Jim O’Rourke Plans Rare Shows Outside Japan

Experimental music veteran Jim O’Rourke will play some of his first shows outside of his adopted Japan home in more than 25 years in April, in tandem with his musical and life partner Eiko Ishibashi. They will start April 10 in Den Haag, Holland, and conclude April 25-26 in Dublin.

O’Rourke hasn’t released a traditional song-based album since 2015’s aptly named Simple Songs, but he often lends those sensibilities by performing on and producing Ishibashi’s projects. Their latest, last year’s Pareidolia, was accompanied by four live albums.

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Of even greater interest to hardcore fans, Ishibashi says O’Rourke will tour separately this year with underground electronic music legend Fennesz. “I’ll be joining them for some date as well,” Ishibashi wrote on Instagram. “More details on that soon.”

“If you want to enjoy any song-based stuff from me vicariously, Eiko is working on her new record now, and I’m working on that,” O’Rourke told SPIN in 2023 when Pareidolia was in progress. He also acknowledged his general dislike for live performing when asked about YouTube footage of a 2015 Japan concert showcasing the Simple Songs material.

“If you go back and watch it, I am fucking terrified,” he said. “That show was so terrifying. The songs aren’t easy to play, even though they don’t sound all that difficult. I think that’s the only time I sang and played them at the same time, because we did a few rehearsals and I wouldn’t sing during them. At the end of the song ‘Last Year,’ you can kind of see me in the video saying to the band in Japanese, ‘Jesus Christ, we got through that!’”

Here are Jim O’Rourke and Eiko Ishibashi’s tour dates:

Apr 10 – Den Haag, NL – Koninklijke Schouwburg (ReWire Festival)
Apr 12 – Nantes, FR – Le Lieu Unique, Salle Paul Fort (Variations Festival)
Apr 13 – London, UK – Union Chapel (Bird on the Wire presents Rough Trade 50th Anniversary)
Apr 15 – Oslo, NO – Henie Onstad Art Center (Jim O’Rourke / Eivind Lønning Duo)
Apr 16 – Oslo, NO – Henie Onstad Art Center (Jim O’Rourke / Eiko Ishibashi Duo)
Apr 17–18 – Munich, DE – Haus der Kunst München (duo + solo + talk)
Apr 25 – Dublin, IE – National Concert Hall (Duo)
Apr 26 – Dublin, IE – National Concert Hall (Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh / Jim O’Rourke / Eiko Ishibashi Trio)

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