Bongo Joe Records
Album Review: Yalla Miku –‘2’: an energetic, ‘post-world’, sonic cocktail direct from the Bongo Joe community.
If ever there was an imprint that was more than just another indie record label it’s Bongo Joe. A musicians’ collective, a community, a shop and watering hole, a barometer of Geneva’s underground scene, an epicentre for ‘post -world’ music, this cutting-edge Swiss co-op is now in its tenth year. Fitting then that Bongo Joe’s …
Album Review: Madalitso Band-‘Ma Gitala’: More pulsating, street band afrobeat from the unstoppable Malawian duo.
Obviously no-one has told the irrepressible Madalitso Band about the third album wobble. The Malawian roots duo, Yosefe Kalekeni and Yobu Maligwa, are a partnership who take everything in their stride, including their steep rise from years spent busking on the Lilongwe streets to delivering knock-out sets at recent Roskilde and WOMAD fests. Supported by …
Album Review : Sami Galbi –‘Ylh Bye Bye’ : fresh and feisty electro-pop from a new voice on the world fusion airwaves.
Genevan label Bongo Joe has been sneaking out singles by Swiss/Moroccan electronic artist Sami Galbi since March last year but now the teasing is over. The full whammy, his debut album ‘Ylh Bye Bye’ has landed on the shelves and should soon be flying off them at speed, it’s that strong. Galbi really is a …
Album Review: Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – ‘Ventre Unique’: the mercurial post-punk/global beats collective score once more.
Formed in 2007 by bassist and composer Vincent Bertholet, Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp are a band with the beat of the infamous but sadly crushed Genevan punk squat movement at their core. Democratic by nature, collective in approach and creatively free, the revolving ensemble are five albums into their escapade with no signs of …
Album Review: Citron Citron – ‘Maréeternelle’ : more distinct and deceptive electronic pop from the Genevan duo.
What flavour of pop are Genevan duo Citron Citron, avant- arty- absurdist- alt, lo fi -leftfield- chamber- surreal, synth – electro – experimental – no-wave or bits of all these thrown in at random and rising to the top at different times? No matter, more important things about Citron Citron can be said: the musical …
Album Review : Forest Law –‘Zero’ : Bossa beats, international grooves and so much more on this globetrotting musician’s debut.
Sonic explorer, creative adventurer, soundscape navigator are all phrases you could apply to Alexander Burke a.k.a Forest Law. Romford born, now London based he’s taken a globetrotting route to the release of his debut album ‘Zero’, available now courtesy of a Bongo Joe/ Total Refreshment Centre collaboration. Coming through Giles Peterson’s ‘Future Bubblers ‘unsigned artists’ …
Album Review: Meril Wubslin – Faire Ça : Bluesy drones, alt-rock crunch and a world of rhythms make this band unique.
Does Bongo Joe Records have a signature sound? Well listen through the bulging rosta of releases since the label first output way back in 2015 and the conclusion would probably be a resolute ‘No’. But it does have a mission to give a platform to the extraordinary and less conventional, whether from the Swiss underground …
Album Review : Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers – Somanti : Vodou energy meets electro dub intensity to break new ground.
The partnership between Haitian mizik rasin (or roots music) collective Chouk Bwa and Brussels electronic beat masters The Ångströmers hasn’t exactly had a smooth ride. First connecting in 2016 around Rokskilde Festival time, the idea of fusing potent Vodou sounds with the dance informed, dub wise beat reductions felt like a good one. A couple …
Album Review : Lalalar – ‘En Kötü Iyi Olur’ : Crunching agit-electro dynamism from Istanbul
Attention, the agit-electro Istanbul trio Lalalar are crashing back through the airwaves with new album ‘En Kötü Iyi Olur’ on Bongo Joe and it’s no soft landing. This is a band geared up for impact, kicking up a fuss and pressing for a reaction with their rebooted Anatolian anarchism powered through electronic-rock, synth funk and …
Album Review: ‘Yalla Miku’ – Yalla Miku : Gnawa rhythms, East African roots and post punk dynamism connect on this electric debut.
Every city has a true face, a side which, as Lydon said ‘the tourists never see” and revealing that real identity is what Yalla Miku are all about. Formed by the founder of Swiss label Bongo Joe, musician Cyril Yeterian and his band mate from the aptly named Cyril Cyril, percussionist Cyril Bondi, Yalla Miku’s …