The album Selected Recordings from Grapefruit by Yoko Ono takes listeners back to a bygone era — wrapped in a contemporary soundscape.
In her early years, Yoko Ono was deeply involved in experimenting with music and sound as a form of art. It was precisely from that creative period that Selected Recordings from Grapefruit by Yoko Ono emerged. The background of this project is explored in detail in an extensive and fascinating article available here.
In short, during the 1950s and 1960s, Ono wrote a series of so-called instruction pieces — short works that consisted of instructions for a performer to interpret and execute. A large number of these typed cards were compiled into a 1964 book titled Grapefruit, of which only 500 copies were printed — making it a true collector’s item today.
Fast forward to 2025 — or rather 2024, when the Swedish ensemble The Great Learning Orchestra recorded an album inspired by Ono’s original Grapefruit instructions. The result is an extraordinary release that finally saw the light of day this year.
As noted in the article, this recording will produce sounds through your hi-fi system that you’ve most likely never heard before. The album is available on vinyl and CD, and can also be streamed conveniently via for example Tidal (see the screenshot above).