland. kings carl michael von hausswolff of vargaland and leif elggren of elgaland are pleased to welcome you.

$12.51

back in stock as of
june 26th, 2012

first in stock on
march 30th, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
sound-art

ash international (uk) #ash 4.3 cd

“al-jabr” compact disc

evan parker - london's overthrow (13:05)
tactile - pandemonium (3:41)
jim o'rourke - booming bass (2:35)
simon fisher turner - parabolas (9:19)
mechos - raxor (6:24)
lawrence casserley - 'k'h'mkß£#ñ? (3:56)
t:un[k] systems - synaptic radio (14:23)

ash international press release...

ash # ash 4.3
cd

disinformation releases clearly aspire, like dr. who's tardis, to be something bigger on the inside than they are on the outside - loaded with hints, clues and allusions designed to tempt the listener into investigating further. al-jabr, disinformation's latest exercise in weapons-grade electronica, is certainly no exception. its predecessor, antiphony (ash # 3.4), presented the remix process as a parody of the techniques of traditional church music, while al-jabr takes its central analogy from an underground publication which circulated in medieval europe. the 9th century astronomer, geographer and mathematician abu ja'far muhammad ibn musa introduced european accountants to both 'arabic' (ie sanskrit) numerals, but also the system of symbolic mathematical reduction whose name corrupts into english from its arabic form; equations as fractures, solutions as surgery, remixes as reunifications.

for those not familiar with the disinformation brand name, this project consists of djing, publishing and live performance with recordings of unusual electromagnetic (ie radio) noise. on al-jabr itself, rather than creating antiphonal responses to the original source material, the contributors 'equate' the raw material with their own idiosyncratic input; lawrence casserley transforms the rhythmic intricacies of how long data noise into a symphony of crushed and shattered slates; evan parker's wailing saxophone complements the pulsating drones of the city's power distribution networks, transforming the original 'national grid', which was recorded live at the museum of installation, into 'london's overthrow', after the apocalyptic visions of the victorian mystic and arsonist jonathan martin.

the noise group tactile take ultralongwave sub-bass radio noise generated by the tig welders in sculpture/sound group oubliette's metal workshop, and recasts them as the ambience of 'pandemonium' - the infernal underground city engraved by jonathan martin's slightly saner brother john. jim o'rourke adds uniquely american humour and a rock 'n' roll analogue of national grid. simon fisher turner twists broadcast data noise into gorgeous rolling melodies. t:un[k] systems' track 'synaptic radio' pitches vlf band radio recordings of interference radiated by electrical storms against pristine lab pure sine waves - a vision of electrical-engineering-as-fine-art created by disinformation for events at moi and the south london gallery. 'raxor' by mechos isolates individual lightning strikes and inserts them in a lattice of clicks and low frequency drones, whose deceptive simplicity belies the subtly disorientating effects of their unfolding, twisting rhythms.

al-jabr includes a text by the 17th century watchmaker robert hooke, which suggests that noise has potential use as a diagnostic and can aid scientific investigative methods. if this cd has value beyond its specialised entertainment value, then it also shows that noise, as an artform, can demonstrate real conceptual and technical ingenuity, and can not only express visceral, cathartic intensity (ecstasy/ugliness/beauty/rage) but also explore complex and emotive anthropological and intellectual themes.

$12.51

back in stock as of
june 26th, 2012

first in stock on
november 6th, 2003

file under:
rock-etc...
minimal-drones
guitar-themed
sound-research

ash international (uk) #ash 3.5 cd

“scatter” compact disc

kevin drumm - brassy (7:12)
john hudak - sketch of a field (9:37)
earth - dissolution ii - miami coming down (fuck you) (8:38)
jim o'rourke - there as (6:51)
daniel menche - unholy cricket fuck (16:52)

june 1997 compilation on mike harding’s ash int’l imprint... the second of the “triptych” trilogy... the other two being “chiky(u)u” and “decay”.

whereas the other two comps are concerned with... japan and europe (respectively), this is the “american” one.

but actually, geographical affinity or not, this is probably the best out of the three, simply for the fact that there’s an earth track. their particular blend of molasses and bee stinger fits in quite nicely amongst the a-list skree provided by the rest-lot.

ash international press release...

ash # ash 3.5
cd - 50 mins
5 tracks

kevin drumm
john hudak
earth
jim o'rourke
daniel menche

$15.13

new to stock as of
august 22nd, 2008

threads:
modern-psych
digital-musics
harsh-noise
beat-research
machine-music

atp/recordings (uk) #atpr 004 cd

“all tomorrow’s parties 3.0 • autechre curated” compact disc

public enemy - gotta give the peeps what they need (3:32)
masters of illusion - the bay-bronx bridge (bhongra remix) (3:49)
gescom - mag (ae remix) (5:43)
push button objects - the atp track (3:52)
jim o'rourke - call up on your sisters (5:46)
o.s.t. - dfde (5:00)
made - type tactical (4:43)
dr. dooom - leave me alone (peanut butter wolf remix) (6:00)
stasis - artifax (7:58)
anthony 'shake' shakir - ghetto futures (go figure) (5:56)
disjecta - tiny elements (5:47)
mark broom - translucid (3:05)
baby ford - serpentine tale (5:59)
pita - atipfin (3:15)
autechre - /]{- /](||) excerpt (6:30)
earth - dissolution iii (oversaturated intervallic collisions) (10:03)
bola - magnasushi (7:14)
hecker - stocha acid, additional tables, set 2 modi mix (3:49)

2003 release ; fourth comp from atp, covering artists appearing at the autechre-curated all tomorrow’s parties festival ... nice, soft jams from jim o’rourke, gescom, earth, hecker, pita, disjecta, o.s.t., etc ...

atp/recordings press release...

originally released in 2003, this is the fourth installment in the all tomorrow's parties festival series, representing the autechre-curated festival in the uk of that same year.

in an astounding mix of big-bassed hip-hop, whirring electro, orchestral idm, atmospheric doom, along with breakbeats and acid lines, this 2cd package is considered one of the best atp comps in the series. all the tracks on this release are exclusive and unreleased featuring the artists: public enemy, masters of illusion, gescom, push button objects, jim o'rourke, o.s.t., made, dr. dooom, stasis, anthony "shake" shakir, disjecta, mark broom, baby ford, pita, autechre, earth, bola and hecker.

$13.41

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

drag city (usa) #dc 210 cd

“a drag city supersession • tramps, traitors and little devils” compact disc

zero degrees (2:45)
charley's girl (3:53)
texas dogleg (2:53)
the girl on the billboard (3:49)
leaving the army (3:37)
everyday (2:50)
nothing rises to meet me (4:24)
old man (3:31)
n.i.b. (4:53)
one-chord complaint (5:54)

september 2001 release ; the drag city roster here paying homage to the 70s “supersession” concept ...

input from bill callahan, edith frost, neil michael hagerty, jim o’rourke, and tara key ...

drag city press release...

so, here we have a trio of exceptional musical talents -- bill callahan, edith frost and neil michael hagerty -- all known from their work as solo artists, but this time, throwing their lot together for one crazy all-or-everything grab at the golden rings of the sun. and, just to show that magic's still in the moment. tramps, traitors and little devils makes it happen. it's the wildest set of trophies yet for the walls of this super group of performers.

on tramps, traitors and little devils, hagerty, frost and callahan come together in a fashion that recalls the epic scope of the collaborations from the days of the old gods -- the days of crosby, stills, nash, and yes, even young. what our three young heroes have created here harks back to the days of déjà vu with a combination of beautifully sweet tunes, hard-hitting tunes with lots of commentary about what's going on, as well as some kick-ass looks back at where some of us have been. plus a few delightfully gratuitous hits thrown in for good measure. good measure -- and fun. ear pleasing, uptempo, total fun.

$12.81

back in stock as of
december 1st, 2011

first in stock on
august 25th, 2008

threads:
modern-psych
outsiders-deviants
lo-fi

drag city (usa) #dc 020 cd

“hey drag city” compact disc

palace brothers - for the mekons et al (5:21)
red red meat - make you gone (5:18)
pavement - nail clinic (2:27)
desert storm - new trition (2:08)
smog - your face (2:59)
gastr del sol - at night and at night (5:24)
silver jews - famous eyes (4:08)
fruitcake - ike (6:01)
royal trux - 70 of heart's (5:16)
alastair galbraith - yuhahi coast road (2:57)
burnout - scott free (2:47)
red krayola - columbia (5:01)
mantis - 199(7)1 (3:50)
king kong - funky future train (4:02)
vocokesh - shimmer (6:31) -

october 1994 release ; to commemorate reaching the label’s 20th release (as of this writing they’re pushing 400) drag city unleashed this impeccable hipgnosis-designed comp, featuring exclusive tracks from pretty much all of their past, present, and future heavies. especially nice entries from gastr del sol (this comp came out only a couple of months after “crookt, crackt or fly”), red krayola, alastair galbraith, etc ...

drag city press release...

various artists hey drag city dc20 2xlp/cs/cd

palace brothers, red red meat, pavement, desert storm, smog, gastr del sol, silver jews, fruitcake, royal trux, alastair galbraith, burnout, the red krayola, mantis, king kong, and vocokesh.

$144.48

back in stock as of
may 15th, 2013

first in stock on
december 21st, 2010

threads:
1950s-electronic
1960s-electronic
1970s-electronic
1980s-electronic
electro-acoustic-composition
electro-acoustic-improvisation
experimental-instruments
live-electronic
machine-music
sound-art
site-specific
concert-recordings
circuit-bending
analogue-synth
digital-musics

best of 2010 !!!

new world (usa) #nw 80712 cd

“music for merce (1952-2009)” decuple compact disc set

christian wolff - for magnetic tape (1952) [pt. 1 of 4] (5:24)
christian wolff - for piano i (1952) (5:19)
john cage - music for piano 1–20 (1954) (16:13)
earle brown - indices (1955) [excerpt] (20:51)
bo nilsson - quantitäten (1958) (12:31)
morton feldman - ixion (1958) (20:21)
john cage - variations v (1965) [excerpt] (13:41)
gordon mumma - mesa (1966) (19:38)
toshi ichiyanagi - activities for orchestra (1962) (24:09)
david behrman - … for nearly an hour… (1968) [excerpt] (3:23)
pauline oliveros - in memoriam: nikola tesla, cosmic engineer (1969) [excerpt] (9:44)
christian wolff - for 1, 2, or 3 people (1964) [excerpt] (12:07)
christian wolff - burdocks (1971) [excerpt] (16:59)
john cage, gordon mumma, david tudor - /3 (1972) [excerpt] (16:39)
gordon mumma - telepos (1972) (18:27)
david tudor - toneburst (1975) (17:45)
takehisa kosugi - s.e. wave/e.w. song (1976) [excerpt] (13:03)
maryanne amacher - remainder (1976) [excerpt] (14:55)
jon gibson - equal distribution (1977) [excerpt] (12:14)
john cage - inlets (1977) [excerpt] (10:17)
david tudor - weatherings (1978) [excerpt] (14:54)
yasunao tone - geography and music (1979) [excerpt] (21:18)
david tudor - phonemes (1981) [excerpt] (14:00)
david tudor - sextet for seven (1982) (18:15)
takehisa kosugi - spacings (1984) (23:52)
john king - gliss in sighs (1985) (16:19)
john cage - voiceless essay (1986) [excerpt] (10:58)
david tudor - webwork (1987) [excerpt] (10:46)
michael pugliese - peace talks (1989) [excerpt] (11:44)
takehisa kosugi - spectra (1989) (20:29)
john cage - sculptures musicales (1989) [excerpt] (12:14)
david tudor - virtual focus (1990) [excerpt] (15:15)
john cage - four3 (1991) [excerpt] (15:24)
david tudor - neural network plus (1992) [excerpt] (13:28)
john king - blues ’99 (1993) [excerpt] (19:10)
stuart dempster - underground overlays (1995) [excerpt] (15:22)
john cage - four6 (1992) [excerpt] (11:17)
takehisa kosugi - wave code a–z (1997) [excerpt] (14:42)
christian wolff - or 4 people (1994) [excerpt] (6:16)
john cage - and one8 (1991) [excerpt] (14:18)
john king - longtermparking (2002) [excerpt] (15:31)
david behrman - long throw (2007) [excerpt] (18:25)
annea lockwood - jitterbug (2007) [excerpt] (20:19)
event - february 16, 1993, red wing, minnesota (5:58)
event - september 14, 1996, annemasse, france (5:53)
event - june 5, 1997, frankfurt (7:30)
event - september 12, 1998, minneapolis (5:22)
event - september 29, 2002, oslo (4:12)
event - october 30, 2002, munich (6:51)
event - december 14, 2004, new york city (3:54)
event - december 15, 2004, new york city (6:56)
event - december 18, 2004, new york city (6:35)
event - june 14, 2005, london (5:21)
event - june 17, 2005, london (8:44)

december 2010 release ; just incredible ...

inside this mammoth, 10-disc behemoth lies a veritable king’s ransom of largely otherwise un-issued pieces, all composed for merce cunningham’s dance company, performed by a who’s who of 20th century experimental & electronic music ...

... before you balk at the price, let me point out just some of the contents ::

an absolute treasure-trove of archival david tudor material(s), ranging from his premiere of christian wolff’s “for piano i” in 1952 & his performance of piano pieces by earle brown, bo nilsson, & morton feldman ... through his “jerry-rigged” electronic work with john cage, gordon mumma, malcolm goldstein, max neuhaus, toshi ichiyanagi, pauline oliveros ... and finally his 80’s & 90’s solo live electronic pieces ...

an otherwise never-released recording of takehisa kosugi playing a “catch-wave” lineage piece in 1976, plus three other unreleased live-electronic pieces from the 80’s & 90’s, all of which are insane (listen to the sound-sample for one of the 80’s one ; an “automated” bleep-out par excellence) ...

unheard 70’s & 80’s compositions by maryanne amacher, jon gibson, yasunao tone, john king, michael pugliese, and annea lockwood ... along with several ensemble pieces from the 90’s with jim o’rourke & folks like stuart dempster, kosugi, paul de marinis, and company ... and a disc of “events” featuring folks like christian marclay, ikue mori, george lewis, steve lacy ... and oddly, led zeppelin’s john paul jones & radiohead drummer phil selway ...

... comes as a nice, matte cd-box (similar form-factor as the “music from the once festival” set) with a pull-ribbon, all ten discs (housed in five single-wide double-cases) & a 120-page book offering a succinct history of the cunningham company’s involvement with all of this essential stuff, plus tons of key photos of the happenings & dance-events documented herein ...

easily my single favorite release of 2010 ; highest conceivable recommendation !!!

new world press release...

composer(s): christian wolff, john cage, earle brown, bo nilsson, morton feldman, gordon mumma, toshi ichiyanagi, david behrman, pauline oliveros, david tudor, takehisa kosugi, maryanne amacher, jon gibson, yasunao tone, john king, michael pugliese, stuart dempster, annea lockwood
album title: music for merce (1952-2009)
cat. no.: 80712 (10 cds)
genre: classical / contemporary
release date: 12/2010

the late merce cunningham was renowned for his legendary collaborations with the most significant experimental musicians of the late 20th century. particularly notable is his association with john cage, who served as the founding musical director of the merce cunningham dance company until cage’s death in 1992.

spanning six decades from the early 1950s onward, these recordings capture the breadth of the cunningham repertory and the rich diversity of cunningham’s musical collaborations. composers whose work features prominently in this collection include seminal figures of late-20th-century experimental music such as john cage, david tudor, gordon mumma, christian wolff, and takehisa kosugi, among others.

for the most part, these compositions have not been recorded elsewhere and are making their first appearance on cd. this is a document of enormous historical import that will be a revelation to both listeners and scholars interested in the evolution of american experimental music over the past five decades. also included is a 124-page booklet featuring a 15,000-word essay by amy beal, one of the foremost scholars of contemporary american music.

$12.95

back in stock as of
october 31st, 2007

first in stock on
november 22nd, 2006

threads:
digital-musics
beat-research

or (uk) #or issue2 cd

“or some computer music 2” compact disc

farmers manual - shgreeshykt (live.xcrpt) part2
alberto de campo - imaon
phoenecia - "non-specific acoustic stimulation"
atau tanaka and eric wenger - bondage
jim o'rourke - "like urine loves cold slate"
tom wallace - "givingup goingon"
curtis roads - half-life part1
farmers manual - shgreeshykt (live.xcrpt) part1

second volume, no less stultifying than the first...

$26.51

new to stock as of
january 23rd, 2013

threads:
1960s-electronic
1970s-electronic
analogue-synth
electro-acoustic-composition
electro-acoustic-improvisation
psych-prog
modern-composition
musique-concrète
free-improvisation
free-jazz
harsh-noise
digital-musics
sound-poetry
minimalism-drones

prisma (norway) #prisma lp04 lp

“i want the beatles to play at my art center! • music from the henie onstad kunstsenter archives 1968-2011” double long playing record set

arne nordheim – a forum of the arts (1969)
sigurd berge – excerpts from blikk (1970)
bjørn fongaard - the space concerto for piano and tape (1971)
soft machine – teeth (1971)
spontaneous music ensemble – norway (1971)
paal-helge haugen & kåre kolberg – excerpts from requiem for janisjoplin (1972)
svein finnerud trio – olga (1974)
hal clark – the monkey and organ grinder (1975)
the aller værste! - dans til musikken (1980)
john cage – excerpts from muoyce (1983)
magne hegdal – music for marcel duchamp (1983)
lasse marhaug – ear era 7 (2008)
jim o’rourke - aunt esther (2010)
deathprod - studio (2010)
håkon kornstad – improvisations for karin (2011)
jenny hval – you sign your name (2012)

october 2012 release ; ... companion volume to the dvd (and the “mot det totale” book) featuring a stellar lineup of archival audio footage, including early pieces by bjørn fongaard, sigurd berge, kåre kolberg, hal clark (on buchla) ... as well as concert excerpts by the sme, soft machine, john cage, svein finnerud ... and contemporary work by jim o’rourke, lasse marhaug, deathprod, and many others ...

prisma press release...

new release: various "i want the beatles to play at my art center!" [2lp]

music from the henie onstad kunstsenter archives 1968-2011

prismalp004

releasedate october 29, 2012

this 2lp presents seminal works of music from the nearly 50-year history of henie onstad kunstsenter (hok). when hok founder sonja henie exclaimed that she wanted the beatles to play at her art center, in essence she expressed its founding ambition to produce and stage a lively cross-artistic program that captured the contemporary spirit of the day in live form. this release is filled with previous unreleased material recorded at hok by artists such as jim o’rourke, deathprod, arne nordheim, soft machine, john cage and jenny hval.

"and now we take the first step into the future." former director ole henrik moe added this bold statement when hok opened its doors to the public in 1968. the museum of the future at høvikodden would position dynamic time-based art alongside its collection of modernist masterworks of paintings and sculpture, demonstrating how the various forms of art elaborate and collaborate with each other. instead of expanding its art collection, the majority of hok’s budget would go to events and exhibitions, to the production of new time-based works, and not least, to document ephemeral art.

i want the beatles to play at my art center! presents a small selection from hok’s vast sound archives. for the first time one can hear excerpts from kåre kolberg and paal-helge haugen’s commisioned work rekviem for janis joplin from 1972, håkon kornstad improvising in 2012, hal clark playing the legendary buchla-synthesizer in the norwegian studio for electronic music in 1975, and soft machine at its prime in 1971 with robert wyatt on drums. the lp also contains commisioned works by jenny hval, deathprod, lasse marhaug and jim o’rourke, all produced by hok over the last years. other artists represented on the 2lp are bjørn fongaard, the aller værste!, svein finnerud trio, sigurd berge and spontaneous music ensemble.

this release accompanies the exhibition i want the beatles to play at my art center! – tidsbasert kunst ved hok 1968-2011 opening october 28th at hok with performances by deathprod and nils bech. in relation the exhibition the book mot det totale museum is published by forlaget press together with a dvd on prisma records. the exhibition and releases are curated by lars mørch finborud.

$18.01

new to stock as of
january 23rd, 2013

threads:
film-video
modern-composition
1970s-electronic
sound-art
digital-musics
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones
site-specific
concert-recordings

prisma (norway) #prisma dvd01 dvd

“i want the beatles to play at my art center! • video from the henie onstad kunstsenter archives 1968-2011” digital versatile disc

ole henrik moe - epoke (1968)
pål bang-hansen & arne nordheim - a forum of the arts (1970)
terje rypdal - orfeus vender seg og ser på eurydike (1972)
hal clark - a silent tour of the norwegian studio for electronic music (1975)
kjartan slettemark - poodle performance at hok (1975)
mauricio kagel - ex-position (1978)
lasse thoresen - skapelser (1978)
john cage - muoyce (1983)
stian skagen & monica winther - the inward rising (2008)
killl - live at hok (2009)
moha! and idan & anu - fire & ignorance (2009)
stephen o'malley - le petit geante (2009)
masselys / christopher nielsen & matt willis-jones - jimmy polaris (2011)

october 2012 release ; ... lovely dvd compiling a king’s ransom in archival footage made in, of, and about the henie onstad kunstcenter in oslo ...

... worth it for the 1975 “silent tour of the norwegian studio for electronic music”, the kagel performance, and the cage & slettemark bits alone ...

prisma press release...

new release: various "i want the beatles to play at my art center!" [dvd]

video from the henie onstad kunstsenter archives 1968-2011
prismadvd001

releasedate october 29, 2012
artists: john cage, kjartan slettemark, killl, arne nordheim, stephen o’malley, mauricio kagel, moha!, christopher nielsen/masselys, stian skagen & monica winther.

this dvd presents seminal works of music, performance, dance, theater and installation art from the nearly 50-year history of henie onstad kunstsenter (hok). when hok founder sonja henie exclaimed that she wanted the beatles to play at her art center, in essence she expressed its founding ambition to produce and stage a lively cross-artistic program that captured the contemporary spirit of the day in live form. this release is filled with previous unreleased material from hok’s history, and shows for the first time kjartan slettemark dressed up as a poodle in 1975, mauricio kagel’s commisioned piece ex-position from 1978, and the brilliant recording of john cage reading muoyce in 1983.

"and now we take the first step into the future." former director ole henrik moe added this bold statement when hok opened its doors to the public in 1968. the museum of the future at høvikodden would position dynamic time-based art alongside its collection of modernist masterworks of paintings and sculpture, demonstrating how the various forms of art elaborate and collaborate with each other. instead of expanding its art collection, the majority of hok’s budget would go to events and exhibitions, to the production of new time-based works, and not least, to document ephemeral art.

i want the beatles to play at my art center! presents a small selction from henie onstad kunstsenter’s video archives. the dvd contains a newly restored version of pål bang-hansen’s promotional feature a forum of the arts from 1969 where amongst others arne nordheim performs his commisioned work for hok solitaire. for the first time one can see how the norwegian studio for electronic music looked like in 1975 and view an excerpt from terje rypdal’s opera orfeus vender seg og ser på eurydike. in addition the dvd contains more recent productions with artists like moha!, killl, stephen o’malley and christopher nielsen / masselys.

this release accompanies the exhibition i want the beatles to play at my art center! – tidsbasert kunst ved hok 1968-2011 opening october 28th at hok with performances by deathprod and nils bech. in relation the exhibition the book mot det totale museum is published by forlaget press together with a 2lp on prisma records. the exhibition and releases are curated by lars mørch finborud.

$15.96

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2013

first in stock on
october 30th, 2005

threads:
analogue-synth
beat-research
circuit-bending
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-composition
electro-acoustic-improvisation
harsh-noise
lo-fi
experimental-instruments
machine-music
out-guitar
plunder-phonic
playback-music
schimpfluch-gruppe

tochnit aleph (germany) #ta 048 cd

“the end of the fear of god” compact disc

rlw - 7up 2002
n.o.g. - final chant for god
norbert möslang - 4183
rudolf eb.er - trottelgott
sudden infant - fear of richard gere
strotter inst. - rubbish planet remix
soviet subliminal seduction - the fuck of(f) god
suntour - love song
andrew phillips (4) - don't fuck our children
schurer - fantasie in cmaj
unholy grave - absolution
kevin drumm - first class people
bela kiss - pharma-zootic
evil moisture* - umbilical retribution
hecker - easy jxeluspl jxel funnn pre mix
yamatsuka eye* - 7 seconds no tone
r.h.y. yau - prisoner of your ideals
the idealist - the deconstruction and ressurection of under the chainsaw
gorebitch - pelzfotze bitch
massaccesi - i'm positive that i've seen my hands running through a sea of bodies
kure kure takura - our beed god re-trip butt on frog
dylan nyoukis - under the chainsaw
mike patton & kid606 - circle a
genetic transmission - untitled
eric boros / jason flowers - wo-po-po-po
stress - world under my fingernail
jason kahn - running through the blood
fear of smallcock - untitled
imperative - positive
shoji goto - a sunset with 4 painter
glands of external secretion - (make) 7 up (yours)
jim o'rourke - fog rmx
dropdead / outosushi - pneumatic slaughter
k2 - junk grinder of the master
doris tomasoni - nasse fotze
kouhei matsunaga - a lot of fog or 2 fog
eva revox - sphincteral descaling
merzbow - fear of god
kein babel - gloria
blackjewishgays - bjgrmxfog
eva d. - il fece del signore
ommyth - controlled by fear
medieval moisture - f(urbies) o(n) g(lue)
humectant interruption - bird bite
saicobaba - 11:25 am - 11:26 am
rabid dogs - p.c.u.n.t.
j.c. - fear of fnord
dave noyze - chemical induced oscillatory machination of a circle
dj killroy vs von wurstfinger - one day fly (killfinger remix)
rm74 - eintagsfliege
raionbashi - i81b4u
viscious circle - freakers...
ecrase-merde - amuse - guele
atta - absolution
shite minor - schwere geburt
voice crack - 7714
thomas ankersmit - untitled
silvum - catalogue more rubbish bodies
runzelstirn and gurgelstock - lasset uns beten
takedown uav - for lack of all else: youth devour divinity
the haters - rubbish remix
russell haswell - fog micromedley
the nautilus deconstruction - rubbish away
chicken & money - c&m love fear of god
bloodstar vs saalschutz technopunk - pelzfotze
pita - xxx229fog
seaman staynes & master baits - watersports whilst foggy
zbigniew karkowski - trig
machine gun tv - untitled

collection of answer-pieces on the oeuvre of dave philips’ late 80s hardcore band “fear of god.” damn - look at that lineup... reads like my own personal mix-tape from the noisier end of the contemporary sound-terrorism/experimental music spectrum. few disappoint with their decisively short remix-blasts... just about as good as remix-compilation discs get...

tochnit aleph press release...

all source material by swiss hardcore/noise legends fear of god (1987-88), reworked/covered by (in order of appearance) rlw. n.o.g., norbert moeslang, rudolf eb.er, sudden infant, strotter inst., soviet subliminal seduction, suntour, andrew phillips, schurer, unholy grave, kevin drumm, bela kiss, evil moisture killer nuts, hecker, eye yamatsuka, r. h.y. yau, the idealist, gorebitch, massaccesi, kure kure takura, dylan nyoukis, mike patton & kid 606, genetic transmission, eric boros & jason flowers, stress, jason kahn, dj smallcock, imperative, shoji goto, the glands of the external secretion, jim oírourke, dropdead with outosushi, k2, doris tomasoni, kouhei matsunaga, eva revox, merzbow, kein babel, blackjewishgays feat. django, eva d., ommyth, medieval moisture, humectant interruption, saicobaba, rabid dogs, j.c., dave noyze, djkillroy vs. von wurstfinger, rm74, raionbashi, vicious circle, ecrase-merde, atta, shite minor, voice crack, thomas ankersmit, silvum, runzelstirn & gurgelstock, takedown uav, the haters, russell haswell, the nautilus deconstruction, chicken & monkey, bloodstar vs. saalschutz, pita, seaman staynes & master baits, zbigniew karkowski, and the machine gun tv. this is the stone on fear of god's grave. 12-page booklet including 'you can't reason with logic', a short-story by g.x.jupitter-larsen.

$79.97

back in stock as of
april 3rd, 2009

first in stock on
august 8th, 2006

threads:
anti-music
electro-acoustic-composition
electro-acoustic-improvisation
harsh-noise

best of 2006 !!!

vinyl-on-demand (germany) #vod 25 lp

“viva negativa! • a tribute to the new blockaders • vol. 2” quadruple long playing record set

achim wollscheid - asignificant
brendan walls - viva blockadres!
violent onsen geisha - tarot arcana major no. xvi
christian renou - don't do it
amk - phlegm angst
damion romero - broken block
das synthetische mischgewebe - simphonie amodal
spiracle - kundearistruct
mnortham - floating course on the field of nothingness (aka fi ra ot ic (old lmbird insmo hvo e))
merzbow - oumagatoki part 3
alexei borisov - two into one
government alpha - tangibility
aaron dilloway - machine rape (blitzkrieg)
putrefier - das motifs de mes compositions anterieures
e-shak mms - bachtcha
bloxus - extrinct raag
wolf eyes - fisted gadgets
incapacitants - as nonchalant as possible
aube - relb
jim o'rourke - 407 seconds over
plexia - variahb
dave phillips - metal-klamauk
idea fire company - les heros de la barricade finale
runzelstirn & gurgelstock - those necrophile birds
the broken penis orchestra - the kill lump
lasse marhaug - good blasphemy
/// - windowpane
anla courtis - happy blockaders time
sudden infant - new simphonie in sudden x major
art break - objective ground level
withdrawal method - sans regard
giancarlo toniutti - rumrudada
embudagonn 108 - variations #0
cheapmachines - null opus
rlw - manifesto (for the next generation of blockaders)

... thanks to the angel of inexpensive (comparatively) vod boxed-sets ; these two essential “tributes” to the work of richard “pd” rupenus are now back in stock ... supplies are limited (natch) ...

vinyl-on-demand press release...

vod 25: new blockaders / various artists viva negativa vol.2 lp-4 (box-set)

a massive project done by richard rupenus. includes tnb material reworked by 75 of the best international avant-garde/industrial/noise artists

oren ambarchi, anomali, ashtray navigations, emil beaulieau, benzo, maurizio bianchi, cisfinitum, controlled bleeding, dieter muh, evil moisture, freiband, grunt, the haters, jason kahn, zbigniew karkowski, komafuzz, kraang, lockweld, massimo, daniel menche, thurston moore, msbr, nocturnal emissions, kk null, pita, plethora, prurient, richard ramirez, scanner, silvum, srmeixner, asmus tietchens, treriksroset, vortex campaign, v/vm, keith fullerton whitman, john wiese, nobuo yamada, z´ev.

previous artist:
jim o’rourke

...and that's everything in stock featuring jim o’rourke.
(why not take a look at the previous and next artists?)

next artist:
daniel o’sullivan

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... this page was last updated on friday, may 17th, 2013 @ 9:05 am