Critic's Review
Antti J. Ravelin, All Music Guide
Originally released by Extreme in 1991, Tamper acts as an important part of Jim O'Rourke's discography, as it's one of the first of his electro-acoustic works. Surprisingly, it is also the most accessible of his pre-Bad Timing solo albums, although it is a bit challenging at the same time. For example, the first track on Tamper is a difficult, yet rewarding piece. It demands complete attention from the listener, as it starts with a barely audible oscillator, only later bringing the actual instruments slowly in. The bottom line of Tamper -- and the bottle-neck to understanding it -- is that the sounds of these instruments (apart from some occasional oboes) are manipulated so that they hardly can be recognized. This is an old and now-exhaustive trick in O'Rourke's field of work, but on Tamper he has found a very idiosyncratic way of defining traditional instruments. Tamper works well on so many different levels that it can be recommended to any open-minded listener at all -- no matter if you prefer rock or avant-garde.
