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GAZETTE STAFF / NEW YORK CITY
ono
By Ernest Barteldes

NOPE, SHE’S NOT GOING AWAY QUIETLY
Disc review by Ernest Barteldes
Yoko Ono
Yes, I'm A Witch
Astralwerks
"I'm not gonna die for you, you might as well face the
truth", say the lyrics to the title track of Yoko Ono's new
album (the only new song on the disc), which serves as a literal
'screw you’ to the various critics who have maligned her for
almost forty years now since she began contributing with her
late husband on albums like Life With The Lions or Two
Virgins.
This record proves that Ono’s music - recently embraced by
Djs and alternative musicians - might have been far ahead from
her time. Reworked by several contemporary names, many of the
songs are updated and also refreshed, as happens with
"Revelations" (Ono and Cat Power duet with a simple piano
backing), "Nobody Sees Me Like You Do" (with an orchestral
arrangement from The Apples in Stereo) and "Everyman
Everywoman", which receives a sort of a faux-60s treatment from
Blow Up
As happens in many remix albums, not everything works – Jason
Pierce's vision of "Walking On Thin Ice", the last piece Ono
recorded with John Lennon (they were mixing the song on that
fateful December night) sounds eerily depressing with its much
slower tempo, and the fake orgasmic sounds in "Kiss Kiss Kiss"
(remixed by Peaches) are still dreadful.
The most adventurous remix here is clearly "Cambridge
1969/2007". In the hands of the Flaming Lips, Yoko's moans and
Lennon's feedbacks are transformed into an electronic jazz
piece. This is an album for those who have put the past behind
them, and are able to appreciate – and rediscover - the artistry
of both Yoko and her new musician friends.
READ LAST WEEK'S ARTICLE
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