Country : Canada Label : Redshift Genres and styles : musique contemporaine Year : 2024

Leslie Uyeda – The Sex Lives of Vegetables

· by Frédéric Cardin

Do vegetables have sex lives? According to poet Lorna Crozier, who has written some fifteen texts for as many representatives of the vegetable world, they certainly do. But be prepared to be amazed by the truculent, funny, allegorical and sometimes rather raw (pun intended…) intercourse descriptions of carrots, radishes, potatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, etc., and even a few intruders like melons. Here are just a few highlights:

Carrots : 

Carrots are fucking 

the earth. a permanent

erection, they push deeper

into the damp and dark

Artichokes : 

Artichokes never

take off their clothes.

They want seduction,

melted butter….

Melons : 

It is waiting for you

to rap on its door

waiting to give you

a juicy hello

                                smack!

right on the lips

a kiss so sweet

you’ll keep coming back

for more

To accompany these earthly frolics, veritable vegan fantasies, Vancouver composer Leslie Uyeda has clothed her pen with sounds adapted to the particular character of each vegetable, at least according to the poet’s interpretation. We move from open sensuality to smiling quirkiness through a modern writing style that is tonally expanded, colourful, inventive and spicy. It’s highly accessible and never lacking in humour, reflecting the very nature of the texts. It’s a lot of fun to discover the seductive underside of this olé olé hedonistic garden, and we fully appreciate the simple and zesty prose. I’d have liked to say that the vocal performance matches Crozier’s smiling genius and Uyeda’s musical infectiousness, but the very broad vibrato (like a pumpkin?) of soprano Heather Pawsy ends up being a bore. It’s a shame, because a more agile voice could make these little gems even more delectable.

Also on the programme are four other texts by Crozier from Apocrypha of Light, about women who have long been silenced and to whom the modern world must give a new voice. The First Woman (think of mythical Eve) dares to evoke rape through lyrical art, proof that the world has evolved to the point where it can cope with such a production. Here, Uyeda’s music is more serious than that of the vegetables, as you might guess. But it is just as beautifully constructed, and very sensitive to the inflections of the text. The album is completed by I Cherish and Honor My Mother, an eight-minute piano piece in tribute to the composer’s mother. 

This is the first full-length album to feature Leslie Uyeda’s music, apparently. We want more.

Latest 360 Content

FIRE! Orchestra at FIMAV: Power Trio Meets Canadian Community of Avant-Garde Players

FIRE! Orchestra at FIMAV: Power Trio Meets Canadian Community of Avant-Garde Players

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

LMNL – Rainbow

LMNL – Rainbow

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Galan Trio – Embrace

Galan Trio – Embrace

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Hypercube – The Force for Good

Hypercube – The Force for Good

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

Duo AYA – Cycles

Duo AYA – Cycles

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Subscribe to our newsletter