Yoko Ono : Yes, I’m a Witch

Yoko Ono
Yes, I’m a Witch
Label: Astralwerks
Release Date: February 6, 2007

For over a week now, Yoko Ono’s new album, Yes, I’m a Witch, has been on repeat throughout the Perfect Porridge kitchen. We find ourselves going up to coworkers in the hallway and e-mailing extended teenage family members to tell them about this new Ono disc. Could it be that liking Yoko Ono is finally a cool, mainstream thing to do?

Hailed as ahead of her time in the late 60s by only a select few critics, Ono caught a lot of flack (and eye-rolling) as “Lennon’s wife” when she started recording and releasing her forward-thinking material.

But with this collaboration, Ono gave established artists the opportunity to pick a song from her catalog, select a cut and splice it up however they wish (mostly just sampling out the vocal track). Covering genres from crunk to fuzzed out atmosphere

The result is a captivating masterpiece of a 17-track album featuring collabs with the venerated likes of the Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Polyphonic Spree, The Apples in Stereo and Spiritualized whilst covering genres from crunk to atmosphere, electronica to indie rock.

Here’s what Flaming Lips leader Wayne Coyne had to say about the project and his own hallucinogenic addition to the disc:

“To be able to play with a track as uncompromising and confrontational as John and Yoko’s “Cambridge 1969″ is ,for any curious artist, a rare treat. We took Yoko’s primal screams and John’s moaning feedback and turned them into a kind of Ornette Colemanesque melody…I fear we may have de-fanged rocks’ most disturbing performance/art/jam…”

Other highlights:

• The Polyphonic Spree’s tentative take on “You and I” waits two and half minutes before letting all 364 instruments and voices join Ono’s.
• Le Tigre’s imaginative “Sisters O Sisters” could easily find itself as a b-side from Madonna’s Ray of Light.
• Spiritualized’s rampaging guitar assault partnered with Ono’s engrossing vocals on “Walking on Thin Ice.”

Whether you cared for 1960’s Yoko Ono or not, Yes, I’m a Witch is a convincing argument for her musical prowess and eminent influence upon today’s generation.