Bongo Joe Records
EP Review: Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers – Ayiti Kongo Dub #1: Fusing Haitian Voodou rhythms with techno intensity.
It was around this time a couple of years ago that the pairing of ceremonial drummers Chouk Bwa and techno extenders The Ångströmers’ first rumbled attention with their potent blend of Voodou rhythms and heavy bass currents. Their joint album ‘Vodou Ale’, released in 2020, stepped out way beyond any Haitian roots meets Belgian minimalism …
Album Review: Madalitso Band – Musakayike : joyful, jumping urban folk from Malawi
Big in Europe, unknown in Malawi…It’s not often that you can use that strapline about a band but that’s the trajectory so far for Madalitso Band, the enduringly upbeat partnership of Yosefe Kalekeni and Yobu Maligwa. The pair’s distinctive raw Malawian folk sound, bonded through years of busking in Lilongwe’s shopping malls, may have first …
New Track: Haitian rhythms/Techno intensity -Chouk Bwa & The Angstromers preview ‘Agwetaroyo’ from new EP
It was around this time a couple of years ago that the pairing of Chouk Bwa’s potent Vodou rhythms and The Angstromers’ electronic beat reductions first rumbled sound systems far and wide. Their album ‘Vodou Ale’ stepped out way beyond any Haitian roots meets Belgian minimalism tag, this was more than fusion it was a …
Album Review: Lalalar – Bi Cinnete Bakar: Furious electro-techno-rock from the Istanbul trio.
Those fine sound selectors at Bongo Joe have really been ripping up the new post punk envelope recently. We’ve had Tout Bleu’s dark-folk electronica, Amami’s earnest Rai inventions and most recently Societe Etrange caused a stir with their free form, dub informed workouts. Now the label is delivering direct from Istanbul, Lalalar’s debut album ‘Bi …
Album Review: Societe Etrange – Chance: Pulsating dub and post rock electronics from Lyon
Though long established in the Lyon post punk/electronic scene, Societe Etrange look set to extend their wavelength with a pulsating new album ‘Chance’ (available on Bongo Joe March 4th onwards). Evolving from the partnership of Antoine Bellini (electronics) and Romain Hervault (bass), the music of Societe Etrange has been oscillating within their city’s cluster of …
Track: Lyon based post punk experimentalists Societe Etrange preview their pulsating new album ‘Chance’.
New to Bongo Joe’s roster but long established in the Lyon post punk/electronic scene, Societe Etrange look set to oscillate more widely with their pulsating new album ‘Chance’ (released on the Bongo Joe label March 4th). Evolving from the partnership of Antoine Bellini (electronics) and Romain Hervault (bass) with roots in their city’s cluster of …
Album Review: Tout Bleu – Otium
London, New York, Paris Munich, everybody’s talking about…well it’s got to be Geneva, home to one of the most vibrant European scenes that gets broadcast to the rest of us through the antennae of Bongo Joe records. The label has offered up some fine home town releases this year from Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, …
See: Geneva’s electronic post punkers Tout Bleu deliver ‘Rucksucre’ ahead of new album ‘Otium’.
From the ever giving Bongo Joe portal, key communicator from the Geneva underground scene and beyond, comes news of Tout Bleu’s second album ‘Otium’ due for release on 10th December. Revolving around multi- instrumentalist Simone Aubert’s urgent creativity Tout Bleu’s self- titled first LP in 2019 was a record of intense twists and turns, at …
Album Review: L’Eclair- ‘Confusions’
It’s not surprising to hear that eclectic jazz funk instrumentalists L’Eclair and their record label go back a long way. Drifting home to Geneva from a London expedition in 2015 the band’s founders Sebastian Bui (keys) and Stefan Lilov (guitars) discovered a like- minded creative community revolving around the Bongo Joe record shop. Beyond the …
Album Review: Meridean Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna- Paz en la Terra
Nothing about the Meridean Brothers is as you would expect unless you are prepared for the unexpected. The name might suggest a collective but in the studio the ‘Brothers’ focal point is the mercurial talents of Colombian composer and multi- instrumentalist Eblis Alvarez. As an established player in Bogata’s energetic experimental scene Alvarez has always …