Bongo Joe Records
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 …
Track/Video: Algerian psych-rock legends Les Abranis release ‘Id Ed Was’ to trail their ‘Amazigh Freedom Rock 1973 – 1983’ compilation.
Sometimes retrospective albums seem destined to just come and go but not this one. ‘Amazigh Freedom Rock 1973 – 1983’ by Les Abranis, available via Bongo Joe from 28th April, promises to be a compilation that makes a mark, setting the crate diggers out there scrabbling and looking for more. This is an album that …
Album Review: Alice – L’Oiseau Magnifique : A lo- fi mini choir that conjure everyday magic.
You’ve got to be curious about Alice, the off-kilter Genevan trio formed by mother/ daughter/visual artist pairing Yvonne and Lisa Harder with their friend, graphic novelist Sarah Andre. Self-styled as a DIY micro chorale, their three voices and second hand keyboards conjure up songs that sneak way beyond any Occitan/French folky starting point. For sure …
News/Tracks: Yalla Miku preview debut album, a cranked up connection of gnawa rhythms, East African spirit and post punk dynamism.
Now here’s something to shout about, a new gutsy global beats collective Yalla Miku coming out of the house of Bongo Joe Records with a debut self-titled album hitting the shelves from 31st March. Formed by Bongo Joe founder, musician Cyril Yeterian and his band mate from the requisitely named Cyril Cyril, percussionist Cyril Bondi, …
Track/Video: Geneva’s own lo-fi mini choir Alice preview new album ‘L’Oiseau Magnifique’- avant-folk with art-punk edge.
As sixties singer-poet Pete Brown maintained ‘Things may come and things may go but the art-school dance goes on forever’. Well Genevan trio Alice would definitely go down well at that kind of hop. Formed in 2018 to perform at the Swiss city’s Deviant Art Festival by mother and daughter Yvonne and Lisa Harder plus …
Album Review: Mauskovic Dance Band – ‘Bukaroo Bank’: an urgent post punk dub directive from Amsterdam.
Those Mauskovic Dance Band boys are back, back with Bongo Joe Records and back with another fine slice of snappy syncopation. The mischievous Amsterdam four piece, Nico, Donnie, Marnix and Mano Mauskovic, may quirkily take the same surname to maintain their mystique but this time around their collective purpose seems intensely serious. New album ‘Bukaroo …
New Track/Video: Global beatniks Mauskovic Dance Band present pumping single ‘Face’ from soon-come album ‘Bukaroo Bank’
Amsterdam’s leftfield space disco troubadours Mauskovic Dance Band are getting busy. With their new album ‘Bukaroo Bank’ due 28th October via Bongo Joe, it’s time for a second snapshot to cue us up for the main event in the shape of new single ‘Face’ . Streaming now through all the usual operatives, the track pumps …