En Mana Kuoyo by Ayub Ogada
reviewed by: Sean
Ayub Ogada's En Mana Kuoyo is fairly minimalistic in that it prominently features the singer's tenor vocals, some light percussive elements, and the plucking of the nyatiti, a Kenyan eight-stringed lyre. Those elements make for a very quiet, intimate album that is remarkably coherent from start to finish. Ranging from upbeat to somber, the music is based on repetitive rhythms and melodies that makes for a very hypnotizing listen, even if Ogada is singing about such mundane subjects as the weather. (He does, howevr, tackle social injustice in the lively "10%.") Apparently "Kothbiro" was used in the film The Constant Gardener, and fod good reason. Though it is a call to take the cattle in during an approaching rainstorm, Ogada's double-recorded vocals and delicate playing create on of the most haunting songs I've ever heard. This is a gorgeous album.
play: High