As KMRU, Joseph Kamaru, a sound artist from Nairobi, Kenya, sits at the forefront of modern experimental ambient music. Now based in Berlin, Germany, where in 2020 he enrolled in a graduate program for Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at the Universität der Künste, Kamaru has released several albums, on labels including Warp Records, Seil Records, and Editions Mego, which is where he released Peel, his debut album of delicate, textural compositions, in 2020.

Across all of Kamaru’s recent tracks, including on Epoch, which he released in October, he delivers an exquisite mix of intelligent atmospheres and emotionally experimental textures. In March, Kamaru delivered an Artist Tips feature for XLR8R, revealing some of the key practices behind his work, and now he’s back with an XLR8R podcast, recorded in his Berlin apartment. At one hour in length, this is a mix of breathtaking beauty, filled with some of Kamaru’s favorite tracks and artists—Loke Rahbek, Space Afrika, and Kali Malone. Press play and let these evocative soundscapes wash over you.

01. What have you been up to recently? 
I’ve been spending time at home, reading, and making lots of music.

What have you been listening to? 
A lot of NTS radio shows. I’ve also been discovering some old tunes from this app called radiooooo.

03. Where and when did you record this mix? 
I recorded the mix at home in Berlin on a Sunday evening before going to bed.

04. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included?
It’s a lot of new music discoveries that I’ve had on my Bandcamp Wishlist and lush sounding tracks for a perfect slow Sunday listening.

05. What can the listener expect? 
A lush splash of waveforms.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out live? 
Pretty much different, although the atmosphere could be the same. For mixes I tend to share music which I enjoy listening and new music by artists and friends I love and admire.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
I have some new music coming out in the next months and also an a new collaborative project that I am looking forward to sharing and performing in the summer.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. OZMOTIC “FENNESZ” (Floating Time (Touch))
02. Miguel A. Ruiz “Transparent” (Les Disques Bongo Joe)
03. JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA “Shame” (Self-Released)
04. Loke Rahbek “Fermented” (Editions Mego)
05. Felisha Ledesma “Golden Mirror” (ECSTATIC)
06. fields we found “chroma” (quiet details)
07. DJ Lostboi “SEE INSIDE” (Self-Released)
08. Kelela “KAREEM LOTFY TURN TO DUST_NO BPM” (Warp)
09. The Purge of Tomorrow “Time Moving” (Modern Obscure Music)
10. Jan Jelinek “A Concert For Television” (Faitiche)
11. Hoavi “Posle Vsego” (Quiet Time)
12. Meitei “Pt.II” (Métron Records)
13. Strategy “Daydream Space Graffiti” (Constellation Tatsu)
14. nueen “IV” (Self-Released)
16. Pan American “Quarry A” (Foam On A Wave)
17. Florian T M Zeisig “VII” (enmossed)
18. Space Afrika “bly” (sferic)
19. Johanna Orellana “El Jardín III” (Smalltown Supersound)
20. Tapiwa Svosve “Side A” (czarnagora)
21. Aviva Endean “What Calls In The Quiet” (Room40)
22. Kali Malone “Does Spring Hide Its Joy v1.1” (Ideologic Organ)
23. KMRU “CPR-12” (Unreleased)