PoiL Ueda – PoiL Ueda

Dur Et Doux

This is an insanely epic affair, a dovetailing of traditional Japanese music and rioting alt-rock enthusiasm divided over two extended suites.

The first, which is a three part opus entitled “Kujô Shakujô”, is a tune based on a Buddhist shomyo chant to ward off evil spirits. The world definitely needs more warding-off-evil’ songs, I’d say, the balance always seems to be frustrated stacked in the negatives’ favour after all; so I’m cranking the volume up on this one, and letting it do its worst.

And boy, it doesn’t disappoint. Junko Ueda’s growing storm of voice is a commanding one, carpeted in this zen-like cleanse. Those satsuma-biwa lunges and glints cavorting your head in tensive free-falls, PoiL’s shadow puppeting sizzle slamming the extra dimension, blubbering out on Zeuhl-like baritones. A mascara weave of bold underlines erupting in predatory-zapping clatter, before star-jumping into the urgent synth and spiralling frets of “Kujô Shakujô Part 2”.

Those King Crimson-esque stabs that follow are ace. A prog-scooped delight hit in crater-like reverberations. The drama is pulling some serious red here, as fisty-cuffed origamis send your ears spinning in mad tangents. Nimble-foots itself into the jingle-jangle joyride of “Kujô Shakujô Part 3” that bratwursts your noggin in savoury wah-ha.

The second suite, “Dan No Ura”, plunges you into the medieval Japanese battle of the same name, a taut reverb / pumped pulse of a track with chaotic outbreaks.

Junko’s impassioned dynamics, jabbering Phew-like, suddenly narrowing the focus to a quiet oasis of temple bells and oriental twang, her lyrically pinned vocal later splatter-caked in explosive verve. A rev whirring illuminati seeking sanctuary once again in a templed tranquillity – her words bracketed by ominous rumbles of bass, and the flickering kick of sporadic Japanese strings.

What a beautifully reactive whole PoiL Ueda is.

-Michael Rodham-Heaps-