ON MANDE

Ever since her childhood, Ogoya Nengo, baptized Anastasia Oluoch in?about 1940, would excite listeners around her village with her singing abilities.?Very soon she had received her stage name, Ogoya Nengo (which, in the Dholuo?language, means the most precious and expensive singer in the region). Her?2014 debut album, Rang'ala (Honest Jon's Records), was recorded and produced?by Sven Kacirek and Stefan Schneider (Kreidler, to rococo rot,?Roedelius Schneider) at various spots around Rang'ala Village, Siaya County,?Kenya. Now Ogoya Nengo And The Dodo Women's Group present their?second album, On Mande, marking the first release on Schneider and Kacirek's?TAL imprint. On Mande presents an even richer instrumentation than its?predecessor. We hear nyatiti lute, asili flute, orutu strings, and box guitar, which?are swiftly interwoven with fierce rhythms of ohangla drums, various types of?shakers, and the scintillating vocal parts of Ogoya and the Dodo Women's Goup.?Dodo is a popular traditional female singing style of the Luo communities in the?Siaya region of western Kenya. Men are welcome to support the singers on drums,?stringed instruments, and flutes. The music on this album may have its origin in the?past, but it is truly a contemporary version of a traditional folk music that is unique?in that it is a living culture -- a continuously developing art form -- and therefore has?an important place in contemporary music. Sven Kacirek and Stefan Schneider?were fascinated by this music from their first encounter with Ogoya Nengo in?2013, and decided to record her music without any overdubbing or additional?effects. Both musicians, with their individual backgrounds in electronic music and?jazz respectively, found access to dodo music through its strong sense of repetition?and its complex rhythmic structures, from which they drew parallels to various?forms of contemporary electronic music. The recording of On Mande took place in?a simple clay building next to Ogoya's house. Most of the songs on the album are?songs to honor family members and people of the community -- the best electrician,?the most popular wrestler -- while others are played at weddings, funerals, or?drinking parties. CD version presented in cardboard sleeve with printed inner?sleeve and insert. LP version includes printed inner sleeve and download code.?TRACKLISTING?01. Wololo Josiaya (3:03)?02. Jawer Odonjo Engoma (3:20)?03. Bunde Kod Asili (3:43)?04. Owano Ojwang (5:54)?05. Jawend Peke (3:48)?06. Chur (1:21)?07. Thoo Manonega (3:36)?08. Nyiero (1:12)?09. Bunde Ohangla (1:05)?10. Wend Peke (3:01)?11. Orutu Kod Asili (2:20)?12. On Monday (3:11)?13. Elias Owino (4:06)