Citysynthesis is an exploration into the sonic heart of the city of Nairobi, by DJ Raph (Nairobi) and Sophia Bauer (Cologne/Nairobi). The eponymous EP is forged out of material from their archive project, soundofnairobi.net, and nothing else. The four tracks emerge from the soundscapes of a restless city, progressing, mutating, through unmapped harmonies and dissonances, scattered percussions and broken rhythms, sometimes concrete and poetry. Unfiltered utterances and other sonic exclamations disrupt further, at once building and dismantling narrative.

From his meddlings with beats and (sort of) dance music, DJ Raph applies his trademark sampling and mangling, cutting up and (dis)arranging Nairobi’s soundscapes into asymmetrical collages. Sophia Bauer brings a process from her experience with sound art, in this case using pitch tracking to transform raw field recordings into synthesizer textures that feel alien yet familiar. The two approaches morph into a surreal testimony of a place, a time, a people; a sonic synthesis of reality and imagination.

Listen to Citysynthesis on these digital platforms:
noland.fm, bandcamp, spotify,  soundcloud

Review of Citysynthesis on Noise not Music by Jack Davidson:
“[…] The many paradoxes upon which Citysynthesis is built extend to the actual effect it has as well; one feels as if these meticulous assemblages convey more potent information about what it means to live in Nairobi than simple unaffected field recordings would, and yet it’s difficult to say exactly why that is. My theory is that with passionate residents Kariuki and Bauer acting as deeply involved sonic filters, anything they create will be imbued with the same love and appreciation for their city as is held within them.”