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| Music,
Justin Harries,
20 January 1999 |
Rating: F4
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Not quite the skewered take on Bakerak, Van Parkes and even Bob Erzin as one would imagine, O’Rourke’s album of actual songs includes lovely hommages to all of the above. Without employing the jump-cuts that characterised his earlier purely instrumental works, O’Rourke plays straight here, utilising an orchestral background that shimmers around his soft, though likeably vulnerable voice.
Even through moments of wistful melancholia, Eureka is a resolutely up-beat, even ‘user friendly’ affair, with only the beginning of ‘Movie on the way down’, with its low-key build up of muted horns and crawling bass suggesting any attempt to disorientate the listener. ‘Please patronise our sponsors’ combines syrupy sax, ‘scat’ voices and piano is reminiscent of .. from Pink Floyd’s Dark side of the moon soon mutates in to a bizarre country ho-down with steel drums, whilst ‘Something big’ is a pretty faithful cover of a Bakerak, David number, and very pretty it is too. Electronic weirdness permeates the title track, but not enough to engulf the wistful melody, which builds with horns, until overcome by whirling synths and reversed guitar.
Lyrically O’Rourke seems concerned by the dichotomy of "sitting on your ass" when dreaming of change (possible inspiration for the cover of something big). While seeming strange coming from a man who could be deemed omnipresent in the world of avant-rock, this could be linked with his ideal of a cultured frustration, where the process, instead of the finalised product, is the motivator.
Even if the fact that Eureka is his most complete album of ‘music’ yet may be ironic, it doesn't stop the fact that it sounds like O’Rouke certainly had fun making it, resulting in an album that convays warmth and emotion over the austerity of previous works.
Domino
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