(Vital Weekly) Churko passed away in 2014, and he was from Canada, a guitarist who moved to Tokyo. The other two are also former Canadians living in Japan. Lyall is also a guitar player, “focusing on improvisation, spatialization and urban noise”, and Olive “uses magnetic pickups to amplify the inner voices of metal objects”. ‘Lemtat Unit’ was recorded “at Ochiai Soup in 2014, shortly after a trio performance at SuperDeluxe”, and I am not sure why that was mentioned. The recording was recently unearthed and consists of thirty minutes of music, chopped up into many smaller pieces. It doesn’t sound like a live recording, but come to think of it, maybe it’s not a live recording at all. There is an excellent interaction going on here between the two guitarists, whose instruments we recognise most of the time, but it’s Olive who adds a level of abstraction to the pieces. He uses his magnetic pick-ups to sing, hum, bending and droning his sounds backwards over and turn them inside out, whereas the guitars buzz and scratch, and sometimes try to emulate what Olive is doing; or that’s what I gather from this. The music is loud but not all too noisy (as in distortion galore). There’s a distinct, direct-in-your-face sound here, with effects notably absent. Lovely stuff! - Frans de Waard
(Bad Alchemy) Lemtat Unit (eh?132, C-32) von SUPERTOQUE ist ein Mitschnitt dessen, was Kelly Churko (1977-2014) und Cal Lyall mit Electric Guitar & Electronics und Tim Olive mit Magnetic Pickups & Electronics am 14.10.2011 in Tokyo gespielt haben. Churko, seit 2001 ein Viertelsjapaner und 2009 sogar Teil vom Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo und von Natsuki Tamuras First Meeting, war in Palimpsest und Nikka-sen mit Lyall verbunden, einem kanadischen Ex-Pat in Tokyo, und in Toque mit Olive, der, ebenfalls Kanadier, seit Jahren in Kobe ansässig ist. Ihre gemeinsamen Nenner sind Noise und harsche, krätzige, turbulent tachistische Action. Stellenweise wird zwischen wetzenden, klopfenden Gesten und federnden, knirschenden Geräuschen plastisch, dass Saiten im Spiel sind, geplinkt, mit wer weiß was gerieben, öfters jedoch garstig traktiert. Wummrige und drahtige Drones werden von gehacktem, gescharrtem, knurschigem Krach akzentuiert und konterkariert. Dennoch wirkt das weniger aggressiv als wie der Einklang mit der japanischen Sensibilität für die harten, rauen, rissigen Aspekte der Realität. - Rigo Dittmann
(The Wire) Archival release by this Tokyo based trio comprised of three expat Canadians (hence the unit's name, toque being the Canadian term for a tight woollen cap). On this 2014 session, Supertoque are made up of Tim Olive on magnetic pick-ups attached to various objects, alongside Cal Lyall and the late Kelly Churko on guitars and clutter. There are hints that a guitar or two might be employed somewhere inside their sonic constructions, but that is mostly due to some hovering string sounds that emerge now and then. - Byron Coley
(Raised by Cassettes) This cassette begins with some harsh sounds, which can sound like a balloon about to pop but also just that rubbing and scraping which feels painful. Into some quieter strings now and this feels minimal but also like we're in space. A slow moan comes from behind it all, like a monster lurking. There is a strong sound now, as if we are searching for radiation, but then there is also that crackle which could be any number of things. Tones slowly drone in now as well. Sounds like electronic shocks come through now, as if we're being struck by lightning and then there is this rumbling in the background. The electricity coming through here is strong and it feels violent. It can feel as if we are turning that dial of radio static now. Slower now, the sounds come through more isolated, more fragmented. We go into this quieter whirr now, which is just slowly building. A static force pushes through and I hear a jangle like a guitar. A repeating echoing, like sonar, comes through as that balloon feeling continues. The two sounds trade off, perhaps trying to communicate with one another. A lower echo now, just rippling through. Bass-like notes come out now. Some beeping behind this now as well. Crunchy. Then into that rolling and expansion of glass. There is that sound of a ball bouncing and rattling around, which reminds me of pinball. All goes quiet and then returns with a buzz like a fly. High pitched notes join in. Church bells also chime in. It all comes down into a bang, like a storm, but then those glitching electronics return for one last stand as well, seemingly wiping out everything in their path as the first side comes to an end. A light ringing into a guitar makes me think of a telephone with some scraping going on behind it. The ringing continues with some sliding and this just feels like the two sounds are working together now on the second side. It's that single, solid note coming through with all of the chaos surrounding it. Into darker hallways now, footsteps echo. There is a moaning, as if we are going deep into a pit of despair. Tone hues come through and we can just as easily feel like we're riding a wave. Quieter now, a low rumbling begins. Sounds enter now, almost robotic, to fill the void. A scraping. This has all become quite minimal. A glowing hue now can begin to make this feel alien. Start and stop mechanics now allow that alien hue to persist until we get this squeaky sound, which could be cleaning, like wiping a glass window, or just the turning of a wheel. Isolated tones strike down now, one by one, and they can even resemble strings being plucked to the point that they break. An ambient whirr comes in as well. This can become hypnotic in its own way, but then those notes being struck will break your gaze. As it feels like we are striking something down, in comes the ruffling of papers. This all becomes very intense and then grows louder as well. It softly goes down then slowly builds back up right before the end. - Joshua Macala
(Felt Hat Reviews)There is not even one day in the whole year's calendar that I don't miss a few people who had a great influence on me and passed away. One of them is Kelly Churko - an accomplished improvisor who also happened to be a great guitar player. Luckily we have some excellent archive recordings and a pretty vast discography. And here goes one of those which he recorded with Cal Lyall and Tim Olive in Ochiai Soup in Tokyo from October 2011 and now coming to you via Bryan Day's Public Eyesore on cassette. It is an almost 30 minute set divided between side A and B full of guitar and electronic noise - sometimes drifting towards scratchy and itchy noise, sometimes very poetic divergence set into an landscape of delayed shards. Long enough to keep you amused and admire the nuances and details, Short enough to think how soon people we love pass away and leave materials like this which still rock and still work to the advantage of curiosity. An excellent memory... - Hubert Heathertoes
(Disaster Amnesiac) 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. - Mark Pino
