{"title":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNyege Nyege Tapes is a Kampala based label that is dedicated to exploring, producing, and releasing outsider music from around the region. With a focus on showcasing unique and innovative sounds, this label has become a prominent platform for emerging artists in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFounded by *Arabs Are Not Funny* and *Otim Alpha*, Nyege Nyege Tapes has quickly gained recognition for its commitment to pushing boundaries and challenging traditional norms. The label's diverse roster includes talented musicians such as *Slikback*, *Kampire*, and *MC Yallah*, who have all made significant contributions to the global music scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough their distinctive sound and artistic vision, Nyege Nyege Tapes continues to redefine genres and break down barriers. By providing a platform for underrepresented voices in the music industry, this label has become an influential force in promoting cultural exchange and fostering creativity.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"we-represent-billions","title":"We Represent Billions","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt's hard to believe it's taken this long for a proper retrospective of legendary Los Angeles collective CVE. \u003ci\u003eWe Represent Billions\u003c\/i\u003e is a crucial portrait of one of the West Coast's most low-key influential crews - a hydra-like collective of rappers, producers, designers and engineers who were key members of the Good Life Cafe's open mic scene, going on to inspire artists like Jurassic 5, Kendrick Lamar amongst many others. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInitially called Chillin Villain Posse before morphing into Chillin Villain Empire in the late 1980s, they eventually centred around the core trio of Riddlore, NgaFsh and Tray-Loc. The crew were years ahead of their time, self-producing music without samples and pioneering a stream of consciousness lyrics that still sound fresh and innovative. CVE were self-sufficient and motivated from the beginning, named \"Chillin Villains\" because that's how they were perceived by white America. This social motivation was channelled into their groundbreaking performances at Good Life Cafe, the South Central session that evolved into Project Blowed and later on came to influence LA club night 'Low End Theory'. On \u003ci\u003eWe Represent Billions\u003c\/i\u003e, we're treated to a snapshot of the CVE sound from 1993-2003, their most prolific era. The retrospective collects music from the handful of albums the crew released on their own Afterlife Recordz label (mostly as limited edition CD-R's) plus many previously unreleased tracks and highlights their untethered eccentric creativity and sheer breadth of influence.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50383245312331,"sku":"1154639","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Gold | LP","offer_id":50383245443403,"sku":"1154640","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bfae5144-1e3b-4b82-b903-b18dde5f3aca_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726265923"},{"product_id":"inventor-vol-1","title":"Inventor Vol 1","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first in a four-volume retrospective of Kuduro and tarraxinha pioneer DJ ZNOBIA. Incoming unto the world for a very long time from the musseke of Rangel, home of Casa da Mé\u0026amp;e Ju, in the Angolan capital o Ldanda, one if not the pivotal visionary of his country’s music electronic and digital modernism DJ Znobia, o\/fum\/an inventor. Usually considered the first purveyor of the fluency regarding tarraxinha (drinking in its foundational slow shuffle from the city of Benguela), as well as a main player in free thinking, spontaneous, funny, depressive, silly, melancholic, hilarious all encompassing beats within kuduro, batida, techno and beyond, his influence as a producer, DJ, MC and public fiuce has had a great imprint in Angolan culture for the better part of the last three ecades. This venture went through over 700 tracks of his archive (more than double are lost in the meantime between his and the NNT library) in order to collaboratively select a fiercely representative albeit balanced affair from his production, between instrumentals for sung kuduro, instrumental kuduro\/batida, sung and instrumental tarraxinha, and other creative styling from the late 90’s to the mid 2000’s. Forms now heard around the world which started here, with Znobia a decisively influential contributor, along with several of his peers and collaborators, which will be also in evidence in this four volume retrospective. His story is way too far flung for this endeavor to try and make a simple narrative out of it. You have to be him, you have to be within this territory, and we ask of the people who will approach to ask him what has happened with the history of this music and what is the current reality at ground zero Luanda, as he is a mirror and visionary of its streets, in a country with such complicated dynamics and brutal treatment of its citizens. To try to put in a clean slate for this conversation, let’s talk to a genius of street music. Your question. First, here's the opening collection of what we have to share with you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50393829638475,"sku":"2051302","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/DJ_Znobia_-_Inventor_Vol_1_07ade1bf_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726428206"},{"product_id":"early-instrumentals","title":"Early Instrumentals","description":"\u003cp\u003eHaving toured the world with Mczo and been at the helm of his own studio Pamoja Records since he was just 18, influential Singeli producer Duke, now 25, is one of Tanzania's busiest club alchemists. On his acclaimed solo debut \"Uingizaji Hewa\" we were introduced to his idiosyncratic \"hip-hop Singeli\" sound, a slower cousin to the Dar Es Salaam-rooted hard 'n fast club template that takes as much special sauce from Busta Rhymes and Eminem as it does the 200BPM clatter of genre veterans Jay Mitta and Sisso. On September's \"Sounds Of Pamoja,\" we were treated to a closer look into Duke's studio, and specifically at his work with the city's best young MCs like Dogo Kibo, Pirato MC and MC Kuke. \u003ci\u003eEarly Instrumentals\u003c\/i\u003e allows us to witness the depth of Duke's evolution with a selection of unearthed genre melting Singeli mutations laid completely bare without vocals. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis 11-track set features some of his most arresting hybrid dance music yet, expressing his visionary fusion of contemporary rave sounds, US rap attitude, and Tanzanian dance history. While the roots of Singeli are in taraab, a popular fusion of East African and Middle Eastern traditional dance rhythms and melodies, Duke steers the sound into a synth-led, syncopated firework display that sounds spry and futuristic. Centred around a bumping staccato melody and urgent synth strings 'Dukelo Fl Sing' echoes the lo-swung swagger of early Dr. Dre productions, but kicks the tempo into overdrive, decorating any gaps with flickering late-nite synths. 'Beat Kali Duke' meanwhile drives carnival trance leads through hard and fast rolls of kick drums, whistles and woodblock cracks. It's not all completely high speed either: 'Duke Selecta' is almost afro-house, with slow, sexy bass and woozy vocal melodies, and 'KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK' absorbs the propulsive spirit of South African gqom. \u003ci\u003eEarly Instrumentals\u003c\/i\u003e is the most varied picture we've been presented yet of Duke's rousing dance cocktail. IT's a physical call to action that assures listeners the genre is for movement, not headphone listening. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50395073478987,"sku":"2078679","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Duke_-_Early_Instrumentals_096f632f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726454278"},{"product_id":"bubbling-inside-4","title":"Bubbling Inside","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1980s, as techno and house made its way around Europe, mutating as it hopped from city to city, one young DJ from Curacao made a mistake that would inspire a brand new sound. While he was performing at Den Haag's Club Voltage, DJ Moortje accidentally dropped a dancehall track at 45RPM rather than 33, and let it play out. Thirsty for a hi-NRG sound, the crowd loved the squeaky vocals and rapid beat, and bubbling (or bubbling house) was born. For the next couple of decades, bubbling was a crucial part of Holland's Afro-diasporic club landscape. And as a new generation of wide-eyed young DJs and producers began to take the reins, it evolved accordingly. In the late-2000s, Den Haag-based teenage prodigy Guillermo Schuurman followed in the footsteps of his uncle DJ Chippie (one of the genre's co-founders) and cousins DJ Daycard, DJ Master-D, Stiko Jnr and DJ Justme, and began performing and writing beats. Using Fruityloops, he fused familiar bubbling rhythms with rap and R\u0026amp;B samples, trance synths and electro house wobbles, and his tracks quickly became a regular fixture on the Dutch circuit. \"Bubbling Inside\" is a collection of Schuurman's most essential cuts from the era (2007-2009), with a couple of newer productions added for context. Crafted solely for the dance, most of these tracks were never properly released and have been painstakingly hunted down and collected by the Nyege Nyege Tapes together with Sascha Roth from Pantropical in Rotterdam and De Schuurman himself. Hearing them together highlights just how forward thinking the young producer was, steering a Dutch institution into the future. 2008's 'First One' is a proto-Berghain belter, with booming bass-heavy kicks underpinning the kind of cheeky melodies that remain the calling card of the genre. 'Pier Je Bil!!' ratchets up the tempo, twisting bubbling's syncopated dancehall kicks into a rapid-fire club clatter and decorating them with steel-pan melodies. Elsewhere, 2019's 'Domina' shows how Schuurman's production style has developed as he mutates trap percussion, dubstep bass and eerie synth textures, while retaining the DNA of bubbling. \"Bubbling Inside\" is a testament to the evolution of the bubbling genre, as witnessed by one of its most visionary producers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50395541209419,"sku":"2148644","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50395541045579,"sku":"2148641","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/De_Schuurman_-_Bubbling_Inside_06dcb36c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726467196"},{"product_id":"n-djila-wa-mudjimu","title":"N'Djila Wa Mudjimu","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2003, Pisco Crane assembled a six-piece band from motivated and talented like minds in the Kinshasa slums where he grew up. Pisco had been involved with a handful of local rap acts when he was younger, but after meeting legendary instrument builder Bebson De La Rue, he was inspired to follow a new path. He set about building instruments from the discarded trash that surrounded his city: bits of old computers or oil cans were fashioned into bass guitars and drums, and keyboards were bashed together using springs, metal pipes, and offcuts of tubing. If there was a core philosophy that guided Pisco at this stage in his journey, it was that everyone should have access to instruments, no matter where they come from or what their budget might be. And following in the footsteps of Bebson, Pisco locked into a Congolese tradition that touches on the eccentric genius of globally lauded artists like Konono Nº1 and Staff Benda Bilili. Over the years, Fulu Miziki's notoriety grew in the Kinshasa underground – their utopian vision of the future was infectious. Eventually, they were joined by performance artist, sculptor and fashion designer Lady Aisha, who offered the band unique colour and a soulful central focus. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInfluenced by Kinshasa's street performance scene, Aisha helped the band devise vivid masks and costumes that were as electric and singular as the instruments they played, and the scene was set. In 2020, as the world was plunged into lockdown, footage of Fulu Mziki went viral and their star began to grow exponentially, with a video of the band preforming the track 'Tikanga' racking up millions of views on Facebook. The band used this opportunity to work on documenting their sound, and shored up at the Nyege Nyege studios in Kampala for a year to assemble a definitive album. Recorded by HHY \u0026amp; The Macumbas' Jonathan Saldanha, this record captures the band's furiously innovative mixture of industrial sonics, spiritual jazz, punk, and Congolese soukous pressure. At their best, Fulu Mziki sound almost completely out of time, curving pounding rhythms around microtonal clanks, rousing chants and spiky sonics. On 'Mutangila', there's a hint of disco in the 4\/4 stomp, but it's been shifted into a post-punk ritual, adorned with complex bell percussion and overlapping vocals. 'Congo' is even harder to define; electrified buzzes form a bassline, but it's the mindboggling rhythms that shuttle the track into psychedelic realms, led confidently by Lady Aisha's limber rhymes. Fulu positively slither on the sultry, industrial-influenced 'Sebe', while 'Tikanga' reminds of Congo's rumba-derived soukous traditions, materializing the sounds into the future with tight, pounding percussion and head-melting fx. The story of Fulu Miziki is sprawling and complex and constantly evolving, with various offshoots and band iterations. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo members left the band in 2016 to form KOKOKO! with French producer Débruit. Not long after they recorded this magnum opus album, several other original members left to form a similarly named outfit currently based in Europe. This other incarnation recently released an EP of electronic productions without the band founder Pisko Crane and lead vocalist Lady Aicha, on the UK based Moshi Moshi records. Pisco and Lady Aicha currently lead a different outfit in Kinshasa made up of completely new musicians. This full-length is the remaining proof of Fulu Mziki at their most vital and most complete – it won't be repeated – and can never be recreated. It's an essential portrait of one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's most innovative contemporary outfits, and some of the most surprising hybrid music you're likely to hear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50396815229259,"sku":"1168045","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ca401121-c775-49a2-ae6f-182ca61ec01e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726485618"},{"product_id":"izigqinamba","title":"Izigqinamba","description":"\u003cp\u003eJesse Hackett returns with another unclassifiable co-mingling of genres, this time made in collaboration with Durban-based gqom trio Phelimuncasi. The group met up in Nyege Nyege's Kampala studio last year, spending three days engineering a sequence of tracks that turned the acts' respective sounds inside out, stretching urgent vocals over mutating backdrops of time stretched electronic drums, saturated noise and unstable synths. We last heard from Hackett on last year's chilling 'Shadow Swamps', a chilly, surrealist blast of disembodied folk folk and vintage electronics that added a cinematic twist to industrial music. Phelimuncasi meanwhile followed their acclaimed debut with the enormous 'Ama Gogela', asserting their dominance with tight, dancefloor-fwd, hook-led jams produced by some of the scene's most important beatmakers. In collaboration, both Metal Preyers and Phelimuncasi materialized a few worlds outside their comfort zones, with the Durban trio's words frothing from Hackett's marshy productions like echoes from another universe. Opening track 'Gidigidi ka Makhelwane' erupts in a fizz of beatbox percussion that loops noisily alongside Makan Nana, Khera and Malathon's stirring vocals, delivered in their local isiZulu tongue. Hackett's process is relatively restrained, offering Phelimuncasi the space to work their rousing magic unimpeded and adding punctuation where necessary. But when he takes more of a destructive role, it's just as impressive: on 'Gqom slowgen Chant', he corrupts his rhythm into a ritualistic pulse, letting the trio's words melt into metallic clicks and nauseous atmospheres. Elsewhere on 'Mgiligi wableka', Phelimuncasi's words create a rousing rhythm against a low-n-slow gqom thud from Hackett, and on 'Coffin Roller' he brings to mind '80s video nasty soundtracks, toying with analog synth sequences against Makan Nana, Khera and Malathon's distant chants. 'Like A Corpse' might be the album's most hollowed-out banger, turning the beat into a chopped 'n screwed drag that scrapes clamorously against Phelimuncasi's gurgling raps. Needless to say, there's nothing else like this.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50415154364747,"sku":"2174067","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Phelimuncasi__Metal_Preyers__Izigqinamba_f6802d65_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726687922"},{"product_id":"molende","title":"Molende","description":"\u003cp\u003eTiti Bakorta almost didn't make it. Born in and raised in Kinshasa, the Congolese multi-instrumentalist was on his way to Uganda when he fell off the boat as it traversed the mighty Congo River. Unable to swim, Bakorta was saved by a friend who dragged him to the closest city Kisangani, where he was unexpectedly acquainted with local singer Dancer Papalas. Soon they were performing in bands together, travelling across the continents and settling in Tanzania, South Sudan and Dubai - they even appeared in front of General Defao, the beloved Congolese vocalist who fronted legendary soukous bands Grand Zaiko Wawa, Choc Stars and Big Stars. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow based in Kampala, Bakorta offers his own unique take on Congolese pop and folk sounds, weaving traditional elements through a psychedelic lattice of guitar loops, mangled voices and eccentric beatbox rhythms on his debut full-length. He bends woodblock snaps on 'Kop' into stuttered blurs, wailing emotionally over twanging riffs and bizarre, theatrical xylophone twinkles. It's still pop music on some level, but curved around Bakorta's unwieldy personal narrative - there's a sense that everything could unravel at any time but it all hangs together, strengthened by Bakorta's confident, contemporary production smarts. 'Elles Vais' is more airy, with celestial soukous vocals that float above tight, electronic drums. Tangled guitar echoes overlap each other like dense, weaved tapestries, contrasting perfectly with Bakorta's urgent, driving pulse. Occasionally, he transcends completely, like on \u003ci\u003eMolende\u003c\/i\u003e where his chants and phrases neatly flutter between praise music and contemporary R\u0026amp;B. \"Hustling, hustling, hustling, everyday I'm hustling,\" an angelic voice coos over phased electric guitar plucks and looped, AutoTuned chorals. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt makes perfect sense that Bakorta should team up with Metal Preyers' Jesse Hackett on the album's final track, the aptly-titled 'Titis Haunted House'. The two artists share a similar obsession with moonlit, carnivalesque soundscapes, and Hackett's eerie synths provide a suitably eccentric foundation for Bakorta's ghostly wails and fuzzy guitar sounds. This closes an album that's able to flaunt Congolese pop and folk sounds behind a vivid gauze of inventive production and songwriting quirks, introducing one of the country's most innovative talents.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRIYL - Panda Bear, Voice of the Seven Woods, Mammane Sanni Abdoulaye.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50443254006091,"sku":"2047873","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Titi_Bakorta__Molende_259ed6f1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727011442"},{"product_id":"sator-arepo","title":"Sator Arepo","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Sator Arepo, or Sator Square, is an ancient word puzzle comprising five palindromes that's etched on various historical sites throughout the Western world. Its origins are unknown, but the square has long been thought to hold magical properties, used as a charm against illness and evil, to cure insanity or to determine whether someone was guilty of witchcraft. Self-styled \"punk ethnomusicologist\", acoustician and musician Julien Hairon uses this mystical symbol as the starting point for his debut Judgitzu album in an attempt to reconnect with his Celtic heritage, exploring how its hallowed messages might harmonize with contemporary Tanzanian dance music. Hairon has been traveling across the world for over a decade, collecting field recordings from countries such as Indonesia, Australia, Cambodia, China and Bangladesh, and presenting them on his Les Cartes Postales Sonores label, re-issuing any curious cassettes and CDs he came across on the PetPets' TAPES imprint. It was during this time that he became fascinated by rituals that involved spirits, prompting him to examine his own ancestry when he returned to Brittany. \"Many artifacts in the landscape remain,\" Hairon explains, \"and the power of spirits is still palpable.\" He represents this Celtic mysticism on 'Sator Arepo' with murky drones and magickal synth tones, using xenharmonic scales (tuning outside of standard 12-tone equal temperament) that reach back to the ancient world. These sounds are augmented with fast-paced, sci-fi rhythms informed by his time in Tanzania; \"Singeli has contaminated me,\" admits the producer. The most astonishing example of this is 'Miracle', a thrusting soundsystem experiment that layers serpentine, bagpipe-esque electronic wails over extravagant clusters of blocky percussion. Driven by the frenetic 175BPM pulse that echoes through the streets of Dar Es Salaam - popularized globally by forward-thinking producers like Sisso, Duke and Jay Mitta - Hairon opens up a rare conversation, seeking to draw parallels between today's most urgent dance forms and the archaic rituals of antiquity. On 'Vitalimetre', Hairon drives his sonic palette into the red, harmonizing with Dutch hardstyle and gabber, and splaying distorted drones over maddeningly blown-out kicks and ratcheting percussion. 'L'or Des Fous' takes a more meditative route, prioritizing Hairon's eccentric tonality with expressive sheets of pitch-warped sound that ghost walk across energized, rattling beats. If you heard Hairon's last Judgitzu release 'Umeme \/ Kelele', described by Boomkat as \"one of 2019's deadliest dancefloor sessions,\" then you'll know how mindboggling this material can be. And with 'Sator Arepo', the French producer deepens his reach, grasping a world that we've almost forgotten and juxtaposing it with a landscape most of us barely comprehend\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50443662033227,"sku":"2054761","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/4242124-3031811_720x_1e47bdf2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727018468"},{"product_id":"nakibembe-embaire-group","title":"Nakibembe Embaire Group","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn Nakibembe, a small village in Uganda's Busoga kingdom (one of the country's four remaining constitutional monarchies), locals have long reserved a communal area for musical performances and social events. In the middle of this space lies a deep pit that serves a single purpose: to amplify the embaire, an immense xylophone made up of between 15 and 25 wooden keys that stretches across the trench. Log xylophones are common throughout East Africa, but the way the music is played by the Basoga - an Eastern Bantu ethnic group - is specific and unique, with its own tuning, dances and supplemental instrumentation. Up to eight players can surround the embaire and play simultaneously, overlaying hypnotic polyrhythms while additional members of the ensemble add vocals or play shakers and drums. Nakibembe Embraire Group are one of the last remaining groups that perform with the embaire, and as anyone who's caught their live performances will know, they create a complex and layered wall of sound that's completely transfixing wherever it's presented. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe band are a regular fixture at Nyege Nyege festival, and in 2020 appeared in Berlin at the legendary Berghain nightclub alongside Jakarta-based vanguards Gabber Modus Operandi and Harsya Wahono.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50443990171979,"sku":"2021540","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Nakibembe_Embaire_Group_-_Nakibembe_Embaire_Group_7b97476b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727022865"},{"product_id":"sounds-of-pamoja","title":"Sounds of Pamoja","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSounds of Pamoja\u003c\/i\u003e is Nyege Nyege Tapes' latest foray into the world of Tanzania Singeli, the breakneck dance strain that's quickly moved from Dar es Salaam throughout the world. Following \u003ci\u003eSounds of Sisso\u003c\/i\u003e, a compilation that focused mostly on the Tanzanian capital's Sisso Studios, this set highlights recordings from Duke's Pamoja Records. While its predecessor brought attention to the producers, \u003ci\u003eSounds of Pamoja\u003c\/i\u003e showcases the wide variety of MC talent under the Pamoja Records umbrella, with production mostly handled by Duke. Tanzania is a country of young people almost half of its population is under 15 years old and singeli is a young genre. Duke started making music when he was 13 years old, and by the time he was 18 he had opened the Pamoja Records studio. He's joined on the compilation by a talented cast of young local talent: 20 year old Pirato MC, 19 year old Dogo Kibo, 20 year old MC Kuke, Dogo Lizzy, MC Dinho, MC Kidene and MCZO, the versatile rapper who accompanied Duke on a selection of global tour dates. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe music is fresh and unpredictable, switching beats every few bars and rattling through hyper-local dance styles with jagged, joyful ease. But it's the MCs that push \u003ci\u003eSounds of Pamoja\u003c\/i\u003e to the next level, capitalizing on the vitality of Dar es Salaam's musical landscape as they trade bars, switch flows and somehow keep up with Duke's lightning-fast productions. It's breathtakingly unique dance music that recalls the youthful spirit of Detroit techno or footwork, with rapid body movement, social combustion and tongue twisting lyrical one upmanship guiding the rudder. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50500425089355,"sku":"1129651","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/30abd3f7-3045-495d-bf4a-3c515dd7dba2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727777288"},{"product_id":"duma","title":"Duma","description":"\u003cp\u003eLights out, game over. Duma won 2020. Breathtaking by any measure, Kenyan grind-core band Duma's unparalleled debut of blast beats, sky-clawing synth noise and scarred larynx vocals was one of the mightiest things heard in 2020. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuma's self-titled debut is the most incredible injection of life-affirming, outsider energy imaginable in these dark ages; an LP that's bound to cleave opinion and upend preconceptions of what music from East Africa, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, can be. Comprising Martin Khanja (Lord Spikeheart) and Sam Karugu, Duma mete out a jaw-dropping extreme sound rooted in Nairobi's flourishing underground metal scene, where they've previously performed in bands Lust of a Dying Breed and Seeds of Datura. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFaithful to the name - translating to \"Darkness\" in Kiyuku - they forge a frankly unprecedented dark-side sound, welding trve metal vocals and eschatological synths with the frenetic energy of Central African and breakcore rhythms in transfixing arrangements that just beggar belief. Certainly we can compare them to other outliers of extreme music - the dark cosmic Congolese energy of Nkisi or the cataclysmic sound of Wold\/Black Mecha, and Indonesia's beastly Senyawa - but basically Duma are, like all the above, in a field of their own. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the psychoactive rush of militant snares and keening synths in 'Angels and Abysses' to the doom-core dirge of 'Pembe 666' and the exquisite menace of 'Uganda With Sam' and the scorching finale 'The Echoes of The Beyond' they uncannily reshape the game in their own image with every song, bending conventions and styles with profound sense of iconoclastic freedom and possessed discipline. When they performed in Berghain at this year's CTM festival, worlds were shattered into a million tiny pieces. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey had technical difficulties; their setup wasn't working as planned, so producer Sam Karugu had to improvise, playing backing tracks from an audio player and direct injecting Lord Spike Heart's mic into his laptop. 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Treanor also spent time working alongside Acholi fiddle player Ocen James, developing an improvisation-heavy collaboration that would push both musicians' idiosyncrasies into completely new places.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTreanor wanted this collaboration to be as tactile and reactive as a live performance with traditional instruments, so he set about working on a digital process that would synchronize with James' approach. Using physical modeling techniques, Treanor created an instrument that explored the tunings and sounds of the a'dungu, an arched harp, and the nah or nag. With Ocen playing his rigi rigi, a single string violin, they intuitively experimented with the spectral properties of sound, using texture and acoustic contours as their structural framework. They were able to develop a sound together that was unconventionally rooted in traditional Ugandan culture, but shuttled into different dimensions of noise, computer music and radical UK rave.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSaccades\u003c\/i\u003e is the buffer between two vastly different sonic universes, united in respect and sprightly curiosity. Treanor's hyperactive computer-controlled rhythms are immediately identifiable on opening track 'Bunga Bule', but the sound palette is distinct: it's more flexible and less digital. James' expressionistic fiddle strokes are a revelation, contorted into hoarse squeals and rough vibrations that rub and flex off Treanor's tin can shuffle. The fertile back and forth continues through the ruff DSP tumble of 'As It Happens', before James cracks open the melodic core of his instrument on 'The Dead Centre', allowing Treanor to dispense with rhythm and meet his fiddle strokes with heavenly drones.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach track steps down a different avenue for the two artists, from the nightmarish microtonal twang of 'Memory Pressure' to the 4AM inverted sci-fi club pressure of 'Naasaccade' and the folky dancefloor swing of 'Rigi Rigi'. And when the album closes on a cacophonous remix from Vienna laptop noise pioneers Farmers Manual it's an unexpected gift that makes perfect sense. \"Saccades\" is a cross-cultural collaboration that swerves simplicity but refuses to over-complicate itself - it's about interaction, improvisation and passion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50505790062923,"sku":"2002565","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Rian_Treanor__Ocen_James__Saccades_8d19c58b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727816772"},{"product_id":"the-electro-maloya-experiments-of-jako-maron","title":"The Electro Maloya Experiments Of Jako Maron","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen first released on limited edition tape in 2018, Les Experience electro Maloya was the first ever compilation of Jako Maron's plugged-in updates of the traditional, politicised form of folk music from Réunion, a tiny island off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Like séga, Réunion's other main musical style, Maloya's origins can be traced back to African slaves and indentured Indian workers. But unlike séga, Maloya's stripped down drum 'n bow rhythms and call-and-response vocals, which were originally used as ritual mediations as far back as the 17th C., have become a form of protest music favoured by the island's creole population in the 1900's, leading it to be banned during the '70s because of its associations with the Communist party. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJako Maron's electro Maloya instrumentals are perhaps less explicitly politicised, yet they still carry the charge of eons of encrypted ritual thru their geometric designs and inexorable dancefloor traction. In 11 parts, Maron uses modular synthesis and drum machines to mutate and relay Maloya's meaning for the island modern indigenous population as well as users far beyond the island. This new vinyl edition includes four previously unreleased tracks from the same period. The results are some of the canniest, most infectious recordings we've heard from this region of the world, all generally (but not exclusively) working with slow tempos and a range of humid, piquant, and hypnotic synthlines that lend the sound to strong comparison with everything from Equiknoxx's mutant dancehall thru the current Flex sound outta NYC, to the sorta crooked dembow fusions explored by Brian Piñeyro (DJ Python\/DJ Wey) and that recent Drew McDowell X Hiro Kone EP, or even the acid modulations of his Belgian namesake, Ro Maron.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nyege Nyege Tapes","offers":[{"title":"Red LPx2","offer_id":50505793831243,"sku":"2014437","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Jako_Maron_-_The_Electro_Maloya_Experiments_Of_Jako_Maron_bda28186_thumbnail.jpg?v=1727816794"},{"product_id":"shadow-swamps","title":"Shadow Swamps","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing 2019's acclaimed self-titled debut album, Metal Preyers take the left hand path into a gloomy backwater filled with haunted creatures and fraught with peril. \u003ci\u003eShadow Swamps\u003c\/i\u003e again finds London-based Jesse Hackett handling the music and Chicago's Mariano Chavez fashioning the album's visual identity, which this time includes a short film and book for a fully immersive experience. \u003ci\u003eShadow Swamps \u003c\/i\u003eis the soundtrack to a pitch-black fairy tale about a father and daughter as they journey through a swamp avoiding gremlins, red swines and crater creatures.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMusically, it pivots between the clattering Czech new wave experimentation of \"Valerie and her Week of Wonders\" composer Luboš Fišer, or the magical, eccentric lounge of Birmingham's Broadcast, and the grinding industrial grot of Italian pioneer Maurizio Bianchi. This time around, Hackett has roped in production assists from his six yearold-daughter wonder Nyasha hackett who used phone memos to record herself singing - veteran Metal Preyers collaborator Lord Tusk, and Manchester-based painter, DJ and producer Richard Harris, aka Sockethead. 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A gifted visual artist as well as a composer, he's known for developing a philosophical mythology with his drawings, mostly using a ballpoint pen to sketch out elaborate, anime-style projects. Normal Nada is Teteu's most enduring project, and a full nine years after a string of singles on WARP and the game-changing \"Transmutação Cerebral” ep, (described at the time by Boomkat as \"Príncipe’s maddest release,\") he has finally assembled his longawaited debut album. \u003ci\u003eTribal Progressive Heavy Metal\u003c\/i\u003e materializes into Nada's meta-kuduro multiverse, developed from his deep knowledge of African and Portuguese musical forms. Years ago, he was an established archivist and genre historian, sharing archival material, mixes and rips alongside his original tracks via his infamous blog , and while his online presence has faded, his rate of production hasn't. His tracks are rooted in Angolan kuduro and tarraxinha structures, but Normal Nada uses this only as a starting point, poetically overlaying and superimposing elements from trap, bass music, heavy metal and ambient sources to tell a story that's personal and unique. Listening to the album is like channel hopping through an interplanetary animated matrix, blasting off from colourful opener 'Beautyful Caos' with its grinding syncopation, crash-landing on the subversive 'Batida Hard Trance 2' that dissolves awkward European dance tropes into industrial-strength Portuguese electronix, and scuttling towards the album's bizarre title track, that juxtaposes crunching, overdriven drones 'n tones with kinetic kuduro rhythms. 'Alive' is even more cacophonous, layering machinestrength orchestral hits over militaristic, rolling 4\/4 beats and unsettled subs. Born and raised in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Normal Nada migrated to Portugal at 13 and was based for many years in Lisbon's San Antonio Dos Cavaleiros housing projects, after previously having lived in the Algarve. Teteu's compositions are a spiked expression of Lisbon's patchwork of batida styles, making a direct link to West Africa's vibrant musical legacy. Now based between Guinea-Bissau and Lisbon and his music reflects this outstretched knowledge and energy, with a 360 degree view of the world's complex assemblage of cultures and conflicts. The album's somber finale is the best representation of his philosophy, a minor-key downtempo slow-burner that could sit comfortably alongside Actress or tarraxinha pioneer DJ Znobia. 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