I loved Gastr Del Sol... I used to listen to Crookt, Crackt, or Fly so much, and looking back and listening to Steve Albini stuff so much lately..Big Black and Rapeman...I can see how they were doing the John Fahey experimental acoustic version of this. With David Grubbs vocals funtioning like Albini's...this kind of jarring opposition to the acoustic, changing time signatures. It didn't obviously fit, it was barely sung in the traditional sense, it was just different on every level. I didn't make the connection to Shellac but now it's making more sense.Mr. O'Rourke has since made the transition to the fine arts world, showing films at the Whitney and such. It's funny how someone like him and David Burne just keep doing what they love and eventually the establishment comes around. It's change....it takes forever.
I love this 7" manifesto by Touch:
7" vinyl was the quintessential format for popular music. Today, it is an undervalued and mostly promotional medium, used as a fetishistic signpost to a time of musical authenticity and a "healthy" popular culture. It might seem like another retrograde step to launch a vinyl series just as the download format threatens to dominate, and indeed there is an element of "the rear view mirror"... the generation of Touch artists who grew up with vinyl [and cassette] still feeling a strong emotional attachment to it. This series is more than that... an overtly critical, non-digital statement is supported by treatments of audio work which cannot be applied to digital formats - the sonic texture, the use of a locked groove, the A & the B and the additional dimension of the visual counterpoint. As for the aspect of audience participation, we choose not to specify the RPM on the label, encouraging the listener to experiment with playback options and personal preferences. An attempt to make music that works at both speeds. The front cover might actually be the back cover...Get it directly from touch (uk) or more domestically from Fusetron:
Artist: O ROURKE, JIM
Title: Despite The Water Supply
Format: 7"
Label: Touch
Country: UK
Price: $7.50
"American musician and producer Jim ORourke continues the Touch Sevens 7" vinyl-only limited edition series with an epic, two-part track recorded at Tokyos Steamroom, May 2008. This series is a non-digital statement that cannot be applied to digital formats -- the sonic texture, the use of a locked groove, the A & the B. The label chose not to specify the RPM, encouraging listeners to experiment with playback options and personal preferences. Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft." - Touch.
