Jackie-O Motherfucker is an American
experimental music
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
group that formed in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
in 1994.
Biography
Jackie-O Motherfucker began as a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist Tom Greenwood and
saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
Nester Bucket. The group is a collective with a shifting membership that has included more than forty members drawn from the U.S. experimental scene.
As of 2008, the core of the group is focused on founding member Greenwood.
Jackie-O Motherfucker embraces free improvisation, drawing from a variety of subgenres including various folk musics of the world (American folk and blues, Native American song, traditional English folk ballads, etc.),
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
,
field recordings
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibrat ...
,
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
,
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
, and
noise rock
Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...
.
The group's first three albums were limited-run vinyl-only releases on now-defunct Portland label Imp Records.
Their first widely distributed album, ''
Fig.5'', was released in 2000 and was followed by a series of recordings, including the more meandering ''Liberation'' and the folk-oriented ''Flags for the Sacred Harp'', which drew from traditional blues and gospel sources.
By this point the group were enjoying a higher profile, including performances at the
ATP festival curated by
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
and
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...
and a cover feature on ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...
''.
Since then, the group has had recordings released by a variety of labels before settling down with the London-based label
Fire Records
Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the la ...
from 2008's ''Blood of Life''.
The group also operates its own label of CD-R live recordings, the U-Sound Archive, which features live recordings from Jackie-O Motherfucker as well as other like-minded artists such as Double Leopards,
Sunroof!, Decaer Pinga, and
Vibracathedral Orchestra
Vibracathedral Orchestra is an England-based drone ensemble that has been active since 1998.
Biography
The group were formed in Leeds in 1998 when Mick Flower, Neil Campbell and Julian Bradley, who had released a number of homemade cassettes ...
.
Discography
*''Alchemy... Shit to Gold'' (1995), Imp Records
*''Cross Pollinate'' (1996), Imp Records
*''Flat Fixed'' (1998), Imp Records
*''WOW'' (1999), Fisheye
*''
Fig.5'' (2000), Road Cone
*''The Magick Fire Music'' (2001), Ecstatic Peace!
*''Liberation'' (2001), Road Cone
*split with
Vibracathedral Orchestra
Vibracathedral Orchestra is an England-based drone ensemble that has been active since 1998.
Biography
The group were formed in Leeds in 1998 when Mick Flower, Neil Campbell and Julian Bradley, who had released a number of homemade cassettes ...
(2001), Textile
*''Change'' (2002), Textile
*''Europe 2002'' live album (2003), Cast Exotic
*''From the Earth to the Spheres Vol. 3'' with
My Cat Is an Alien (2005), Very Friendly
*''Flags of the Sacred Harp'' (2005), ATP Recordings
*''The Grave'' (2006), DotDotDot
*''America Mystica'' (2006), Very Friendly
*''Freaker Pipe'' (2007), U-Sound
*''Valley of Fire'' (2007), Textile Records
*''Fig.5'' (2007), ATP (reissue of 2000 album)
*''The Blood of Life'' Live Album (2008), Fire Records
*''Ballads of the Revolution'' (2009), Fire Records
*''Earth Sound System'' (2011), Fire Records
*''Bloom'' (2018), Textile Records
Members
*Tom Greenwood – guitar, turntables, percussion, vocals
*Eva Salens – vocals, keyboards, viola, tapes
*Nick Bindeman – guitar
*Brian Mumford – guitar, electronics
*Jed Bindeman – drums
Previous members
*Jef Brown – guitar, saxophone
*John Flaming – saxophone
*Nester Bucket – saxophone
*Michael Henrickson – drums
*Jessie Carrot – drums
*Barry Hampton – drums, percussion
*
Adam Forkner
Adam Forkner (born March 27, 1976) is a musician/producer.
Discography
As Airboy Express
* ''LAST STOP BREATH ART'' (2018)
* ''Acrylic Sleep Museum'' (2017)
* ''SUNWINTER'' (2017)
As White Rainbow
* ''ZOME'' (2005)
* ''BOX'' (2006)
* ''Sun Shi ...
– guitar
*
Natalie Mering
Natalie Laura Mering (born June 11, 1988), known professionally as Weyes Blood (pronounced ), is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She was primarily raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She has been performing her own material under ...
– vocals, guitar
*Josh Stevenson – bass, keyboards, guitar
*Theo Angell – vocals, guitars, tapes
*Honey Owens – vocals, guitar, keyboards
*Dana Valatka – drums, electronic percussion, vocals
*Brooke Crouser – guitar
*
Samara Lubelski
Samara Lubelski is an American singer, violinist, guitarist and bassist. She has been a member of numerous bands, including Of a Mesh, Metabolismus, Salmon Skin, the Sonora Pine, Hall of Fame, the Tower Recordings, MV & EE and the Bummer Road, ...
– violin
*
Josh Diamond – guitar
* Andy Cvar
*Jack Denning – bass guitar, synthesizers, 808
References
{{Authority control
American experimental musical groups
American post-rock groups
Musical groups from Portland, Oregon
Musical groups established in 1994
1994 establishments in Oregon
Ecstatic Peace! artists
ATP Recordings artists