Blueprint for a Sunrise
Consider Yoko Ono's historical plight: is she a pioneering musical  avant-gardist or a pretentious opportunist? But if Ono is concerned about that  disparate legacy, there's little evidence on this 2001 release. Indeed, 30 years  of history be damned, the Ono ofBlueprintstill seems consumed by agit- prop feminism and instinctive angst. The pulsing two-part soundscape "I Want You  to Remember Me" descends from threatening dialog in its first act to harrowing  violence in the second. If there are frequent bowings to more traditional song  forms (the playful, star-struck pop of "Wouldnit 'Swing'," "Is This What We  Do"'s Spanish-inflected boomer rock, the Caribbean rhythms of "I'm Not Getting  Enough"), their rhetoric generally leaves little doubt that woman is still the  nigger of Ono's world. While her late husband's influence can be felt on the  spare "Soul Got out of the Box" and the anthemic "I Remember Everything," the  epic live improvisatory workouts "Rising II" and "Mulberry" that consume nearly  half the album pay ample tribute to Ono's own provocative musical impulses. And  while her id-clearing screeches and tortuous throat-warbling are trademarks  claimed as inspiration by theB-52'sand others, they won't do much to dissuade cynics  convinced the artist owes at least some small debt to the Looney Tunes sound  effects department. Let the debate begin.--Jerry McCulley