Can sound recording ever be neutral, or is it always corrupted by pre-selection, technical limitations or racism? NKISI poses this fundamental question on her intoxicating cassette ‘Anomaly Index’, which she released at the end of 2025 on the Ugandan label Nyege Nyege Tapes. The tape is merely the starting point for a series of live compositions based on a specially created sound archive. For BLAUES RAUSCHEN, she experiments with this archive and embarks on a search for ‘paranormal audio and psychoacoustic recordings’. Artefacts, recording errors, but also polyrhythmic drum synthesis and live miking create a dense fog of noise.

NKISI, whose real name is Melika Ngombe Kolongo, was born in Kinshasa, DR Congo. In her country of birth, her stage name describes objects that are inhabited or haunted by spirits. The alias has consequently become the maxim of her own work as a DJ and artist. She gained greater prominence while studying in London, including as a live performer at club nights and concerts. She is also co-founder of the NON collective, which she launched with Angel-Ho and Chino Amobi as a platform for FLINTA* artists from the African diaspora. In her work, she addresses questions of post-colonial identity, decolonisation and the psychosocial and psychoacoustic possibilities of myths, legends and rites from the time before the Black Atlantic, the African-Anglo-American enslavement.