Akiyama, Tetuzi – “Striking Another Match ” – [Utech]

Max Level   3/3/2006   A Library, CD

A quirky release indeed. Solo acoustic guitar, with just a tiny bit of vocals, from a live performance in Tokyo, April 2005. Akiyama touches on many different styles, from warm, inviting folkiness to tuneless stoner explorations. Basho meets Kottke meets some weird country-blues guy with a slide. We hear unidentifiable rustling and banging noises, and some tuning up, as well as a couple of interludes in which Akiyama talks to the audience in Japanese. Extremely poor recording quality, but that kind of thing adds to the charm, in my opinion. Much respect to Utech for putting out material like this, warts and all, for no reason other than it deserves to be heard. Limited to 200 copies.