Nyege Nyege Tapes

V/A - Electro Acholi Kaboom From Northern Uganda

"Nyege Nyege Tapes spotlight the charming, young style of Electro Acholi from the Luo of Northern Uganda with a compilation of zippy rhythms and ear-worm hooks by 15 artists. Electro Acholi is the plugged-in version of traditional Acholi courtship songs from the region around the cities of Gulu and Lira, in an area spanning north Uganda and southern Sudan. This compilation surveys the sound's golden years circa 2003-2008, when a brutal civil war in north Uganda meant that traditional, larger wedding ensembles of up to 25 players were too costly, and younger producers with access to Fruity Loops and video editing facilities stepped in to fill a gap in the market. Using samples and synthesis, they created custom, sped-up versions of traditional songs and performed them at the ceremonies, leading the sound to spill out into local nightspots such as the Alobo Night Club and the Opit Travellers Inn. Scaling from a balmy 106bpm in the likes of Brother Q & City Boy's slinky bumper "Can Deg Ming", to pelting up-tempo styles embellished with local instrumentation, such as Pro Lagwee's "Rwot Moo", and the quick, all-electronic backing to the call-and-response vocals of "Kolo (Dog Mix)" by Opiyo Twongweno, the set affords a privileged insight to modern Acholi music usually omitted from the "world music" racks. Now for the first time, pioneers of the style such as Bosmic Otim and the breezy swang of "Bandera Pa Kaka", Lakoc Jojo with the cracking stepper "Apiyo Nyara", or the mellifluous Lady Grace Atim and her acidic banger "Adoko Gwok" take their place alongside Otim Alpha to present the best of Electro Acholi to keen-eared dancers everywhere. Effectively a continuation of NNT's ongoing archaeology of the Luo people's sonic culture, following the roots excavation of Langi Griot and thumb piano player, Ekuka, and the branches of Otim Alpha on his single string fiddle and drum machine, Electro Acholi Kaboom is an unmissable, even rare, survey of a critical, metamorphic phase shift between ancient, analog worlds, and digitized modernism. Also features Baby Davlin, Jahria Okwera, Pan Afrique, Ojegele, Tabu Buzy Body, Zing Zang, and Jeff Korondo. RIYL: Shangaan Electro, Soca, Singeli. Clear vinyl; Mastered at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin." - Nyege Nyege Tapes .
  • Sale
  • Regular price $31.00


After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
I understand these terms

Sale

Unavailable

Sold Out