Simple Songs (Jim O'Rourke album)

Simple Songs
Studio album by Jim O'Rourke
Released	May 19, 2015
Recorded	2009-2015[1]
Genre	Indie rock pop rock art rock
Length	37:38
Label	Drag City
Producer	Jim O'Rourke
Jim O'Rourke chronology
The Visitor (2009) Simple Songs (2015)

Simple Songs is the third singer-songwriter album by American musician Jim O'Rourke for Drag City. It was released on May 19, 2015, nearly fourteen years after O'Rourke's previous singer-songwriter album Insignificance (2001).^[2] O'Rourke uses Drag City for his more conventional work.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Pitchfork Media	8.6/10[5]

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".^[6]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	2015	45[7]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	2015	9[8]

Track listing

All tracks 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

Personnel

The following people contributed to Simple Songs:^[9]

Main personnel

• Jim O'Rourke – vocals
• Sudoh Toshiaki – bass
• Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – drums
• Akiko Yoshino – french horn (4, 6, 7, 8)
• Ren Takada – pedal steel guitar (5)
• Eiko Ishibashi – piano, organ
• Jun Moriyama – saxophone (3)
• Nahoko Kamei – saxophone (3, 7)
• Atsuko Hatano – strings
• Daisuke Takaoka – tuba (2, 3, 6, 8)

Additional personnel

• John Golden – mastering
• Kuniyoshi Taikou – photography

References

1. Jim O'Rourke – Interview. Bomb (magazine). Retrieved December 15 2015.
2. "Simple Songs - Jim O'Rourke". Drag City. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
3. "Simple Songs - Jim O'Rourke". Metacritic. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
4. Allmusic review
5. Pitchfork Media review
6. Simple Songs - Jim O'Rourke. Metacritic. Retrieved on 12-15-2015.
7. "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
8. "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". stereogum.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
9. Simple Songs – Credits. Discogs. Retrieved December 15 2015.