I got aboard the Jim O'Rourke bandwagon with the release of the last Gastr Del Sol record, 1998's Camoufleur, a beautiful album boasting O'Rourke's amazing, mundane production. Since then, I've been digging his other work with that band, his 1997 release, Bad Timing, and the Sonic Youth and Jim O'Rourke EP. So, let's be honest. You and I both know this guy can do anything with sound-- anything. His production work on Sam Prekop's recent solo outing proves it. So why, then, is Eureka such an awful disappointment?

Eureka kicks off on a bad note, and manages to stay there for the majority of this album, despite a couple of diamonds in the 'ol rough. "Prelude to 110 or 220/ Women of the World" is without a doubt one of the most nauseatingly repetitive songs on the face of this green Earth. "Through the Night Softly" is the ending- credits- of- "Saturday Night Live" song G.E. Smith never wrote. The album's moogy title cut makes a nice companion on a lonely summer night, but towards the five minute mark (the full song lasts just over nine minutes), it starts to drag a bit. And the cover of Burt Bacharach's "Something Big," while probably one of the better versions of this song available, has proven too quirky for repeated listens.

Don't get me wrong. The record definitely has its moments. "Ghost Ship in a Storm" is a prime O'Rourke cut, meaty, juicy and cooked to delicious perfection. "Movie On the Way Down" becomes a gorgeous arrangement of sonic love, but only after more than three minutes of wanky experimentalism. "Please Patronize Our Sponsors" is a harmonious instrumental piece that'd make an excellent soundtrack for a day at the Lincoln Park Zoo. And the album's closer, "Happy Holidays," leaves you with a feeling not unlike the one I'm sure the Teletubbies experience in the "orgasm from the windmill" segment of every show.

In the end, the thing that brings the album down is that its instrumental pieces seem to lack the same direction as the ones on previous Gastr Del Sol records, and that there are just so many of them. If those tracks were cut down to a decent length and balanced against the vocal pieces, this album might actually sound terrific. But the way it stands, Eureka's a bit on the boring side.

-Ryan Schreiber