Bongo Joe Switzerland レコード& CD

Review: Geneva might not even be in the first 10 cities you name when it comes to dub talent, but the Bongo Joe label has been quietly trying to change that over the course of more than 40 releases. The latest comes from new local band Amami and fuse dub with afrobeat and dancehall to make for something refreshingly original. Raphael Anker (Imperial Tiger Orchestra), Gabriel Ghebrezghi (Ghostape, Tapes Adventure, Uberreel) and Ines Mouzoune make up the outfit and they explore dusty trap style dub on the opener, hyperdriven afro dub on "Fast" and a more stripped back rhythm on "Giant". "Ivory" is a funky number with a summery vibe while closing cut "Super Shaggy" stomps hard.

Review: There is real fire and fury in this opening tune on the new drop from Bongo Joe Records out of Switzerland. A ceremonial chant opens up and is sure to bring dance floor delirium from the off over the high-speed dub rhythms and raw percussive sounds. The raw, high octane and primordial influence of techno looms large throughout with Chouk Bwa & The Angstromers really going for the jugular. Heft modern bass weight, deft electronics and traditional Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms all collide with trance-including and mind-melting results.

Review: The debut album from Amsterdam-based muso Donald 'Donny' Madjid (a member of The Mauskovic Dance Band) came after an unusual break in his often hectic touring cycle, largely thanks to the pandemic. Keeping himself sane with a plethora of vintage synths as well as a 60s era drum-machine, the resulting experiments gave way to 2021's retro-fitted disco meets new wave opus Pure Donzin. Now that tour-life has resumed and his schedule chock-a-block yet again, it's taken three years for another dose of pure Donny with the release of his follow up Zonder Pardon EP. Authentic swathes of machine-percussion, thick synth-lines and Madjid's own disarming croon (sung almost exclusively in his native tongue) channel the sonic iconography of Talking Heads or Roxy Music, yet transported by way of an Italo-Disco rave to the funkiest spots of inner-city Holland.

Review: Le Disques Bongo Joe's joint release with Calico Discos was a superb EP back in 2020 and it still bangs today, hence the reissue. It offers up four fresh cuts from L'Eclair, a self-styled "exogroove post-internet" six-piece with three must-check albums to their name. Musically, the four tracks offer a breezy, summery and mixed-up blend of Tony Allen style polyrhythms, tropical funk guitars, languid synthesizer sounds, psychedelic electronics and copious amounts of mind-altering dub effects. Our favourites include the low-slung deep Afro-psychedelia of 'Dallas', the rousing, horn-heavy EP opener 'Cebando' (a future dancefloor staple for sure), and the Moog-laden sunrise dreaminess of 'Atlantis'.