Simple Songs (Jim O'Rourke album)

Simple Songs
Studio album by
Jim O'Rourke
ReleasedMay 19, 2015
Recorded2009–2015[1]
StudioHoshi To Niji, Steamroom (Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan)
Genre
Length37:38
LabelDrag City
ProducerJim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke chronology
The Visitor
(2009) 		Simple Songs
(2015) 		Hands That Bind
(2023)

Simple Songs is the third singer-songwriter album by American musician Jim O'Rourke. It was released on May 19, 2015, on Drag City and is the final album by O'Rourke for the record label.[2] The album was released nearly fourteen years after O'Rourke's previous singer-songwriter album Insignificance (2001).[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.0/10[4]
Metacritic86/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
American Songwriter[6]
Consequence of SoundB[7]
Exclaim!8/10[8]
Financial Times[9]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[10]
Mojo[11]
Pitchfork8.6/10[12]
Record Collector[13]
Uncut8/10[14]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86 based on 14 professional reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[5]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
45[15]
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
9[16]
The Wire Releases of the Year 1–50 2015
7[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jim O'Rourke

No.TitleLength
1."Friends with Benefits"5:25
2."That Weekend"3:15
3."Half Life Crisis"4:42
4."Hotel Blue"3:21
5."These Hands"3:13
6."Last Year"5:47
7."End of the Road"5:33
8."All Your Love"6:22
Total length:37:38

Personnel

The following people contributed to Simple Songs:[18]

Main personnel
  • Jim O'Rourke – vocals, guitar
  • Sudoh Toshiaki – bass
  • Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – drums
  • Akiko Yoshino – french horn (4, 6, 7, 8)
  • Ren Takada – pedal steel guitar (5)
  • Eiko Ishibashi – piano, organ
  • Jun Moriyama – saxophone (3)
  • Nahoko Kamei – saxophone (3, 7)
  • Atsuko Hatano – strings
  • Daysuke Takaoka – tuba (2, 3, 6, 8)
Additional personnel
  • John Golden – mastering
  • Kuniyoshi Taikou – photography

References

  1. ^ Jim O'Rourke – Interview. Bomb (magazine). Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  2. ^ "Austen Interviews Jim O'Rourke". The Needle Drop. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  3. ^ "Simple Songs - Jim O'Rourke". Drag City. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  4. ^ "Simple Songs by Jim O'Rourke reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Reviews for Simple Songs by Jim O'Rourke". Metacritic. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  6. ^ Horowitz, Hal (June 25, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". American Songwriter. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  7. ^ Kivel, Adam (May 12, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke – Simple Songs". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  8. ^ Khanna, Vish (May 15, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  9. ^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (May 16, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs — review". Financial Times. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  10. ^ Wisgard, Alex (May 14, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke's called his new album Simple Songs, the big kidder". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  11. ^ "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Mojo (260). July 2015.
  12. ^ Richardson, Mark (May 15, 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  13. ^ Kennedy, Jake (June 2015). "Jim O'Rourke – Simple Songs". Record Collector (441). Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  14. ^ Mulvey, John (July 2015). "Jim O'Rourke: Simple Songs". Uncut (218): 80.
  15. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  16. ^ "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". stereogum.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  17. ^ "2015 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. No. 383. London. January 2016. p. 32 – via Exact Editions. (subscription required)
  18. ^ Simple Songs – Credits. Discogs. Retrieved December 15, 2015.