PoiL Ueda is the result of a collaboration between Junko Ueda, a vocalist and satsuma-biwa player from Japan, and PoiL, a French rock/contemporary music band. The music is based on the 13th-century Japanese epic tale “Heike-Monogatari.”
Vocalist Junko Ueda is an eminent figure of the Japanese medieval epic storytelling, whose warm and profound voice summons terrestrial energies, meeting with the organic madness of the monster PoiL, who create cosmic rock without a safety net.
Buddhist chants practiced by monks to ward off evil spirits meet legends of ancient naval battles and the grievous decline of empires. Junko’s stories surf freely on PoiL’s tumultuous waves pulsing with brashness and precision.
The compositions are based on traditional epic singing accompanied by the satsuma-biwa and Buddhist Shomyo chant. Through the fusion of an ancient Japanese traditional music with a hyper modern European musical formation, this project offers the opportunity to discover a unique musical universe.
An innovative performance where PoiL’s unrestrained experimental rock blends with the mellow and sinuous voice, compelling narrative, and remarkable charisma of Junko Ueda.
Defiantly original duo Witch ‘n’ Monk combine Mauricio Velasierra’s radically electrified Latin American flutes, with Heidi Heidelberg’s jazz-punk guitar/bass and anarchic soprano vocals. The music travels seamlesly from structured arrangements to wild improvisations, using a myriad of control pedals and labyrinthine signal paths to orchestrate live. The essence of their collaboration is encapsulated in the name; dark/light, feminine/masculine, punk/Romantic. Creating contrast is fundamental to their work and thus they tread upon the edges of genres. Celebrated in jazz, contemporary classical and DIY music scenes they have played prestigious venues and festivals such as the Royal Festival Hall, Berlin, London and Umea Jazz Festivals and Paris’ La Cigale.
Their latest album was released on John Zorn’s legendary Tzadik Records in 2020 to critical acclaim. It was named Contemporary Album of the Month by The Guardian and received the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
“Blending Latin American flutes, electronics, complex vocal lines with a touch of Frank Zappa lyricism and a radical punk aesthetic, the duo of Heidi Heidelberg and Mauricio Velasierra crafts a dramatically bizarre vocal music from another dimension! Intertwining dark/light, feminine/masculine, composed/improvised and punk/romantic, dreamlike improvisations are sampled, manipulated and reinvented through the lens of contemporary music and pop. You have never heard anything quite like Witch ’n’ Monk!” – John Zorn
Photo Credit: Paul Bourdrel
https://soundcloud.com/bitch-n-monk
https://poil.bandcamp.com/album/poil-ueda
https://youtu.be/cglVyEFzeZY?si=NZrShFdDjw6a0-QC
Fluid Form Club w/ PoiL Ueda x Witch ‘n’ Monk
10.11.2023 | Doors 20:00 | Starts 20:30 CET
Kantine am Berghain | Am Wriezener Bahnhof | 10243 Berlin
fluidformclub.net | Event @ Facebook | Tickets
