Simple Songs
by Jim O'Rourke
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 28
  3. Negative: 2 out of 28
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  1. MikeHixx
    Jun 4, 2015
    10
    A simply gorgeous statement, full of complex arrangements and immediate hooks that references early 1970s Bowie and Nilsson. Truly a complete statement, and one that be hovering around my turntable for quite some time.
  2. itsprobablyali
    Jul 21, 2015
    10
    True to the avant-garde style of his music, Jim O'Rourke proves that he has the potential to return from the silence and still bring out a masterpiece. In the form of an all new eight piece rendition, this could quite possibly be one of his, if not the greatest of his creations to date.
  3. jervo
    Mar 28, 2017
    10
    This is an album in which you get constantly disoriented by overflowin' rhythmics, puzzling melodies and vintage atmospheres that brought me back to some of first Pink Floyd's masterpieces. Further more there's an essence of constant music research. This album is made of landscapes you travel throughout losing the sense of time and space.
  4. jens76
    Jan 25, 2023
    9
    Lang nicht mehr daheim, kommt wieder Reim. (Careful, they don't care.) Jim O'Rourke von seiner besten Seite, die Fans und die Jugendlichen lieben ihn.

Awards & Rankings

30
#30 Best Album of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. American Songwriter
    Jun 25, 2015
    70
    Neither easy listening or abrasive, Simple Songs is the sound of O’Rourke spraying his idiosyncratic fairy dust over a genre he clearly appreciates, albeit through the lenses of his own somewhat eccentric vision. Once you get into his groove though, it’s easy to appreciate the artist’s tenacity and often volatile vision.
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  2. Magnet
    Jun 8, 2015
    90
    The whole thing is ghoulishly gorgeous in the most comfortably comfortable way. [No. 121, p.60]
  3. The Wire
    Jun 5, 2015
    80
    The album's so-called simple songs might be ambiguous enough to leave you wondering what they're about, even as you're thinking that they were written just for you. [Jun 2015, p.49]
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