Feb 25
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Brazil
seen from Dominican Republic
seen from United States
seen from Costa Rica
seen from Dominican Republic
seen from China
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Iraq
seen from Brazil
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Japan
seen from Iraq
THÉÂTRE DU CHÊNE NOIR "Aurora" (LP. 2009 / rec. 1971) [FR]
The AVANT-GARDENERZ "Dig it" (LP. 1980) [UK]
RLW [Ralf WEHOWSKY] "eaRLy W - Three: Neue deutsche Peinlichkeit" (LP. 2004 / rec. 1981) [GER]
FIRST CHIPS [Vyto B.] "First Chips Volume 1" (LP. 1972 / rec. 1964-72) [US]
ACCIDENT DU TRAVAIL "Accident du Travail" (12". 2009) [FR]
John COLTRANE [& Rashied ALI] "Interstellar Space" (LP. 1974 / rec. 1967) [US]
Bernard VITET & Hélène SAGE "Supposons le Problème résolu" (LP. 1984) [FR]
RIMARIMBA [Robert COX] "Chicago Death Excretion Geometry" (LP. 1987) [UK]
Alan WATTS "This is it" (LP. 2015 / rec. 1962) [US]
Eddy DETROIT "Immortal Gods" (LP. 2010 / rec. 1982) [US]
ZNR "Barricade 3" (LP. 1981 / rec. 1976) [FR]
Charles MINGUS "Great Moments with Charles Mingus" (2xLP. 1981 / rec. 1963) [US]
SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS "Frenzy" (LP. 1982 / rec. 1956-6?) [US]
JIM O'ROURKE- OUT WITH THE OLD AVANTO 2006 (AVANTO RECORDINGS, 2006)
With the recent, sudden appearance of eight volumes of unreleased material from his archives (and a ninth entry of the Old News records coming soon as well), I'd understand if you might politely decline the offering of further rarities from Jim O'Rourke. That said, this is one of my favorites. There's no real history of this piece articulated anywhere, but as its title suggests, "Out With the Old" appeared in 2006 but was grounded in recordings O'Rourke had made in the early 1990s.
For reasons I'm not entirely clear about, O'Rourke unloaded a lot of his early compositions in the mid-00s; maybe he wanted to maintain his profile between the more song-based Drag City albums, or perhaps a decade of distance allowed him some perspective and peace with this body of work, which was decidedly more drone-based than much of his catalog. Either way, I just remember being blown away by records like Two Organs and Mizo No Nai Umi and wondering how much of this stuff he had in the vaults. The fact that he has not one but two outlets for issuing older material now suggests it's nowhere near exhausted.
Anyway, to return to "Out With the Old": it's gorgeous and spectral, right from its opening moments. Nearly thirty minutes long, it gains depth and complexity in its second half but seems unburdened by expectations of how it should develop or end. With stacked layers of organ building the narrative of the piece, it's reminiscent of the aforementioned Two Organs, which still has a grip on me that I can't quite articulate. To his credit, O'Rourke was pretty open about who influenced him in these early years--people like Phill Niblock, Tony Conrad, Folke Rabe, inspirations-turned-collaborators--and I hear a bit of Rafael Toral here too.
The other pieces on Avanto 2006 are of interest. Conrad turns in "Dagadag for La Monte," which takes a simple set of notes and then runs it through various effects. The overall impression is of a musical phrase stretched out like taffy, still intact but fundamentally reconfigured. Ralf Wehowsky, who may be more familiar to you as RLW, turns in an epic patchwork of children's voices, distant tones, and processing in the vein of Peter Rehberg. But it's really the O'Rourke piece that towers over the two that come before it.
An excerpt of "Out With the Old" streams above; Avanto 2006 is available for download here.
