Search - Jim O'Rourke :: I'm Happy & I'm Singing & A 1234

Learn about the possibilities of electronic music

Benjamin D. Collins | Fayetteville, GA USA | 02/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jim O'Rourke is honestly one of the most impressive people working in music today. I won't go on for too long telling you how amazing he is if you don't already know, (for further information look up his discography). But the guy plays all sorts of instruments, produces and engineers amazing records by other artists, has dabbled in every musical style possible and he can still suprise me.



This album is a collection of three live, solo, laptop performances, (each piece in a different city) and whether or not you are familiar with electronic music I think these works will impress you. I know, I know, everybody and their brother can make music on the computer these days, "you don't even have to know anything about notes or keys or time signatures, it's all just loops!" But no matter what you've heard people make on the computer there is a vast difference between some kid making house music on fruity loops and an experienced musician/composer like Jim O'Rourke using the medium like he would any other that he has mastered.



While still feeling definitely electronic, the pieces all have an element of control and precision that feels organic and human. O'Rourke avoids the cold impersonal feel of most computer music and really makes the laptop feel like an instrument to be played, not an interface to load files and sequence them on.



If you think you know about electronic music, give this a try."