Featuring Kenyan singer Ogoya Nengo and “the queen of mbira” Stella Chiweshe.

Berlin-based collective African Acid Is The Future inaugurates its new label partnership with The Vinyl Factory by releasing the first in a three-part 2×12″ series Ambiance.

Buy now: African Acid Is The Future – Ambiance I

The first instalment, Ambiance I, captures two extraordinary live performances in Berlin, backed by remixes from AAITF members Dauwd and WolfonAcid on the second 12″.

The live performances feature Kenyan dodo singer Ogoya Mengo & The Dodo Women, and the artist once described as Zimbabwe’s “mbira queen”, Stella Chiweshe. The former was recorded live at an intimate session in WolfonAcid’s living room, while Chiweshe’s performance was captured in front of an enraptured crowd at Berlin’s iconic Funkhaus venue. Hear it on Spotify now:

Writing in the liner notes about the performance, AAITF founder Maryisonacid says: “It felt at once, both universal and very simple. ‘Un moment suspendu’, as you say in French. When the whole room was bird whistling together, time stopped.”

Ambiance I represents the first in a trilogy of releases that capture the essence of the African Acid Is The Future parties: “From afro to techno, and a lot more in between. because Africa is the mother of beat, and beat is tempo… On an acid trip around afro rhythms, travelling from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Congo to Ghana, cruising on electronic sounds, cosmic rhythms and psychedelic vibrations.”

African Acid Is The Future’s Ambiance I is out now via African Acid Is The Future & The Vinyl Factory. Order a copy here and check out the artwork below.

Photos by Camille Bokhobza