Rising (1995)

This is fully equipped with the usual caterwauling and yelping, particularly on the lengthy title track, though infinitely mellowed and sharpened as the times had finally caught up to her sound, her instincts and vision. Furthermore, it comes with a working band, IMA (Japanese for "now"), which includes son Sean playing guitar. And a fine band it is too, as you can hear. I was fortunate enough to be able to see them play a small club in Seattle in 1996 in support of this, and in many ways the whole thing was a perfect comedy of mutual admiration, soft and warm as a holiday with loved ones, the love flowing freely and from all sides. First there were the members of the audience marveling simply at being there, in the immediate vicinity of and actually standing in the wash of sound as it occurred, pouring from this tiny middle-aged Japanese woman who stepped to the microphone in all the din and chaos and let it rip. And Sean, of course—why, he looks like both of them! We were like ridiculous doting relatives. But the supremely comical moment was when Soundgarden's Kim Thayil was invited onstage to stand in for a couple of numbers. And there was Sean—what? 21 at the time?—gaping at a hero the way we had been gaping at him and his mother. Soundgarden! Seattle! Yoko Ono! Those sounds! That thundering rhythm section! Heavy chords! Screech! On and on it went. What a lovely night.