Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm a Witch (CD)

All Music Guide

Yoko Ono inspires either reverence or indignation whenever her name is mentioned. Being the surviving widow of John Lennon is no easy task, either. But for the last six decades, Ono has been an artist first and foremost. Lennon helped to make her a recording artist. Her own records have been both celebrated and reviled, but her catalog stands on its own and it holds up as a reflection of the artist in her time. Yes, I'm a Witch is a collaborative album with a twist: each of the 16 artists involved with this project was given Ono's entire catalog to listen to and pick a track. They were given the vocal tracks to each song they chose and were also able to pick any instrumental tracks they wanted to use. Most decided to keep just the vocal. The collaborating artists in this amazing mix are Hank Shocklee, Cat Power, Jason Pierce of Spiritualized, the Flaming Lips, Le Tigre, Porcupine Tree, Shitake Monkey, Polyphonic Spree, Antony (with Hahn Rowe), the Apples in Stereo, DJ Spooky, Peaches, the Blow Up, Craig Armstrong, the Brother Brothers, and the Sleepy Jackson. That said, this is no ordinary collaboration. There isn't anything lazy or lackluster about the way these artists use Ono's vocals and her phrasing and in some cases the accompanying music. The sum total is not only that Ono is relevant in the 21st century, but more than that, it's perhaps that the 21st century is ready for Ono. Beginning with Shocklee's "Witch Shocktronica," Ono's manifesto (which is also offered as an outro near the end of the album), her voice and words are woven into, juxtaposed against, folded on top of, and haunted like a ghost through the middle of each of these songs. All of them are performed as such. Check the new electro futurism of "Kiss Kiss Kiss" with Peaches, where Ono's songs and her trademark yowl are set into the heart of the beats here. Then there's Shitake Monkey's "O'Oh," where he sets Ono's killer singsong verses against a wall of samples and breaks,. The track includes a killer sample of the opening riff of Grover Washington, Jr.'s classic "Mister Magic" as the base groove.