Negore

Odd Okoddo is Kenyan singer Olith Ratego and German multi-instrumentalist Sven Kacirek, working in Nairobi, and here delivering their second album. Ratego records vocals and okodo (lyre) and Kacirek subsequently layers marimba, keyboards and beats. Ratego has built the okodo, his own instrument, which is based on the traditional nyatiti. These songs are descended from the dodo music of the Luo people. The sessions have a skeletal feel that’s almost demo-esque, and Ratego doesn’t have the most appealing of voices, with a flattish edge, with something of a lacklustre feel. ‘Ochuya’ has a good-beat vibe, with some choral voice thickening, while Angel Bat Dawid guests on ‘Timneyore’, playing clarinet. KMRU appears on ‘Kongeya’, which has a positive, twinkling atmosphere, an ambient orientation. ‘Nyeri Gi’ benefits from a refreshingly swift pace, but on ‘Osugana’ Ratego’s vocals become particularly fatiguing. The lyre is not exactly up in the mix, but is best heard on the closing ‘Ninuwang’.