It might be pointless to try to slot them on some hierarchy of noise music legends, but it seems safe to say that Boredoms and Reynols represent two heavyweights of bizarre music, with an outsider existence even amongst their peers. Live at Kanadian pairs Yoshimi and Seiichi Yamamoto, the former a longtime Boredoms member, the latter an alumnus, with Anla Courtis, whose post-Reynols career has resulted in music no less impressive (if somewhat less idiosyncratic) that the output of his former troupe. The disc, recorded live in the winter of 2005, features the trio in rotation, with tracks by each of the three duo possibilities followed up by a full trio set. Anyone with any familiarity with these three knows could likely have predicted that the music they made that night on Osaka isn't anything easily predicted or codified, and Live at Kanadian, in that sense, certainly doesn't disappoint.
No matter the combination of musicians on the disc, the music is raw and jagged, both in terms of recording quality and its overall form. Haphazard abstractionconstitutes much of the disc, though the different combinations musicians come at their sound from different angles. Courtis and Yamamoto make a big mess, which is leavened by the subsequent work between Courtis and Yoshimi, which finds a more meditative plane, largely due to the vocal work of the latter, processed and layered over the scrapes and swoons of Courtis on violin. When the hometown pair of Yamamoto and Yoshimi pair up, the result is perhaps the disc's most interesting track, with searing guitar, minimalist keyboards, and effected squeaks and squeals from Ms. P-We. When the full trio get together for the album's longest track, the proceedings grow more crowded, but never claustrophobic. The twenty-six minute track finds each musician seemingly carving their own path. Yamamoto continues his ragged shredding, and Yoshimi dirfts between vocals and a jumble of keys, with Courtis' contributions at times a background ambiance, at others a forceful fog that threatens to envelop the whole of the sound. With so many wholesale shifts in atmosphere, the track feels longer than it actually is, a quality that can reasonably be assigned to the disc as a whole.
Live at Kanadian packs a punch, though its lack of focus can lessen its power. The fidelity of the recording is another drag on the music's force, but it's not so egregious to dissuade the intrepid listener. There are treasures to be found, but this is the sort of release that doesn't exhibit them openly. Patience is required, but with the three musicians involved, is that much of a surprise?
