They were calculated, bitter rivals. Slagged each other off in the press, had Hoxton punch-ups in front of Iain Sinclair and
Sophie Ellis Bextor, went to each other's gigs, and lobbed blood-red bags of raw meat during those meaningful solos. And yet Jim's Super Stereoworld and
James Robert Morrison were the same person from the start. After the folding of
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, James "Jim Bob" Morrison attempted a number of projects but ended up sketching out two musical personas within the first half of 2001, the first being the Kurt Weill-meets-
Blondie oddity JSSW and the second being this equally abnormal
J.R. LP. In a number of ways, he's found more creative success this time. By keeping things simpler -- lullaby vocals, rustic solo guitars, the sound of drumming on particle-board --
Morrison draws a more intimate portrait of banjo-laden gallows humor that forces you in the position to construct surreal anachronisms:
John Cale playing a duet with Robin Williams or
Mercury Rev getting ripped at the Moloko Bar. It's all as arch as always -- it won't take you long to stumble over titles like "I Lost My Baby to the Arms Race" -- but melancholy enough to make you feel guilty for shutting the door so nobody can hear your throat clamp up. ~ Dean Carlson