|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LP
|
|
ACU 003LP
|
Nairobi-born Berlin-based sound artist Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU, shares his new work Stupor on the new Helsinki-based label Other Power. Commissioned by the Helsinki curatorial and commissioning agency PUBLICS, Stupor is comprised of three original long form tracks; "CRP-12," "Even a Tear," and the title track "Stupor." The tracks on the album are speculative notes to social architectures and environments the artist has traversed. His signature emerges through electro-acoustic forms as he configures spatial and temporal imaginaries still tethered to the experiences of the places his ear encountered. The tracks on this album are speculative notes to social architectures and environments the artist has traversed. His orchestrated compositions and arrangements levitate us and turn our ears towards places and times beyond our reach, propelling us into a future anticipated but ungraspable. It is exactly the physical and psychological space that KMRU forges from his recordings and digital processes that stretch and transform them into prolific sound "events." For Joseph Kamaru, sound is a sensorial medium through which social, material and conceptual interpretations are manifested in his works. KMRU carries with him a repository of listening experiences from Nairobi and beyond expanding his sonic practices, bringing an awareness of surroundings through creative compositions, installations and performances. KMRU has carved out a serious and definitive space on the list of essential authors in ambient experimental music -- one of the most prolific and innovative artists in his field.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
RU 001LP
|
The inaugural release on KMRU's own fledgling OFNOT imprint, Dissolution Grip is an ambitious project that emerged from his studies at Berlin's prestigious UDK. Guided by Jasmine Guffond at Berlin's Universität der Künste (better known as UDK), KMRU looked at waveforms -- the visual representation of sound itself -- and embarked on a process where he would write scores from the shapes, gradually turning the scores into raw synth sounds. Each sound is birthed from one of KMRU's field recordings, but none of those recordings are audible in their original form. The album's opening side "Till Hurricane Bisect" is a 15-minute epic that evolves at its own glacial pace, carefully transforming blustering wind sounds into gasping drones, glassy oscillations and choked distortion. Cosmic and meditative, it's a testament to KMRU's skill as a sound engineer and patience as a composer, combining the gentle world building of his acclaimed Editions Mego album Peel (EMEGO 289CD/LP, 2020) with the rumbling energy of Limen, last year's collaboration with Aho Ssan. On the title track, KMRU takes the opportunity to flex his orchestral muscle, conducting a cast of warbling synth tones into a durational symphony. Starting as quietly as a whisper, Dissolution Grip expands at its own pace until it's a dense wall of harmony, powerful but never completely overwhelming. It is music embedded with a rich sense of place that informs us of KMRU's past and present, and signals where his musical philosophy might take us in the future.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
EMEGO 289CD
|
KMRU is the moniker of Joseph Kamaru, a sound artist and producer based in Nairobi. One of the leading exponents of the burgeoning experimental music scene in Nairobi and beyond, he was listed by Resident Advisor as one of "15 East African Artists You Need To Hear" in 2018 and is a regular performer at the fabled Nyege Nyege Festival having also presented live performances at CTM festival and Gamma Festival. Peel is KMRU's first release for Editions Mego. An exquisite mix of field recordings and electronics unravelling at a repetitive and leisurely pace to expose a rich tapestry of sound, revered for its ability to cross borders with the sheer undertow of emotional content. The subtle calming atmosphere within Peel belies the compositional prowess as layers of delicate sounds wrap around each other creating a hybrid new form ambient music both captivating through its textural depth and kaleidoscopic patterns. The track titles lend themselves to the themes and mood set within: "Why Are You Here", "Well", "Solace", "Klang", "Insubstantial", and the title track. This is a deep heartfelt journey with a new strong voice being expressed through the means of organically presented electronic ambient sounds, one which reveals further layers on repeat listens. All tracks written and produced by KMRU. Recorded and produced in Rimpa, (Nairobi, KE). Mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering, June 2020. Photography: Claudia Mock; Layout/Design: Nik Void.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
INJA 014LP
|
Nairobi-based electronic musician/sound-artist Joseph Kamaru -- KMRU -- signs to Injazero for the release of his beautiful compendium album Logue, comprising works from his past years of self-releasing. KMRU is uniquely positioned between the rarely-married cultures of ambient and African musics, entwining his compositions with field recordings from his native Kenya and the surrounding countries of East Africa. Though the deep, tectonic slowness of his music can be compared to the work of Lawrence English, William Basinski, Stars of the Lid, Kamaru's core culture shines through in a pure and singular way. Found within Logue's pieces are radiant melodic antiphony commonplace in African music, and huge, spacious drones that reveal his love for ambient soundscapes, held effortlessly together by field recordings and analog synthesis. "Every track reflects an event, space or location," Joseph writes. "The pieces are developed from field recordings, improvisation and spontaneity." Formed of tracks written from 2017 to 2019, Logue represents an artist not only in command of his form but also willing to develop and evolve, ready to deconstruct and radically refocus his music to explore new contours of experimental and ambient sound-design. Some of the earliest compositions found on Logue -- 2017's "Jinja Encounters", for example -- represent Joseph's first trips outside his homeland and the experience of new sights and new climates, full of discovery and wonder. The synth line of 2018's "Argon" pops and bubbles, mimicking bright African melodic vibrancy while a churning, static distortion threatens to breach the surface, revealing a sophisticated, measured understanding of texture and timbral interplay. "OT", from late 2018, jumps with joyous calls and deftly panned arrhythmic percussion, a new subtlety of light and dark gained from experience and experimentation. Consistent across the entire album is intensely personal and powerfully intuitive expression, crossing continental divides with a singular elegance. KMRU is a young, recently debuting musician. He has self-released on Bandcamp for the past few years, and 2020 saw his first official, international releases, including the scintillating Peel album for Editions Mego. Resident Advisor listed him in their "15 East African Artists You Need To Hear" article in 2018. He appears regularly at the celebrated Nyege Nyege Festival in Uganda, and has also performed at CTM Festival and Gamma Festival. Clear vinyl.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
2LP
|
|
EMEGO 289LP
|
2022 repress. KMRU is the moniker of Joseph Kamaru, a sound artist and producer based in Nairobi. One of the leading exponents of the burgeoning experimental music scene in Nairobi and beyond, he was listed by Resident Advisor as one of "15 East African Artists You Need To Hear" in 2018 and is a regular performer at the fabled Nyege Nyege Festival having also presented live performances at CTM festival and Gamma Festival. Peel is KMRU's first release for Editions Mego. An exquisite mix of field recordings and electronics unravelling at a repetitive and leisurely pace to expose a rich tapestry of sound, revered for its ability to cross borders with the sheer undertow of emotional content. The subtle calming atmosphere within Peel belies the compositional prowess as layers of delicate sounds wrap around each other creating a hybrid new form ambient music both captivating through its textural depth and kaleidoscopic patterns. The track titles lend themselves to the themes and mood set within: "Why Are You Here", "Well", "Solace", "Klang", "Insubstantial", and the title track. This is a deep heartfelt journey with a new strong voice being expressed through the means of organically presented electronic ambient sounds, one which reveals further layers on repeat listens. All tracks written and produced by KMRU. Recorded and produced in Rimpa, (Nairobi, KE). Mastered by Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering, June 2020. Photography: Claudia Mock; Layout/Design: Nik Void.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
BYR 017EP
|
KMRU is one of the rising stars of the East African music scene, selected as one Resident Advisor's "15 East African Artists You Need To Hear", playing at the infamous Nyege Nyege Festival, and being picked up by Deadmau5's label Mau5trap for a track on their We Are Friends compilation, with Chris Waldt. KMRU makes intelligent atmospheric and emotionally evocative electronic music. His sounds combine everything from gritty, indigenous field recordings to piano to 303. As his Erased EP demonstrates, soulful electronica sounds beautiful, even natural. Artwork by G.S-L Studio. Mastered by Neil Perch. Edition of 300
|
|
|
|