Jim O'Rourke | Artist

Jim O'Rourke is an American musician and record producer born 1969 in Chicago, Illinois. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene and was a member of iconic psych experimentalists Red Krayola (1994-2004), as well as Sonic Youth (2000-05). Around 2000 he relocated to New York before moving on to Tokyo, Japan, where he currently resides. He plays an idiosyncratic blend of Jazz, Noise, Electronics and Rock music. The range of O'Rourke's work includes early experiments with manipulation of acoustic instruments on tape, rock bands, musique concrète, new improvised music, and work as both singer and songwriter. O'Rourke is a proponent contemporary classical music, citing John Oswald, Bernard Günter, Gerhard Schtebler, Helmut Lachemann, and Salvatore Sciarrino as modern composers he finds particularly exciting. Among the most important influences on his music, however, he counts such diverse figures as Miles Davis, songwriter Van Dykes Parks, pianist Cecil Taylor, composer Morton Feldman. With music director Takehisa Kosugi, he played for the Merce Cunningham dance company for four years, including as guitarist for the 1999 premiere of Cunningham's ballet Biped with Gavin Bryars. O'Rourke is a prolific recording artist of solo works and collaborations with other artists. Outstanding solo albums include Halfway to a Threeway (EP), Bad Timing, Eureka, Insignificance and Unreleased? Other noteworthy albums include Upgrade & Afterlife (1996) and Camourfleur (1998) by the experimental group Gastr Del Sol, and Loose Fur (2003), a collaboration with Wilko frontman Jeff Tweedy. Since 2013, O'Rourke has used his Steamroom Bandcamp page to release material.

Artist Website: dragcity.com/artists/jim-orourke

Featured Albums: Jim O'Rourke

Related Artists: Red Krayola, Sonic Youth, Wilco, Fennesz

Video Clips: Hotel Blue, Last Year, Grizzly Man Sessions