REVIEW: Jim O'Rourke, Halfway to a Threeway EP (Drag City)
- Kerwin So
Some of our more observant readers might remember that Jim O'Rourke released a full-length record not too long ago. These same readers would also know from our review of that record (entitled Eureka) that O'Rourke is hardly one to rest on his laurels. Rest assured that these four new songs in EP form deserve some time in your hectic listening schedule - that is, if you don't pay too much attention to the lyrics. So much for being observant.
Don't believe me? Besides the hokey wordplay found in "The Workplace" ("Women look good here with their suits on/ It suits them"), the title track ventures into some rather perverse territory that I'd prefer not to spell out here. All I can say is, use your imagination. Hopefully O'Rourke was just exercising a twisted sense of humor on this song. But if you can overlook this deviance, as well as the fact that the first song, "Fuzzy Sun," sounds uncannily like "Ghost Ship in a Storm" off Eureka, a humble treasure awaits.
The EP as a whole finds O'Rourke taking strong songwriting skills and arrangements into catchier and more straightforward territory, resulting in delicious nuggets of finger-picked acoustic guitar bliss, with none of that annoying lounge pop to water it down. The seven-minute instrumental piece "Not Sport, Marital Art" [sic] holds these songs up on its own merits, flourishing the cornet of Isotope 217's Rob Mazurek to accent the warm, wonderful rhythmic changes and bossa nova variations that make this tune a rewarding journey through the heart of whatever it is that makes those crazy Chicago underground musicians tick. Sam Prekop from The Sea and Cake adds his vocal talents to "The Workplace," whose final five minutes are a masterpiece of hummability so simple and soothing that I can only envision myself watching an episode of "Sesame Street" on TV while it's pouring rain outside. I just can't describe it any better than that.
The guitars and gentle embellishments of horns and piano on this EP will certainly uplift you, but O'Rourke's voice also contributes an element of tranquil stability. Again, just don't take the lyrics too seriously, and be glad he's not singing the same refrain 20-plus times in succession. The rest will come naturally - no pun intended.
