KMRU (KE)

About

KMRU is one of those names that gets cited constantly in contemporary electronic music, and Pitchfork went as far as calling him a widely referenced figure in the field. The Nairobi born producer, now based in Berlin, is also famously prolific: almost twenty releases landed on Bandcamp between 2017 and 2021. His 2020 album Peel, put out on Editions Mego, was made in just 48 hours and mixes organic and synthetic textures. An earlier EP, Erased, built its sound from piano, field recordings and synthesized drums. He has worked with Aho Ssan on the album Limen and with Kevin Richard Martin as KRM:KMRU, and he toured with Big Thief in 2022. Dissolution Grip, from 2023, moved away from the field recordings that had marked his earlier work, and it drew strong reviews from Loud and Quiet and Pitchfork. He has also reissued albums by his grandfather, the benga musician Joseph Kamaru, to bring that music to a new audience.