Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (CD, LP)

This long-overdue vinyl reissue of Yoko Ono's seminal, but massively under-appreciated Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band has all the makings of a classic rock nostalgia trip:  Ono, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voormann and free-jazz legend Ornette Coleman. All the pieces are here to stir up a dangerous amount of nostalgia. But once the needle drops, the record achieves something exactly perpendicular to nostalgia. Released in 1970, the album not only influenced the approach of other musicians for decades, it also sounds absolutely modern 45 years out, eternally fresh despite the forward march of time. Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band not only predicted the intersection of the avant-garde and rock that would take place in the second half of that decade, the album would sound right at home at where that intersection is happening today. Bonus tracks on the CD and on vinyl download card: “Open Your Box,” “Something More Abstract”, “The South Wind” and never-before-heard “Why (Extended Version).