PoiL Ueda (JAP|FRA)Heike-Monogatari (‘The Tale of the Heike’) is a 12th Century Japanese prose epic ostensibly about the struggle between the imperial Heike clan and the Genji clan. It is suffused with allegories of the concepts of duty, fate and (Buddhist) dharma. The tale provides the scene for the meeting of vocalist and satsuma-biwa (Satsuma (region) lute) player Junko Ueda and the organic, free-form delirium of the French experimental rock band PoiL. Together Junko Uedo and PoiL knit the tear between two musical universes together in utterly startling and theatrical ways. Cross-genre pollination and musical drama of a high order.

Photo Paul Bourdrel