Following Buh Records’ reissue of two albums by composer, improvisor, cellist, luthier and installation artist Walter Smetak – Smetak (1974) and Interregno (1980) – the Lima based imprint has compiled an anthology of new music inspired by the man and his work. The compilation, titled Objetos Musicais, features 13 artists from Switzerland and South America whose own practices relate to those of Smetak, either through instrument building (Marco Scarassatti, Phillipp Laeng, Maria Anália); a focus on creating hybrid installation sound pieces (Javier Bustos, Álvaro Icaza and Verónica Luyo, Juan Pablo Egúsquiza, Edgardo Rudnitzky); or machine building experiments (Nicole L'Huillier, Zimoun, Cod.Act).

Smetak himself was born to Czech parents in Zurich in 1913. He moved to Brazil in 1937, where he played cello in various orchestras. At the end of the 1950s he started living in Salvador, where he conducted workshops in experimental music at the University of Bahia and established himself as a key figure in the Brazilian avant garde before his death in 1984. The Objetos Musicais tribute to Smetak is released on 30 April as part of Buh Records Festival (28 April–7 May 2021), which has also programmed the presentation of an essay about the composer by Marco Scarassatti, and Smetak: Visionario, a short documentary produced by Buh founder Luis Alvarado. Premiered here is a selection of tracks from the album, including pieces by Brazilian percussionist and instrument builder Maria Anália, Swiss sound art duo Cod.Act, and Chilean multidisciplinary artist Nicole L'Huillier.

Wire subscribers can read Julian Cowley's review of Smetak and Interregno in The Wire 446 via the digital archive.