Jim O'Rourke (born January 18, 1969)[1] is an American musician, instrumentalist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer.[2] 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, includingavant-garde styles such asambient,noise andminimalism, and styles of rock likeindie rock andpost-rock.[1] He has been associated with the Chicagoexperimental andimprov scene, as well as with New York City when he relocated there in 2000 for his tenure as a member of American indie rock bandSonic Youth. He subsequently moved to Japan and has since been a Japanese resident.[3]
O'Rourke has previously been a member of Illusion of Safety,Brise-Glace with Darin Gray and Dylan Posa,Gastr del Sol[5] withDavid Grubbs,[6]Fenn O'Berg withChristian Fennesz andPeter Rehberg,[7] andSonic Youth. Beginning in 1999 he played bass guitar, guitar and synthesizer with Sonic Youth, in addition torecording and mixing duties with the group. He withdrew as a full member in late 2005, but continued to play with them in some of their side projects.
O'Rourke has also released many albums under his own name on a variety of labels, exploring a range of electronic and avant-garde styles.[5] His most well-known works may be his series of releases onDrag City, which focus on more traditional songcraft:Bad Timing (1997),Eureka (1999),Insignificance (2001),The Visitor (2009) andSimple Songs (2015). The titles of the first four albums all refer to films by the British directorNicolas Roeg; the first three by direct reference to film titles, the fourth being titled after a fictional album within Roeg's filmThe Man Who Fell to Earth.
With music directorTakehisa Kosugi, he played for theMerce Cunningham dance company for four years. He was a guitarist for the 1999 premiere of Cunningham's balletBiped withGavin Bryars in Berkeley, California.
WithOren Ambarchi, O'Rourke has released three collaborative albums:Indeed (2011),[10]Behold (2015),[11] andHence (2018).[12]
Since 2013, O'Rourke has used hisSteamroomBandcamp page to release reissues of rare and older material, as well as original newer pieces.
In 2016, he released a collaborative album withChristian Fennesz, titledIt's Hard for Me to Say I'm Sorry.[13]
O'Rourke is currently in a relationship with Japanese musicianEiko Ishibashi, with whom he frequently collaborates.[14] The two met when Ishibashi played flute on an album ofBurt Bacharach covers that O'Rourke was producing. They live and work closely together, but "keep a professional distance, sending each other data files to work on rather than jamming."[15] In 2025, they released their first collaborative album, Pareidolia. Additionally, O'Rourke has contributed to the two film scores Ishibashi has composed for director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
In 2024, O'Rourke contributed to the soundtrack ofA.S. Velasca (football club and total work of art created by Wolfgang Natlacen) by composing the Theme.
O'Rourke worked as a music consultant for the 2003 filmSchool of Rock, in which he taught the child actors in the movie how to play the songs.[16]
While on set, O'Rourke also served as a reversevocal coach of sorts, teachingMiranda Cosgrove how to intentionally sing badly as her character of Summer was meant to betone deaf.
O'Rourke was supposed to have a cameo role in the film, but the part was scrapped due to his touring commitments with Sonic Youth.
O'Rourke scored the 2004 video installation "Fireball", and did the sound design on the documentaryRed Orchestra byStefan Roloff.
O'Rourke's own short films were part of the 2004 and 2006Whitney Biennial, as well as the 2005 Rotterdam Film Festival.
O'Rourke then collaborated with Hamaguchi and Ishibashi again when he mixed, mastered and played guitar on the soundtrack for Hamaguchi's next film, 2023'sEvil Does Not Exist.
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