Takashi Ueno / Sui-gin

Ueno, along with his partner Saya, is one of the core members of Tenniscoats, who’ve released a number of fantastic discs of straight-up melodic to the core sing-songing joy. 2007 saw the release of Tenniscoat’s ‘Totemo Aimasho’ for ROOM40 and ‘Tan Tan Therapy’ for H醇Bpna/Headz.

In addition to his contributions to the Tenniscoats mothership, Ueno has released a string of solo releases, most of which explore his engaging approach to the guitar. ‘Two Things Always Happen Simultaneously’ released in 2003 on Majikick as a cdr and then re-issued two years later as a ‘proper’ cd on Commune-Disc lays the foundations. Whilst its more explicitly a guitar record than whats goes down on Sui-Gin, the Fahey-esque finger-picking that would otherwise plant him firmly within the Takoma school (Ueno‘s cat is not called ‘Fahey’ without reason) is wilfully offset by Ueno’s technique of recording multiple overdubs without recourse to the original.

There might be a little of that on ‘Sui-Gin’ (Japanese for mercury), too. Either way, there is an ongoing slippage between intention and accident in the complex mesh of notes, and Ueno sends himself further away from any superficial 12-string takoma purism by plugging his guitar into a moog ring-mod and completing erasing its original sound. What you hear on ‘sui-gin’ is 9 tracks of alien beauty that sit somewhere between Derek Bailey and Mouse on Mars’ ‘Instrumentals’ lp.

Takashi Ueno plays 12 string acoustic guitar & Moog ring modulator.

Recorded in Tokyo to four-track cassette. Transfer by John Chantler.
Mastered by Lawrence English.
Artwork by Hiraku Suzuki, layout by John Chantler.