Nairobi sound artist KMRU crafts sounds that seem infinite, using layered electronic synthesizers until they reached near-cacophony. But his natural knack for rhythm reign in his compositions just as they threaten to overflow into chaos.
Like his grandfather, the politically-inclined musician Joseph Kamaru, KMRU weaves observations about his surrounding world into his work. But whereas his previous releases teemed with towering digital layers, Jar finds KMRU adapting a more human approach to sound design. His swirling synth symphonies still set a peaceful tone, but the low murmur of human voices chattering on “behind there” and the quiet interpolations of children’s playground shouts on “life at ouri” conjure the warm comforts of listening to music in a park or at a backyard gathering.
This double LP—made in just 48 hours—is KMRU’s first for the legendary ambient label Editions Mego. The gentle pulse of the work at times recalls William Basinski and Fennesz, with KMRU skillfully balancing between subtle restraint and rich detail. The animated electronics and sputtering beats he was experimenting with just a year earlier are refined to almost dust here. There’s a constant overlap between the electronic and the organic, resulting in textures that alternate between gritty and and pristine.