Label: Lugar Alto – LA-005
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, 45 RPM
Country: Europe
Released: 18 May 2023
Genre: Electronic, Non-Music
Style: Experimental, Ambient
Weird and restless home recordings from São Paulo-based polymath Akira Umeda, captured on cassettes recorded over the past 30 years rescued from the basement of his home.
Brazilian reissue label Lugar Alto continues to veer off into the lesser known corners of it’s home country’s musical past, here now totally ruining us with this 2LP collection of collaged archival works from complete unknown outsider artist Akira Umeda. By the sounds of it Umeda had a colourful life - historian by training, he later became a ceramicist, a photographer, a visual artist, a draftsman, a graphic designer, a DJ, a musician, an audio technician, a writer, a researcher… but certainly a jack of all trades, master of none.
This fidgety nature underpins his musical archive, like a frequency scanner through the mind of an artistic mastermind who quite hasn’t worked out how to properly apply themselves. But despite the scattiness, there’s a consistency to these recordings - cool ’n composed electro pieces that recall Din A Testbild’s instrumentals or more mangled moments that wouldn’t sound out of place on that holy Awa 沫 Foam compilation or nestled into the Vanity Records back catalogue. Although Umeda’s use of humour is what stands him apart from any scene, splicing up and weaving in odd prank calls and non-music as sort of audio happenings. We get the feeling that Umeda never really cared if anyone ever heard what he was doing, it was a compulsion to do something, anything - but we’re so glad that we have. (Mint / New)
Tracklist
A1 A 17:34
B1 B 17:22
C1 C 17:07
D1 D 17:15
