| Simple Songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 19, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | 2009-2015 [1] | |||
| Studio | Hoshi To Niji, Steamroom (Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 37:38 | |||
| Label | Drag City | |||
| Producer | Jim O'Rourke | |||
| Jim O'Rourke chronology | ||||
| ||||
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]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.0/10 [4] |
| Metacritic | 86/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| American Songwriter |    [6] |
| Consequence of Sound | B [7] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 [8] |
| Financial Times | [9] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 9/10 [10] |
| Mojo | [11] |
| Pitchfork | 8.6/10 [12] |
| Record Collector | [13] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [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]
| 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] |
All tracks are written by Jim O'Rourke
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
The following people contributed to Simple Songs: [18]
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. He subsequently moved to Japan and has since been a Japanese resident.
Bill Callahan is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who has also recorded and performed under the band name Smog. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four-track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today. His work, in addition to lo-fi music, has encompassed apocalyptic folk and gothic country.
Kill the Moonlight is the fourth album by American rock band Spoon released on August 20, 2002 through Merge Records. The album features a stripped-down, minimal sound that incorporates various different instruments such as tambourines and pianos along with an idiosyncratic production style. The album has gone on to receive critical acclaim with its lead single "The Way We Get By" being used in various television shows, and is regarded as Spoon's magnum opus.
Murray Street is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 25, 2002, by DGC Records. Murray Street is the first album by the band to feature Jim O'Rourke as an official fifth member to bolster the group's sound.
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Eureka is the first singer-songwriter album by Jim O'Rourke, originally released on February 25, 1999 by Drag City. It is named after the Nicolas Roeg film of the same name. NME named it the 16th best album of 1999. In 2012, Fact placed it at number 24 on the "100 Best Albums of the 1990s" list.
Insignificance is the second singer-songwriter album by Jim O'Rourke, originally released on November 19, 2001 by Drag City. It is named after the Nicolas Roeg film of the same name. It peaked at number 35 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.
James Edward Olliges Jr., professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is an American vocalist, guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter of the rock band My Morning Jacket. He has also released several solo albums.
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Bon Iver is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon, Sean Carey, Michael Lewis, Matthew McCaughan, Andrew Fitzpatrick, and Jenn Wasner
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Have One on Me is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom, released on February 23, 2010 via Drag City as the official follow-up to the harpist's highly acclaimed second studio release, 2006's Ys. It is a triple album produced by herself and mixed by long-time collaborators Jim O'Rourke and Noah Georgeson, with the accompanying arrangements by Ryan Francesconi. Have One on Me continues Newsom's use of cryptic, pastoral lyrics, with a further progression of elements of her sound such as the orchestral accompaniment and the arrangements – with the inclusion of diverse instruments like the tambura, the harpsichord and the kaval. The production also flirts with genres such as jazz and blues in some of the tracks, while adding drums and the electric guitar in others. The album is also her first since The Milk-Eyed Mender to include songs played on the piano instead of the harp. Because of health problems, Newsom's voice was damaged during the sessions consequently affecting the overall recording process and forcing the harpist to change her singing style.
Circuital is the sixth studio album by American rock band My Morning Jacket. It was released on May 31, 2011.
Are You Alone? is the fourth and final studio album from Canadian pop duo Majical Cloudz, released on October 16, 2015, on Matador Records.
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Teens of Denial is the 11th studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, released on May 20, 2016 via Matador Records. The album served as the band's second for the label and the first to consist of newly written material.
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Eiko Ishibashi is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician.
Look Now is the 30th studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and The Imposters, released on 12 October 2018. Look Now was the first studio album released by Costello since 2013. The album was co-produced by Costello and Sebastian Krys.
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