LET me start by being honest. In my years of listening to Ugandan pop music, there is plenty that I do not like. Actually, despite the hype, most of it would best be described as ‘a veritable tsunami of tooth-grinding mediocrity.’
I was not really a fan of the UK-based Ugandan duo called Da Twinz. Their music had a rudimentary rhythmic accompaniment sketched on fruity loops, was too simplistic and repetitive for my liking.
Their videos, it seemed, were made to promote quick-fix celebrity culture- bling, bling, cars and beautiful girls solely hired to show off their cute mountainous rear ends!
However, I never questioned Da Twinz talent. It is no doubt that Dennis Muggaga and his colleague Daniel Sewagudde could write and sing. They have come up with charming melodies that tagged at our heart strings over the years.
I felt that with a good producer to point them in the right music direction, they would scale new heights. As fate would have it, they met renowned producer and world music specialist, Craig Pruess; a musician, arranger and producer who is widely regarded as the finest non-Indian sitar player.
Craig has written sound tracks for movies like Bride and Prejudice, Bend It like Beckham, The Mistress of Spices and TV series like the new BBC 3-parter Moses Jones.
The duo changed theri name from Da Twinz to a more organic-sounding Ganda Boys.
They also radically changed their music style as is neatly illustrated by their latest 12-track album, The War of Love.
When you listen to their music, you can instantly feel this definite upgrade.
All the 12 tracks: I know Who You Are, One Love, Kadogo (War Child), Mother Africa, Reach Out Your Hand, Working In The UK, Kingdom, Muga, First World, Third World, Sunshine On Africa, Homesickness, World Spirit, feature a glorious hybrid of styles that range from rock, country, hip-hop funk that are fused with the engagingly vibrant and energetic, percussive African rhythms.
The feel is folkloric. The velvet voices of Dennis Mugagga and Daniel Sewagudde’s combined with the achingly tender melodies grip you by the throat from start to finish.
But the highest point and most charming bit for me is War of Love was not crafted by some ubiquitous Pentium chip like the computer-driven, synth-charged Mudomo Mudomo.
This is music made by real musicians on real live instruments. Lyrically, the Ganda Boys are more mature. Gone are the ‘boy-meets-girl’ themes. Here, they draw the attention of the First World to the terrible conditions existing in the Third World — bad governance and corruption and encourage brotherhood and tolerance!
That said The War of Love is a solid effort from the Ganda Boyz which is plentifully pleasing on a spiritual and purely musical level.
This album will strengthen your love for music. I have been converted.
Ganda boys’ ‘war of love’ hits world stage
