The Afrorack

Brian Bamanya (aka Afrorack) built the first modular rack system from the ground up in Ugandan history, or so the story goes. Perhaps knowing the gear so well helped him find so much variety and electric pulp here. This toytown monster goes hard as hell and sinks its toes into the deep sand of instant memory.

This record is remarkable for many reasons: Ugandan artist Bamanya Brian, aka Afrorack, built Africa’s first modular synth, the Afrorack, from scratch, trawling through local electronic and spare part shops. But this isn’t a novelty record, and even without the interesting origin story the music is a revelation. Using his modular synth, Afrorack weaves surprisingly melodic jams that sound completely fresh, but are still imbued with the region’s traditional sounds.