(2-LP + Digital download) Formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994 by multi-instrumentalists Tom Greenwood and Jef Brown, and drawing inspiration from a multitude of sources (jazz, Appalachian folk, soul, African-American spirituals, west coast surf-rock, Protestant hymns, Louisville post-rock, bluegrass, electronic noise) and an ever changing roster of members, JOMF somehow manages to use this eclecticism to their advantage, creating a sound that functions as a cohesive whole. The critically acclaimed Fig. 5, originally released in 2000 on Road Cone, is a kind of dreamlike journey through the past and future of the American song.
Such diverse offerings as the opening "Analogue Skillet", the prison camp work song "Go Down, Old Hannah", or the 24-min "Michigan Avenue Social Club", become the inherent pieces of a unified manifesto.