Otim Alpha is a former boxer and harpist Hailing from the city Gulu in Uganda. Together with producer Leo Palayeng, he can boast of having created acholitronix, a poly-rhythmic, joyous dance music for the future, melding electronic beats with old-fashioned wedding songs from the Acholi region of northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Adungu, nanga and other traditional harps, flutes and violins are used alongside synths and drum machines well upwards of 180 bpm, accompaning Otim Alpha’s singing: tireless, partly improvised. Due to influence of Christian missionaries, acholi music has long been banished to a peripheral existence in Uganda, and when Otim Alpha released their album Gulu City Anthems, it turned out that its mix of nostalgic and futuristic sounds was exactly what the local audience longed for. Africa’s arguably hottest record label Nyege Nyege Tapes swiftly recruted Otim Alpha to its stable, and soon the album spread like wildfire not only on that continent but also to our northern latitudes.