Jackie-O Motherfucker - "Liberation"
(Road Cone 2001, RoCo031)
Jackie-O Motherfucker - "Liberation"
(Road Cone 2001, RoCo031)
From Aural Innovations #18 (January 2002)
Art Ensemble of Chicago, Amon Düül and Can come to mind when listening to Jackie-O Motherfucker's (JOMF) current release Liberation. While not actually being any of these groups, there are shades of influence or at least similarities that this twelve-member collective shares with all of them. "Peace On Earth" is the first track on the 8-song disc that reflects shades of Art Ensemble of Chicago's Bap-tizum release. From there, JOMF's first track can also be likened to Amon Düül's communal jam session recording of the late 60s. A large collection of artists/friends banging out individual patterns of sound that communicates strictly with themselves. "Tea Party" has shades of Can's title track Future Days; it has a subtle and mysterious flow with female spoken parts that is very fluid and rather inviting. Lastly, the final track on Liberation titled "Pray" almost appears to give ode to Neu! The formula for this piece is basic bass riffs and drumming for a thick consistent underlying texture with primarily dynamic guitar playing and microtonal instruments to give the entire piece different directions to keep it evolving; though this piece doesn't change or evolve at a sporadic pace, it provides a continual growth of music that has a minimalist, improvisational Kraut-jazz aesthetic. For new listeners of JOMF "Tea Party" and "Pray" are diverse and listenable songs to choose from without immediately isolating a new audience; if a new listener then begins to feel adventurous, then share with them "Peace On Earth." Liberation is an overall solid effort on the behalf of the JOMF collective and worth taking the time to listen to.
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Reviewed by Rashad Salahuddin