Yoko Ono With Yo La Tengo - Live At Glastonbury

Yoko Ono performed with Yo La Tengo at this year's Glastonbury Festival. Apparently this video is getting a lot of hits from sites calling it the "worst live performance ever."

Here is a sample commentary from a site I won't link to:

Oh my god. This is bad. John Lennon is surely turning in his grave, because Yoko Ono just had the worst live performance ever.

When the Plastic Ono Band took stage at Glastonbury, fans gathered all around the stage to watch Yoko perform, but there’s no way they could have predicted the ear-splitting squeals that she "sang" into the microphone.

I don't even know where to start with such ignorance. First off, I'll admit that Yoko Ono is not for all tastes. That is no secret. But the idea that John would be "rolling over in his grave" at this performance is laughable. John loved Yoko and respected her as artist. A lot people never understood that, or simply refused to accept it. But the fact is he was an enthusiastic participant in her musical projects, some of which were actually a lot less accessible than this performance (I've heard Yoko sound way more out-there than this).

And the idea that there is no way fans at the festival could have predicted her "ear-splitting squeals" is equally absurd. Maybe if they were "fans" who had never heard of Yoko Ono and thought they were attending a Miley Cyrus performance they'd be confused, but this is pretty much exactly what anyone with even a passing familiarity with Yoko would expect. And frankly, the audience looks to be very much enjoying what Yoko and Yo La Tengo were laying down.

Yoko Ono doesn't need me to defend her. She is a strong, brilliant woman who for over 80 years has blazed her own path in this world. And she's done so in the face of tragedy and the kind of hostility that would shatter the ego of all but the strongest among us. I salute her.

Also, does anyone know where Ira got that shirt? Because I want one.

Dr. Janet

2007 marks the 17 year anniversary of the only release by indie-rock super-group Dr Janet. I don't think any major commemorative celebrations have been planned, but I could be wrong about that. This was a one off project that featured Gary Lee Connor of the Screaming Trees, Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Matt Sweeney of Skunk, and Lyle Hysen of Das Damen. (Bonus points to the first person who can tell me which one of these guys would go on to record with Johnny Cash). One could think of the group as a Blind Faith or Rhinoceros for the 90s. Actually, I suspect all these guys just happened to be in New York in August of 1990 and someone said "hey, let's make a single."

With it's epic sweep and psychedelic guitar jamming, the A-side "Ten Years Gone" would not have sounded out-of-place on the Screaming Trees' major-label debut Uncle Anesthesia. Connor is not Mark Lanegan's equal as a vocalist, but the track works well enough.

The real treat in my opinion is the B-side, a cover of The Records' power-pop hit "Starry Eyes." The band is smart enough not to muck around with the song's chiming guitars and pop hook too much, while adding just enough wah-wah guitar to distinguish it from the original. It's a nasty kiss-off to a former manager, and Connor's vocals bring the caustic nature of the song to the forefront a bit more than in The Records' version.

The Records' hit version of the song (truly one of the all-time great power-pop anthems) is available on the compilation Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses, while the original demo version can be found on Paying For The Summer of Love. While The Records' Virgin recordings are just fine, I prefer the demos on Summer of Love which capture the band at a time when they still had a strong 60s influence that they largely abandoned in favor of a more contemporary and less-compelling sound on their first album.

As for the Dr. Janet 7" if you want a copy, I suspect eBay is your best bet.