tUnE-yArDs as YOKO

Chronique

Given that they're both bold, occasionally misunderstood female artists, it's not really a surprise that Yoko Ono and Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus are mutual fans. A collaboration between them makes sense too, but with talents as distinctive and outsized as theirs are, it was questionable just how well their approaches could blend. Tune-Yards as Yoko, a two-song single that benefits the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance (one of the charities helping those affected by Hurricane Sandy) reveals that their sounds mesh better than might be expected. As the single's title suggests, Garbus takes on Ono's mantle, covering the populist boogie rock of "We're All Water" and remixing the 1973 outtake "Warrior Woman." If it weren't for the references to '70s bogeymen like Chairman Mao and Richard Nixon, it would be hard to tell that "We're All Water" wasn't a Tune-Yards original; Garbus transforms it into her own layered, global yet homespun pop that completely. "Warrior Woman," meanwhile, lets Ono's urgent vocals take the lead over percussion that flirts with chaos in a very Tune-Yards fashion (plus the chorus sounds like the theme song to a radical feminist cartoon from the early '70s). A slice of playful subversiveness for a good cause, Tune-Yards as Yoko is more creative than the average charity project and more interesting than a lot of other collaborations.
© Heather Phares /TiVo