Some things just take time to bore their way into your pleasure center. Take Jim O’Rourke’s original mix of The Red Krayola’s Fingerpainting album, recently revisited and to be reissued by Drag City in July as Fingerpointing. For some reason, O’Rourke allegedly spoke to The Frothy Knob, the favored magazine of brewing and recording enthusiasts everywhere, about the evolution of his work on the album:
“In 1999, I was collected by Mayo Thompson from the cool, crisp catchment areas around Players Hill Summit, an area in Illinois known for a certain purity and softness that tends to breed musicians particularly suited to mixing acts, and especially atypical ones like The Red Krayola. I was brought to Treehouse Studio, and in the grand tradition of 17th century Huguenot engineers, I vigorously mixed a mash of songs, which we called ‘wort’ at that point. We transferred it from filtering vessels to 20-ton storage kettles and I added hops and some other shit to the brew, giving it a pleasant tanginess, but a bit of an uncompromising taste. The Red Krayola did not use my finished mix of its Fingerpainting album. They also called me a ‘spaced-out twiddly wanksta.’
“So we left the mix to ferment and allowed the songs to mature and condition for nine years. Brewmaster Thompson uncovered the long-forgotten version while cleaning out the trunk of his car, and after playing it again, he and Drag City both liked what they heard. I’m happy that this record has been rediscovered so that people can experience the rich texture of my mix, which contains songs, ‘freak out’ interludes, and contributions from Frederick Bathleme, Steve Cunningham, David Grubbs, George Hurley, Albert Oehlen, Stephen Prina, Elisa Randazzo, Mayo Thompson, Tom Watson, Sandy Yang, Thompson, and myself. Drag City is dedicated to this variant and will release the album I recorded, now called Fingerpointing, to an eager audience July 22. It will be a limited edition, but hopefully all connoisseurs of the craft, from the pub down the road to the farthest point in the antipodes, will be able to get a copy.”
Drink up bitches! Yes, we’re Fingerpointing at you!
1. FFF00
2. Bad Medicine
3. FFF01
4. There There Betty Betty
5. FFF02
6. Vile Vile Grass
7. FFF03
8. Mother
9. In My Baby’s Ruth
10. FFF04
