Many years ago a young Disaster Amnesiac had an opportunity to travel to Japan. A very fascinating place it was, although my desires to possibly meet with Noise/Avant Garde players did not materialize. Such was not the case for Kelly Churko, Cal Lyall, and Tim Olive. These three Canada-born practitioners of musical experiments involving guitars, electronics and amplified magnetic pickups were established and working on that beautiful island nation when
Lemtat Unit, a document from a live show at SuperDeluxe (what city was/is this venue in?) was recorded in 2014. A very abstract affair from head to tail, the sounds that the trio pulled from their instruments are those of very inward orientation, in that each of these players delves deeply into them for abstract, non-obvious tones and tonalities and timbres. Odd voices glitch and chatter within sound zones that vary from pensive to bombastic. There are actually many spaces featuring tons of silence, especially on side one. The overall sonic environment is one in which Kelly, Cal, and Tim fused the sounds that they were producing into one organic sounding whole. Metallic poles shudder in the halogen lights of urban night. Stars burst and fling effluvia. Granular sonic elements from metals collapse and then regrow from the puddles of their wastage. Ghostly voices hang in the air. Strings chatter and strike and then the entire affair makes a smooth landing at the end of side two, this listener's preferred one.
Lemtat Unit most definitely qualifies as Difficult Music, and Disaster Amnesiac feels certain that its players would not bristle at the characterization. It's tragic that Kelly Churko did not live for long after this meeting with his pals from Moose Jaw and Montreal, and this document of these three dudes throwing down together must be greatly esteemed by Cal Lyall and Tim Olive, along with anyone else that had the privilege of knowing such a creative thinker and player. Listen deeply to this cassette, should you find it.
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