Jim O'Rourke, Insignificance (Drag City) 9+
While Insignificance is Jim O'Rourke's third full-length album on Drag City, he can be found on seemingly hundreds of albums, from avant-garde musique concrete to collaborations with Sonic Youth, Bobby Conn and Stereolab. Seemingly nothing could surprise followers of O'Rourke, but then he goes and kicks off Insignificance with a Lynyrd Skynyrd-like southern rocker called "All Downhill From Here." Partly responsible for the new sound is his new crack band, with Glenn Kotche and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and members of The Silver Jews, Dazzling Killman and Smog. Of course O'Rourke is too much a restless spirit not too jump all over the map stylistically. Most noticeable are his vocals, which for the first time are up front and center rather than his intricate finger-picking. O'Rourke has outgrown his affairs with John Fahey and Robert Wyatt, and moved on to Roy Harper, although his voice at times sounds more like James Taylor, but pleasant nonetheless. Consequently, more attention is paid to the lyrics, which are clever, sarcastic, and wistful. As always, there is a fine attention to sonic detail that makes every song worth repeated listenings as you unpeel their colored layers. The locomotive "Therefore, I Am," with its crunching guitars and falsetto harmonies is like a mix between Wilco and Smog. The rest are not so easily pegged, with the majority exceeding six minutes, featuring several parts that mesh together seamlessly, giving the impression that they're merely simple, melodic pop songs. Thus is the trick of this album. By assembling fragments of seemingly minimalist melodies, riffs and choruses, Insignificance has built a work of deceptive complexity and . . . significance.
