Jim O'Rourke/My Cat Is An Alien - "From the earth to the Spheres" - vol.4 (Opax Rec)

Latest staggering instalment in My Cat Is An Alien's ambitious all-vinyl limited art-run series couples our boys with a side from Jim O'Rourke. O'Rourke's track is a real beauty and a rare shot from the archives to boot. "Some Kind Of" is a previously unreleased track from O'Rourke's period of pure laptop guitar think recorded in Chicago way back in 1988, a full 12 months before his early cassette works and three years before his `official' debut, The Ground Below Above Our Heads. It was this early guitar work that first keyed ears to O'Rourke's singular approach and "Some Kind Of' is a prime example: this one moves through huge cells of barbaric, harvesting tone that sounds similar to Keiji Haino's hurdy-gurdy work before moving into some alien gamelan sonorities situated somewhere between Harry Partch's cloud chamber bowls, an insect orchestra playing the AMM songbook and pure Industrial loom. An absolute beauty. My Cat Is An Alien's track works as a great comedown, with Opalio's wordless vocals getting way out there into some kind of autistic
choral music while tiny helicopters slice and part yr brain, cymbals spin to whirlpools and single guitar notes wilt like wax. Genuinely affecting and the hands-down best volume yet from a series that's really picking up pace. Comes as a special Space-Art limited edition of only 100 copies whose `sleeves' are Roberto Opalio's original paintings on 31x31cm wood support. This one looks great, scored sky-blue paint with mounted tactile detail. Highly recommended and already an insane collectors piece like all the rest of the series.
(Feb 2005, Volcanic Tongue)