TEWARI by Scotch Rolex
Veteran Japanese producer Shigeru Ishihara (aka DJ Scotch Egg) has been assembling serrated, genre-busting ear bleeders for almost two decades, and arrives to the Hakuna Kulala stable with a crucial new project: Scotch Rolex, named after the popular Ugandan street food. On "Tewari" the Berlin-based noisemaker melts his breakcore, gabber and chiptune background into a fresh palette of influences, with help from collaborators MC Yallah, DUMA's Lord Spikeheart, Swordman Kitala, Chrisman and Don Zilla.
The record was assembled after Ishihara was invited to Uganda for a residency at the Nyege Nyege Villa in 2019. Exposed to Hakuna Kulala's family of artists, the producer began experimenting, twisting trap and dancehall rhythms with 8-bit immediacy and the ragged energy of grindcore. Somehow he has managed to distill the essence of Nyege Nyege's scene-shaping yearly festival, where global dance and experimental forms come together under a banner of East African musical experimentation and physicality.
Ishihara is no stranger to collaboration; in recent years he's been spotted working with King Midas Sound's Kiki Hitomi in dub-pop outfit WaqWaq Kingdom and playing bass with electro-shoegaze pioneers Seefeel. But Scotch Rolex is his most ambitious project to date, jumping seamlessly from slithering doom trap ('Omuzira') to anxious hyper-fast electro death metal ('SNIPER') to breathless Ugandan club ('Afro Samurai') and beyond without stopping for breath.
Whether crafting rhythms for MC Yallah's tongue-twisting rhymes, Lord Spikeheart's hoarse, guttural screams or Swordman Kitala's familiar sing-along chants, Ishihara feels completely at home with his collaborators and celebrates their presence. "Scotch Rolex & Co." is a love letter to Hakuna Kulala from one of experimental dance music's true originals, it's a joyful rumination on the fluidity and versatility of electronic music that manages eclecticism without ever sacrificing coherence.
Tracklist
| 1. | Omuzira (ft. MC Yallah) | 3:19 |
| 2. | Success (ft. Lord Spikeheart) | 3:30 |
| 3. | Cheza (ft. Chrisman) | 3:18 |
| 4. | Nfulula Biswa (ft. Swordman Kitala) | 2:24 |
| 5. | Afro Samurai (ft. Don Zilla) | 3:50 |
| 6. | Tewari | 3:29 |
| 7. | Juice (ft. MC Yallah) | 3:27 |
| 8. | U.T.B. 88 | 3:07 |
| 9. | Sniper (ft. Lord Spikeheart) | 3:12 |
| 10. | Wa kalebule | 3:12 |
| 11. | Lapis Lazuli (ft. Lord Spikeheart) | 3:54 |
Credits
Masters at Delcared Sound
Artwork by Kid Gringo
License
All rights reserved.
Club explorations from the East African and Congolese Electronic Underground and beyond.
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