Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono comes right out and tells you she’s a witch, makes it her own statement and negates the decades of words from her many detractors. Though not technically an album of new material from Ono, this record features remixes of various songs from Ono’s catalogue, although "re-imaginations” might be a better word, as most of the artists have taken elements from Ono’s songs and worked them into their own compositions. Ono personally picked artists she admired and let them choose a song from her catalogue to experiment with. Some are successful, while others feel indulgent and redundant. The exuberant, orgasm-laden freak-out of "Kiss Kiss Kiss” (originally on Ono and John Lennon’s Double Fantasy) is given a perfectly brash electro treatment from Peaches. Another moment of success is the simple, psychedelic accompaniment to "Death of Samantha,” done by Britain’s Porcupine Tree. Here, Ono’s moving words "something inside me died that day” float on top of layered guitars and the music aptly captures the mood of her lyrics. Likewise, the Apples in Stereo convince with their take on "Nobody Sees Me Like You Do”; their pop orchestration sounds as though it has always backed Ono up. Cat Power and Yoko Ono "duet” on "Revelations,” a painfully superfluous Chan Marshall exercise. Le Tigre offer an uninspired and disappointing interpretation of "Sister O Sisters” that leaves one wondering where all their spunk went. This is an interesting record that will appeal to Ono’s fans and is an odd, though not inappropriate, introduction for those who blasphemously aren’t familiar with the avant-gardist’s work.