Thing, The with Jim O'Rourke

Shinjuku Growl

Label: Smalltown Superjazzz Country: Norway

"Smalltown Superjazzz is very proud to present two new albums by The Thing. And this time it is The Thing with guitars! And none others than two of the best guitar players in the improv world today; Otomo Yoshihide and Jim O`Rourke. Both albums are recorded live at Pit Inn in Tokyo, Japan. Shinkjuku Growl with JIm O`Rourke was recorded the 4th of February 2008 and Shinkuju Crawl with Otomo Yoshihide was recorded the 2nd of October 2007 (and was also recorded by Jim O`Rourke). These two live documents shows the different aspects of The Thing and how they are shaping and melting together with the wonderful guitar magic of Yoshihide and O`Rourke.

Jim O`Rourke now lives in Tokyo, Japan. He has produced albums by artists such as Sonic Youth, Wilco, Stereolab, Superchunk, Kahimi Karie, Quruli, John Fahey, Smog, Faust, Tony Conrad, The Red Krayola, Bobby Conn, Beth Orton, Joanna Newsom and U.S. Maple. He was a in Gastr Del Sol, was a member of Sonic Youth and is working close with Wilco. Otomo Yoshihide is from Yokohama, Jaoan, He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the noise rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in a variety of contexts, ranging from free improvisation to noise, jazz, avant-garde and contemporary classical.

The Thing is a rare flower in the world of jazz. They have managed to reach out far beyond jazz and avant garde audiences to those of rock, punk, hip-hop and electronica as well. They`ve been critically acclaimed by such diverse magazines as DJ Magazine (described as " absurdly cool ), Uncut, BBC and The Observer. They have done sold-out London show with electronica/hip-hop acts Four Tet and Prefuse 73 as well as a sold out Scala (London) with Kieran Hebden/Steve Reid, they toured the jazz clubs of Europe, Japan, China and USA, they covered David Bowies` "Life On Mars" for the German electronica label K7!, they blew the rock audience away at Oslo`s Oya Festival with Sonic Youth`s Thurston Moore as guest guitarist, and they were invited by the Basement Jaxx to play the Wireless Festival in London. Not bad for a free jazz act. But The Thing is not a traditional band. They have done collaborations with artists such as jazz legend Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Jim O`Rourke and Otomo Yoshihide as well as Norwegian garage rock band Cato Salsa Experience as well as being produced by Steve Albini."-Smalltown Superjazzz

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