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Wednesday 1 February 2023

Kaboom Shakes The Room

I hadn't expected to be back in Uganda so soon after our recent Winston Mayanja post, but then again I hadn't expected to discover a previously unknown music genre - Electro Acholi!

I am not sure whether that is a real thing or was invented by the good folks at Kampala's Nyege Nyege Tapes to promote their 2019 compilation album "Electro Acholi Kaboom from Northern Uganda".

Either way, I like it a lot, possibly because there are elements of the sound that remind me very much of my dearly loved Tsonga Disco. Like Tsonga Disco they have retained the traditional rhythms and call and response vocals but added drum machines and synths and sped things up a bit. 

According from blurb "the electronic re-interpretation of traditional Acholi courtship songs began in Northern Uganda, primarily in the cities of Gulu and Lira around 2003, when Northern Uganda was still mired in a brutal civil war. First performed at weddings, they replaced the much larger traditional bands that under war time conditions had become too costly for many newly weds to afford".

The album consists 15 tracks from the scenes heyday between 2003 and 2008, including these two corkers.

"Bandera Pa Kaka" - Bosmic Otim

"Can Deg Ming" - Brother Q & City Boy

I can't confirm it definitively but I am pretty sure that it isn't this City Boy performing with Brother Q.

4 comments:

  1. I just stumbled on your site. I saw it on a blog of another blog and had some time...so decided to check out a few music sites mentioned. Fantastic fun site to follow. I added it to my Feedly rss reader so I won't miss any future posts. Anyway...City Boys...the band came up on a KSHE radio list the other day and this was the song they played. I liked it then. And I enjoyed hearing it again on your 27leggies blog. Thanks for your shares and entertainment. Keep on posting. (and come visit me from time to time. ~ peace casey

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    1. Thanks for the kind words Casey, good to have you on board

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