Jim O'Rourke has been around the block. A seminal postclassical composer, he can boast more than just the occasional side project. Indeed, if you add together the number of his solo albums and his collaborations and guest recordings with other bands, his output goes into the triple digits. He has placed his fingers in other pies as well, producing and remixing the work of artists such as Stereolab, Cake, Jesus Lizard, Kid Loco and The High Llamas. All this, and he's only 30.
The themes in O'Rourke's work run the gamut of style and substance, ranging from acoustic guitar to orchestral music to experimental noise. Since his tastes are so broad, you never know what you're going to get with a new album from him. While most of the ideas in his solo work seem crafted over time, "Insignificance," his latest release, has a raw, unedited feeling. Recorded in only two months, this comes straight from the gut. Lacking the spacious ambience of "Bad Timing" (1997), or the lush ornamentation of "Eureka" (1999), O'Rourke has stripped down his compositions to achieve tighter, more deliberate structures. Mostly comprised of folk-experimentalism, the songs contain small flourishes of country 'n' western, electronica and glam rock.
O'Rourke puts his best first, making his compositional training apparent on the opening track, "All Downhill From Here." He kicks out the jams with Stooges-like garage-rock, but then dives effortlessly into a New Age estuary of trickling guitar and tinkling piano, only to spring back later with snarling guitars.