Alai K Kila Mara

On the Corner

Kila Mara is the frenetic, intoxicating debut album from Alai K. The Kenya born, Berlin-based percussionist, vocalist, DJ, producer is much loved for his Disco Vumbi series and Nyege Tapes and his debut LP is an explosive and expressive thrill-ride that taps into the ancestral rhythms, customs and the rituals of East Africa as much as it does the underground clubs of Berlin and Detroit. There’s the driving undercurrent of energy that propels the record forward, the rapid, polyrhythmic drums, the chopped up vocal chants and the hypnotic, repetitive structures that will be as recognisable to the communities in the Bajuni Islands, Mozambique or Malawi as they are to club-goers in the West. However, it’s in stepping out of the confines of traditional club music that Alai K is able to take this record into the next realm. Fierce, unpredictable and wild drums give the album a live and untamed feel. Although there is plenty of spell-inducing, hypnotism going on here, the record is never still or comfortable and instead is always flicking out rouge additions and unnamed sparks of blistering heat and intensity. A brilliantly wild and unflinching debut that takes on an ambitious merging of disparate styles and cultures, Kila Mara is yet further evidence of Alai K’s astute and global approach to making music. Tom Jones