This Little Underground: new local releases + concert picks

BY BAO LE-HUU

Sadly, the Orlando music com-

munity just lost one of its longtime pillars. Local musician Jim O’Rourke is as original a gangster as it gets around here. According to owner Will Walker, he was the first person to play live music at Will’s Pub — no, the old one, at Loch Haven. Nearly everyone who’s anyone in the city’s music scene knows him,

I knew Jim’s name long before I’d ever met him. After we finally met, all I ever saw from him since was a kind, gentle and creative soul. And that creativity kept up until the very end, with a particularly prolific release roll the last year or so. Although it’s a distant second to still having Jim among us, his footprint in the Orlando music scene will be a lasting one.

LOCAL RELEASES

Worried about that Delta? If only we all were. But you can savor some good live vibes from the safety of your own bubble in a couple of recent releases from local acts that have electrified the Mills strip with some well-documented performances.

Gamma Waves have repeatedly proven on stage to be one of the most impressive new Orlando rock bands to emerge recently. Their latest release is a live recording of a May performance they did in the Milk District. The seven-song Live at Iron Cow is a solid bottling of the raw grunge brawn that these guys can muster in concert. It’s generously available on Bandcamp as a name-your-price download.

The other noteworthy live release is Design for Survival by Trotsky’s Watercooler, the solo vehicle for Orlando noise luminary Dan Reaves that uses some of the more inventive hardware in the game. Culled from two very recent performances in July, Design for Survival is nearly 30 explorative minutes of Reaves looping and manipulating spoken-word and instructional records.

Recorded at the Gainesville apartment of experimental underground pioneer and longtime cassette champion Hal McGee as part of his live Apartment Music series, “Polite Instruction for Our Feathered Friends” is a melted and dizzying piece that’s as psychedelic as it is industrial. The second track, “I Don’t Buy It” — recorded, notably, at this year’s X-Day celebration at Land of Id in Land O’ Lakes — is an eerie work that sounds like the escalating stages of a paranormal possession and should probably only be listened to during the day while someone else is home with you. It’s up on Trotsky’s Watercooler’s Bandcamp.

TROTSKY’S WATERCOOLER | PHOTO BY MATTHEW MOYER

Trotsky’s Watercooler, the solo vehicle for Orlando noise luminary Dan Reaves, just released new, eerie works that should probably only be listened to during the day while someone else is home with you

MUSIC EVENTS THIS WEEK

It’s getting bad out there again, guys. Be safe.

Zeta, Sunstrife, 430 Steps, the

Rottens: Venezuela’s Zeta have been one of the hottest imports to the Sunshine State in recent years, and Orlando promoter Montgomery Drive has been their biggest advocate here in Central Florida. Now based in South Florida, the band’s avant-garde punk rock is fierce, tropical and forward. And live, it electrifies. Supporting will be an all-Orlando roster that’s like a deconstruction of Zeta’s complex kaleidoscope, including the math rock of Sunstrife, the high-velocity hardcore of 430 Steps and the punk en español of the Rottens. (7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, West End Trading Co., $10)

Gerald Law II’s Sensory Vibes: Across the realms of stage, studio, education and social consciousness, Gerald Law II is rising as not simply a player in Orlando’s music scene but a visionary. His upcoming performance at art-music bastion the In-Between Series will see the progressive percussionist explore expression through emerging technology. Law’s latest solo enterprise, “Sensory Vibes,” will employ electronic sensors that allow full instrumental and compositional range all through his drums. Expect an exhibition that plays at the intersection of art and innovation. (7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16, CityArts, $5)

Future Bartenderz: This Orlando act has amassed a considerable digital catalog over the past few years. But this event marks the first physical release, a sprawling 32-song cassette — titled Chester Cheetah, Macrame, Brian Eno, Chardonnay — that cherry-picks and gathers the best cuts from their oeuvre so far. It’ll be a heaping primer of the project’s mix of odd pop, weird punk and huge sense of humor. (10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, Will’s Pub, free but donations strongly encouraged)

baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com