photo Susaki
TOMO: violin, hurdy gurdy
Cal Lyall: tabletop guitar
Ken Nobunaga: drums
Japanese free psych/drone unit Tetragrammaton is one part '70s free improv (from the school of Kaoru Abe and Masayuki Takayanagi) and one part new millennium blissed-out drone/noise (à la Hototogisu and Vibracathedral Orchestra). With a choice mix of hurdy-gurdy, soprano saxophone, drums, percussion, and (tabletop) guitar, the instrumentation might be well-suited to the folk music of Eastern Europe, but falls more decisively into the camp of Fushitsusha or Borbetomagus. The band has supported the legendary Keiji Haino on several occasions, and frequent guest spots have included Chie Mukai, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Mitsuru Tabata (Acid Mothers Temple, Zeni Geva), Damo Suzuki (ex. Can), and improvising cellist Yasumune Morishige. Forming in 2006 with a bare-bones free improv lexicon, the band has moved towards dense drone-based structures and an increasingly multi-layered approach to thematic development, most evident on their most recent double-CD release from Subvalent, Elegy for Native Tongues. The three members, TOMO, Cal Lyall, and Ken Nobunaga, are also involved in a number of other projects, ranging from harsh noise to world folk music to electronica.