On Mande

opis:
polifonia.blog.polityka.pl
(. . . ) Ta różnorodna i urzekająca surowością płyta to przy tym właściwie kolejny odcinek realizowanych z pasją kenijskich field recordingów Stefana Schneidera i Svena Kacirka. Słyszymy formy muzyczne, które odpowiadają czynnościom i rytuałom zwyczajnego życia w Kenii w jego naturalnym kolorycie i rytmie, a głos Nengo i otaczających ją młodszych wokalistek równie dobrze mógłby się w podobnej formie znaleźć na jakichś pionierskich nagraniach terenowych z lat 50. Poza wieloma zaletami dokumentacyjnymi album ma jeden szybki i błyskotliwy, wręcz przebojowy walor – piosenkę On Monday, która mogłaby z miejsca wejść na listy przebojów, nawet w Polsce. W połączeniu z autentycznością brzmienia nawet prosty tekst śpiewany łamaną angielszczyzną działa z podwójną siłą. A prosta choreografia (vide klip) robi większe wrażenie niż układy taneczne w godzinnym filmie Beyonce (. . . )
autor: B. Chaciński

Editor's info:
TAL is a new label run by Stefan Schneider (To Rococo Rot) & Sven Kacirek. This is the 2nd album by Ogoya Nengo following the release "Rang'Ala" on Honest Jon's in 2014., "Rang'ala" was recorded and produced by Sven Kacirek and Stefan Schneider at various spots around Rang'ala Village, Siaya County, Kenya. Now "OGOYA NENGO AND DODO WOMEN'S GROUP" releases her second album "ON MANDE" on the new TAL imprint. "ON MANDE" presents a even richer instrumentation than its predecessor. We hear Nyatiti lute, Asili flute, Orutu strings and Box guitar (acoustic guitar) which are interwoven with fierce rhythms of Ohangla drums, various types of shakers and the scintillating vocal parts of Ogoya and the Dodo women choir. Dodo is a popular traditional female singing style of the Luo communities in the Siaya region, western Kenya. Men are welcome to support the singers on drums, stringed instruments and flutes. The music on this album might have its origin in the past but in fact it is a contemporary version of traditional folk music which is unique in that it is a living culture, a continuously developing art form and therefore has its place clearly in the present times. Sven Kacirek and Stefan Schneider were fascinated by this music from their first encounter with Ogoya Nengo back in 2013 and decided to record her music almost in a concert situation, without any overdubbing and additional effects. Both musicians with their backgrounds in Electronic Music and Jazz, found access to Dodo music through its strong sense of repetitiveness and its complex rhythm structures which they drew parallels to various forms of contemporary electronic music.After a few more visits in Siaya, Kacirek and Schneider gained a deeper understanding of the vast diversity of Luo music an its inseparable relations with everyday life. Since 2011 Kacirek and Schneider have travelled to Kenya to record with musicians, recently they have returned to rural villages in Siaya County, where various forms of Luo music, such as Dodo, Ohangla, Benga, Nyatiti are widely practised. The recording for "ON MANDE" took place in a simple clay building with a nice room sound right next to Ogoyas house. Most of the songs on the album are appraisal songs to honour family members, people of the community, like the best electrician, the most popular wrestler, etc. "Oyano Ojwang" praises the power of a magic potion which brings back a lost lover. Other songs are played at weddings or funerals or at drinking parties. Music to "give people a good moral" as Ogoya once put it. OGOYA NENGO AND DODO WOMEN'S GROUP will play their third tour through Europe in may and june 2016.