Simple Songs (Jim O'Rourke album)

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

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)

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. "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.
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