<p>You probably know Jim O'Rourke for his recording and production
work with, well, pretty much every significant band of the last 15
years. No, seriously; you can scroll through a full discography <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Jim+O'Rourke" target="_blank">here</a>. He's played with Illusion
of Safety, Gastr Del Sol and, most notably, Sonic Youth. And he's
hands-down one of the most impressive experimental guitarists playing
today, along with Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, and John Scofield—let's just ignore
unlistenable shredders like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, et al. So when
O'Rourke pairs up, now for the third time, with equally accomplished
guitarist Loren Connors, you know you're guaranteed some damn fine
music.</p>
<p>Past collaborations between O'Rourke and Connors include <em>In Bern</em> and <em>Hoffman Estates</em>.
What's really impressive here is that Connors was diagnosed with
Parkinson's Disease back in 1992, which has forced him to be more and
more restrained in his playing—though on this latest collaboration, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nice-Catholic-Boys-Loren-Connors/dp/B001MTIIHA" target="_blank"><em>Two Nice Catholic Boys</em></a>,
it hasn't kept Connors from tearin' up some truly impressive noise
rock. The three tracks, which run about 47 minutes combined, follow the
same basic pattern: four or five minutes of distorted wailing followed
by some softer reverb-y back-and-forth between the two. I wouldn't call
it just music for guitarists, but for anyone who's not into some
ambient instrumental rock, you won't find a lot here you'll like. It's
also about as dark and depressing as ambient instrumental rock can get,
so...</p>
<p>Recommended situations for listening to <em>Two Nice Catholic Boys</em>:
Midwest cattle drives; 3 a.m. rides through Anytown, USA; shooting heroin
and passing out in the bathroom stall of some truck stop outside Gary,
Indiana.</p>
<p>"Most Definitely not Koln"</p>
<p>
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</p>
Zach Kaufmann
jim o'rourke, loren conors, epic noise rock, greatest modern guitarist
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2009-02-05T14:02:36-05:00
<p>Two heady veterans of contemporary guitar collaborate on an eclectic record.</p>
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Not just for guitarists
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