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Jackie-O Motherfucker was the project of New York-based multi-instrumentalist
Tom Greenwood (a former Railroad Jerk).
Alchemy (Imp, 1995) and Cross Pollinate (Imp, 1996)
already displayed a schizophrenic inspiration that
mixed psychedelic guitar, country slide guitar and free-jazz improvisation,
as if Jimi Hendrix played Hank Williams backed by the
Swell Maps.
The double album Flat Fixed (Imp, 1998) is much more complex, thanks
to an extended line-up (turntable, ukulele, flute...) and to lengthier
and noisier jams (Wolf Brother Blues, and especially Crazymaker).
Greenwood then relocated to Portland (Oregon).
The jazz-fusion style of these early albums was abandoned on
Fig. 5 (Road Cone, 1999), that virtually marked a rebirth of the
concept. This time around the founding duo and their impromptu collaborators
piled up elements of acid-rock, free-jazz, folk, blues, noise-rock, soul,
post-rock, country music, electronica, gospel, using a larger arsenal of
instruments.
The stew yields the surreal and dissonant chamber music of
Analogue Skillet, the ghostly country music of Native Einstein,
the funereal raga of Your Cells are in Motion, the otherwordly folk
of Beautiful September and the superhuman, 24-minute jam
Michigan Avenue Social Club.
Wow (Fisheye, 2000) contains two lengthy (20 minute each) jams
and is probably their most jazz-oriented recording.
The jazz elements all but disappear on the double-disc
Magick Fire Music (Ecstatic Peace, 2000), an
epic journey from noise collage to ambient melancholia
a` la Godspeed You Black Emperor
(The Cage, Jugband 2000, Second Ave).
Wow - Magick Fire Music (All Tomorrow's Parties, 2003) combines the two
albums.
Liberation (Road Cone, 2001 - ATP, 2005)
focused on the ensemble's most original
technique: the subdued symphonism of Ray-O-Graph and
Peace On Earth. Despite the extreme fragmentation of sound,
from the ruins of harmony something like the rustic ballad
Something on Your Mind could still be molded.
U Sound Volume 2 (Usoundarchive, 2002) collects two live performances.
Despite the wealth of instrumentation
(guitars, violins, cellos, sax, reeds, vibes, percussion),
and an increased reliance on Sonic Youth-ian guitar minimalism,
Change (Textile, 2003) is not significantly different than its
predecessors. It is, in fact, more acoustic.
The majestic blues of Everyday and the jazz refraction of
Feast of the Mau-Mau increase the degree of organic structure within
their scientific paradigm.
Our Nakedness Was Our Picket Sign (Cast Exotic, 2003) is a live album.
Jackie-o Motherfucker's female guitarist Honey Owens is also active in
Nudge, a Portland-based trio formed with two members of
Fontanelle, percussionist Paul Dickow and
keyboardist Brian Foote (the project's founder).
They released
Trick Doubt (Outward, 2002)
and
Elaborate Devices for Filtering Crisis (Tigerbeat, 2003),
their first experiments in sculpting
glacial and fragile post-rock structures that share the feeling of being
permanently on the verge of disintegrating.
Nudge's vivisection of sound was continued on
Cached (Kranky, 2005), their most mature statement yet.
Classic Mode straddles the border between lounge soul and acid freak-out,
with its blend of spaced-out guitar distortions, sparse percussion and wavering keyboards;
and it segues into the cosmic/ambient electronica of Standing on Hot Sidewalk.
Juxtaposing the disembodied dub-funk-jazz jam Contact and the
pounding punk-industrial polyrhythms of My New Youth, Nudge keeps
disorienting while "re-orienting" the listener.
Tribal drums and snippets of harmonica form the basis of Remove Ya,
while the components of the ethereal
Parade are even difficult to enumerate, let alone explain.
Blon reveals a bit of the process at work in the other tracks:
the instruments and the rhythm are digitally diluted until all is left is a
shapeless, watery surface of tones that fades away in the void.
No Come Back extends beyong that aesthetics: it works not with a
linear story that must be disassembled into unrecognizable components,
but with the components themselves, used to create a chaotic assembly of
sounds (in this case producing a nightmarish effect).
Foote and his cohorts are somehow the musical analog of "puntillistic"
painting; fucsing on the pixels rather than on the overall picture in order to
produce a different view of the form being painted.
Owens also played guitar in Tra La La with keyboardist Brian Foote.
Owens then hooked up with Yume Bitsu's Adam Forkner and the duo started recordings as World.
Honey Owens' solo albums
Blood Is Clean (2007) and Naked Acid (Kranky, 2008), credited to Valet,
are more experimental than anything she had recorded with other musicians,
especially the second one, an intimate psychedelic nightmare in the vein of
David Crosby or
Bruce Palmer.
The standout is Fire, taken from the eponymous single.
After a 2005 split with
My Cat Is An Alien,
Jackie-O-Motherfucker surprised everybody with a folk album,
Flags Of The Sacred Harp (All Tomorrow's Parties, 2005), including four traditionals.
America Mystica (Very Friendly, 2007) documents four live extended jams
and Freaker Pipe (Unity Sound Archive, 2007) documents three.
The short Valley of Fire (Textile, 2007) contains another colossal jam,
We Are Channel Zero.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Antonio Buono)
Jackie-O Motherfucker è il progetto del polistrumentista Tom Greenwood di base a New York (ex Railroad Jerk). Alchemy (Imp, 1995) e Cross Pollinate (Imp, 1996) ostentano già un’ispirazione schizofrenica che mescola chitarre psichedeliche, country e un’improvvisazione free-jazz, come se Jimi Hendrix suonasse Hank Williams spalleggiato dagli Swell Maps.
Il doppio album Flat Fixed (Imp, 1998) è molto più complesso, grazie all’estensione della line-up (giradischi, ukulele, flauto…) e a jam più estese e rumorose (Wolf Brother Blues, e soprattutto Crazymaker).
Greenwodd si trasferisce poi a Portland (Oregon).
Lo stile jazz-fusion dei primi album viene abbandonato su Fig. 5 (Road Cone, 1999), che segna virtualmente una rinascita del progetto. Il duo e i loro collaboratori improvvisati caricano la musica di elementi di acid-rock, free-jazz, folk, blues, noise-rock, soul, post-rock, country music, electronica, gospel, e con un arsenale più ampio di strumenti. Il vivaio frutta la dissonante e surreale musica da camera Analogue Skillet, il country spettrale Native Einstein, il raga funereo di Your Cells are in Motion, il folk di Beautiful September, e la sovraumana jam di 24 minuti Michigan Avenue Social Club.
Wow (Fisheye, 2000) contiene due lunghe (20 minuti ciascuna) jam ed è probabilmente il loro disco più jazz-oriented.
Gli elementi jazz scompaiono quasi del tutto su Magick Fire Music (Ecstatic Peace, 2000), un viaggio epico che va dal college di rumori alla melanconia ambient à la Godspeed You Black Emperor (The Cage, Jugband 2000, Second Ave).
Wow - Magick Fire Music (All Tomorrow's Parties, 2003) mette insieme i due dischi.
Liberation (Road Cone, 2001 - ATP, 2005) si focalizza sulle tecniche più originali dell’ensamble: il docile sinfonismo di Ray-O-Graph e Peace On Earth. Nonostante l’eccessiva frammentazione del suono, dalle rovine dell’armonia qualcosa tipo la ballata rustica Something on Your Mind si può erigere.
U Sound Volume 2 (Usoundarchive, 2002) raccoglie due esibizioni dal vivo.
A dispetto della dovizia strumentale (chitarre, violini, violoncelli, sax e altri strumenti a fiato, vibrafono, percussioni) e l’incrementato supporto del minimalismo chitarristico in stile Sonic Youth, Change (Textile, 2003) non è molto diverso dai suoi predecessori. È, in realtà, solo più acustico. Il blues maestoso di Everyday e la rifrazione jazz Feast of the Mau-Mau accresce il grado di struttura organica all’interno del loro paradigma scientifico.
Our Nakedness Was Our Picket Sign (Cast Exotic, 2003) è un altro live album.
La chitarrista dei Jackie-o Motherfucker Honey Owens è anche attiva nei Nudge, un trio di base a Portland, formato assieme a due membri dei Fontanelle, il percussionista Paul Dickow e il tastierista Brian Foote (fondatore del progetto). Insieme pubblicano Trick Doubt (Outward, 2002) e Elaborate Devices for Filtering Crisis (Tigerbeat, 2003), i loro primi esperimenti nello scolpire fragili e glaciali strutture post-rock che dividono la stessa sensazione di essere perennemente sull’orlo della disintegrazione.
La vivisezione del suono operata dai Nudge prosegue sul più maturo Cached (Kranky, 2005). Classic Mode sta al confine tra lounge soul e freak-out acido, con la sua mistura di spaziali distorsioni chitarristiche, percussioni sparse e tastiere fluttuanti; e che culmina nell’elettronica ambient/cosmica Standing on Hot Sidewalk. Accostando l’incorporea jam dub-funk-jazz Contact ai martellanti poliritmi punk-industriali di My New Youth, i Nudge non fanno altro che disorientare "ri-orientando" l’ascoltatore. La batteria tribale e i frammenti di armonica formano la base di Remove Ya, mentre le componenti dell’eterea Parade, sono persino difficili da enumerare. Blon svela una parte del lavoro compiuto nelle altre tracce: gli strumenti e il ritmo vengono diluiti finché non resta altro che una superficie liquida, informe di note che affievoliscono nel vuoto. No Come Back va oltre quell’estetica: va avanti non come una storia lineare che deve essere smontata in tante parti irriconoscibili, ma con le parti stesse, usate per creare un montaggio caotico di suoni (in questo caso riproducendo un effetto da incubo). Foote e gregari sono l’equivalente musicale dei pittori "puntinististi": puntando sugli elementi base piuttosto che sulla figura complessiva riproducono una prospettiva diversa della forma che viene disegnata.
Owens suona la chitarra anche nei Tra La La col tastierista Brian Foote.
Dopo uno split coi My Cat Is An Alien, i Jackie-O-Motherfucker sorprendono tutti con un album folk, Flags Of The Sacred Harp (All Tomorrow's Parties, 2005), che include quattro traditional.
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