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— The Analog Vault // Essential Listening —

Chamber-pop ambition and shy restraint intertwine on Eureka. Jim O’Rourke’s 1999 release for Drag City weaves strings, horns, pedal steel and Glenn Kotche’s percussion into songs like “Women of the World” and “Prelude to 110 or 220”. Rather than dominate, the arrangements feel additive, supporting O’Rourke’s soft vocals with quiet grandeur. 

Recorded across Chicago studios between 1997 and 1998, the album blends warm pop tones with experimental sensibilities into something sophisticated yet quietly strange. Over time, Eureka has become a cult favourite, standing among the standout Drag City statements of the late 1990s. — The Analog Vault

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Jim O'Rourke is an American musician, instrumentalist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his numerous solo and collaborative music projects, many of which are instrumental, and has been acclaimed for his music that spans varied genres, including avant-garde styles such as ambient, noise and minimalism, and styles of rock like indie rock and post-rock. He has been associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene, as well as with New York City when he relocated to it in 2000 for his tenure as a member of American indie rock band Sonic Youth.  — Wiki

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It's a good bet to expect the unexpected with Jim O'Rourke - no matter which hat he's wearing, each of the endlessly prolific projects that bears his name takes on a shape and identity all its own while retaining the originality and ingenuity that have become the hallmarks of his singular body of work. Eureka is perhaps his most stunning and surprising detour yet, a full-blown excursion into lush, melodic pop; granted, there's something inherently perverse about the very notion of O'Rourke and Chicago underground cronies like trombonist Jeb Bishop and cornetist Rob Mazurek tackling such classicist stuff, but instead the album is short on irony and long on affection — in fact, its most subversive dimension is its very real mainstream appeal.

What's most fascinating about Eureka is that its big, bright pop is actually the perfect showcase for O'Rourke's mastery of sound — highlights like the epic opener "Women of the World" and a joyously schmaltzy cover of the Bacharach/David chestnut "Something Big" are crafted with remarkable care and depth, the former in particular building and blooming in truly majestic fashion.

On a conceptual level, of course, it's easy to view Eureka as another in a long line of deconstructionist experiments, a reading more overtly avant songs like "Movie on the Way Down" and "Through the Night Softly" certainly bears out; on a deeper level, however, it's a true labor of love, and its sheer exuberance and creativity go further in re-shaping the pop aesthetic than any pure intellectual exercise ever could. — (via AllMusic)

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Label: Drag City
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Reissued:  2009 / Original Release: 1999
Genre: Rock
Style: Post Rock, Lounge, Acoustic, Experimental, Indie Rock

File under: TAV Essential Listening
File under: Rock // Post Rock
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