Barely Making Much

Experimental techno, however defined or conceived, has proven remarkably resilient as a source of continuing inspiration worldwide, and Uganda’s Masaka Masaka proved to be a striking new voice in the field with his 2024 debut album, Barely Making Much. Finding a throughline from left-field 90s hip-hop and electronic production through to the present day, he creates a strictly instrumental effort that starts with the punchy complexity of “Mental Construct” and from there explores a series of engaging miniatures of arrangement and atmosphere. With a number of selections coming in under or just over two minutes, there’s a sense of concentrated focus and sudden gear-shifts, even while longer songs can easily drop in accelerated breaks and deep bass rolls alongside murmuring tones and echoing squeals. Among the standout efforts are “Before I Go,” featuring a guest turn by UK producer Sockethead, the sense of just mournful-enough vibes on “6pm Waiting For You” and the queasy, backwards effects-laden title track, and the skittering velocity rush of songs like “Let Me Out.”