bongolian reviews

cat. no.s: BU023, BU025
debut release: november 2001.

outer bongolia (BU040 LP/CD)
the bongolian (BU025 LP/CD)
bongohead (BU023 7")

related pages:
introduction to the bongolian
releases
blow up 45 series

outer bongolia
BU040 LP/CD/DD

clash magazine
Mention the bongo to the average music fan and they will no doubt recoil in horror at memories of goatee clad, socks and sandal wearing beatniks. Well, The Bongolian is on a mission to change all that. Formerly a member of Mod groovers Big Boss Man, multi instrumentalist Nasser Bouzida has created a unique blend of jazz, funk and soul, but centred entirely on the lowly bongo. Using no samples, The Bongolian has crafted an album of brilliant breakbeats, inspired by the music emanating from Black America in the '60s and 70s but with a fresh twist. Recorded on The Bongolian's own analogue 8-track, Bouzida avoids accusations of retro kitsch through the sheer sense of fun and adventure that pervades the record. 'A Psychedelic Trip' that takes the listener to the outer reaches of funk and back again, it comes with only one requirement - bring your dancing shoes.
04/08

dusty groove
A wicked trip into space courtesy of Bongolian -- who somehow sound hipper, groovier, and funkier than ever before! Bongolian have really expanded their sound a bit this time around -- taking their usual blend of 70s funk and 60s mod, and adding in some cool spacier elements -- including key use of synth, and also some great production that really spaces out some of the best sounds -- making things as weird and wonderful as you might expect from the title! There's a really unique groove going on here -- one that's a really fresh change from some of the other funky work on the market, and which has us digging Bongolian even more than before. Even the rhythms are often quite special -- still funky, but not in the usual ways -- and always with a nice sort of playful energy. Imagine Booker T & The MGs, The Duke Of Burlington, and Alan Hawkshaw all taking a trip to the stars together -- and you've only got part of the picture here!
11/07

the organ
Hammond organ driven Seventies sounding (mostly) instrumental Latino soul and warm analogue psychedelia –
for all you lovers of big afros and Brazilian football and Sly And The Family and sneaky wolf-creatures and spaced-out dance floor funk and bongo rhythms – the authentic real deal crafted groove, no samples or anything like that. Spot on artwork too.
#228 01/11/07

planet mondo blog
I've been shaking my troos and stomping my shoes to this winner for the last week, (which hasn't been off the Mondo Music Center since it's first spin) and as much as I want to keep it a secret it’s just too funky to stay under my dude hat.
Try and imagine Roy Budd, Brian Auger and Billy Preston making a three way tag team jamming on 'Rollerball' riffs, groovy synthscapes, hard and heavy Hammond exotica with bongo's a go-go. Well, in fact you don’t have to - The Bongolian’s rolled it all into a ready made Psychedelic space age bundle for you.
'A Psychedelic Trip To Outer Bongolia' could be the long lost soundtrack to a retro-futurist Sci Fi flick, full of Funky nuggets like ‘The Champion’ ‘Feel It’ and the anthemic ‘All Aboard’.
05/11/07 view original article here

q magazine
Nasser Bouzida is a man with talent to spare, a multiinstrumentalist, based in London and operating under the alias THE BONGOLIAN. Outer Bongolia, his third album, is a Latin-flavoured jazz-funk odyssey - heavy on the bongos, naturally - that sounds as if it was recorded in the early'60s.
12/07

subba-cultcha - 4½ out of 5
Does exactly what it says on the chin. And superb to boot.
I’m always a bit warey of things that call themselves a psychedelic trip. It’s generally a lazy way of describing anything that was written by people of their tits. And people who write stuff when they’re off their tits are generally not as good as they think they are (are you listening to me, Docherty?)
Refreshing to report, then, that The Bongolian’s curly-whirly-swirly mix of Hammond organs and ridiculously funky breaks is far more reflective of music for people who are stoned, rather than by them.
A fantastic funky sixties vibe that proudly boasts no samples whatsoever (amen to that) and yet is totally evocative of the “swinging” sound that is oh-so-ubercool these days. And rightly so.
I’m not going to start drooling over individual tracks - it’s such a beautifully well rounded album that I’ll just leave at this…. It’s cheesy, it’s funky, gorgeously psychedelic without being in the slightest bit pretensious. What more can you ask?
05/11/07 view original article here

thebeatsurrender.co.uk - 8/10
“All you have to do is shuffle your feet” cries the second track here ‘Feel It’, which I couldn’t help doing if I’d wanted to the whole way through this excellent release on London’s prolific Blow Up Records.
I suppose you have to get this kind of music first to become excited by and enjoy the album like I did, it’s definitely an acquired taste and the trusty old Hammond organ doesn’t get everyone onto their feet like it does me! Nasser Bouzida is the cool cat behind it and as well as becoming The Bongolian in 2001 he also plays with ultra hip label mates Big Boss Man.
This is now the third album since then and amazingly it doesn’t contain one sample. The talented Nasser plays all instruments (and there’s quite a few) while also producing the whole thing himself on analogue 8 track at his Ramshackle studios. Nick Terry (Klaxons, SMD) took on mixing duties at The Premises, Hackney and we’re left with a fine slab of heavy, groove led psychedelic jazz-funk. Now there’s a mouthful!!
Bringing in some extra support to take the sound on tour as a full band, he’s built up a strong following around Europe, especially in France. The albums artwork has a U.F.O morphed on the front and it begins with a spaced out feel welcoming you into its realm with old school type breakbeats and a ‘Talking Synth’. The out of this world feel doesn’t last too long as the craft crashes down around Carnaby Street for some shuffling 60’s Mod vibes.
‘The Champion’ is up on his Myspace site and it’s a JTQ style groover with deep basslines and piercing organ that combines with slapping, rolling bongos and sonic bursts that make you seriously want to move. The guy can really play and he shows his percussion background with some impressive drumming on ‘Rock Me’ and only the irritating sound of a possible donkey lets down another grinding groove, progressing the album superbly.
There’s a more gentle approach on the hollow, stomach turning (in a good way!) ‘Lucky Seven’ and again with layered, textured percussion on ‘All Aboard’ which throws in a deep, deep bass with whistling Hammond and comes across really familiar.
The fun continues into ‘The Horn’, a spellbinding, funky French style number that keeps things moving along nice and mellow. Then it’s from France to South America later as the Latin feel begins to come across more on ‘Bongo Mambo’, the title says it all really and I’m still amazed that there are no samples on here just ass shaking beats and the best use of a Hammond I’ve heard since The New Mastersounds’ last project.
The tongue is firmly in cheek and we could be in an Austin Powers movie with ‘The Wolf’. Head and pant shaking with a bark topping things off quite bizarrely. Scattered Salsa rhythms and rolling bongos take us for a ‘Marimba Down At The Hare’ and he rounds off the album brilliantly upbeat with a stuttering Hammond and more bluesy piano that recalls Film 2007 on ‘The Gospel According To The Bongolian’
It’s a stunning collection of grooves from a talented Londoner who is most definitely keeping the funk alive. I recommend you pick it up and get down!
23/11/07 Sascha Boehm view original article here

the bongolian
BU025 LP/CD

NME
"He plays the bongos, you know Can you hear that distant thunder? The slap of skin upon canvas? There's a war going on: an almighty generational clash between crusties and the fashionable mod army, And the spoils of war? Why, the mighty bongo drum that humble, yet majestic instrument noble animal skin stretched taut over firm, strut wooden frame.
Mmmm. It may not, to be fair, have stopped you from lusting over that balding bloke from The Hives. But London's mod haven, Blow Up, still cares. Step forward, then, The Bongolian - aka multi-instrumentalist Nasser Bouzida. This young man inhabits the cul-de-sac off pop's rich highway, where every signpost reads Carnaby Street, ties are strictly kipper, and Austin Powers is screened at M15 briefings. Somewhat predictably, he plays the bongos very well.
We know just what you're thinking. Exactly what, NME, can you do with a bongo? Well listen and learn. 'Flight Through The Five Galaxies' is dark-edged prog-bongo. 'Merve Plays Vibes' is 'The Rockafeller Skank'-style surf bongo."
16/02/02

loaded
"SOUNDS LIKE: Tito Punte's funk child. Nasser Bouzida, leader of modernist Berkshire groovers Big Boss Man, steps out on his own for a set of (mainly) instrumentals which shows off his keyboard and percussion skills. Blending the Latin soul of Ray Barretto and Mongo Santamaria with hard grooves a` la James Brown and the organ chops of Brother Jack McDuff, he adds whimsical song titles for good measure. A backward-looking, forward-thinking effort, and one of the best British fink releases in years.
Pay attention, Jay Kay."
03/02

mojo
"Introducing the Bongolian, a new project by Nasser Bouzida the main-man from Big Boss Man. This is Nasser in his element and for a young man who’s principle interests are drums and percussion, left to his own devices, he takes us on a journey of dirty bongo driven funk and spaced out Latin soul. Written, arranged, preformed and produced by Nasser at his home studio over the last year and recorded on analogue 8 track. Mixed by Nasser and Nick Terry who previously produced Ian Brown’s debut album. Please note, this album contains no samples, the groove just sounds that good! ."
03/02

OK!
"This is the percussionist from Big Boss Man’s solo excursion. And as you may have guessed from the title, it’s a bongo-tastic blend of beats with lots of extras like funky guitars and howling Hammond riffs. It includes plenty of oddly-titled yet superd songs like Bongohead and The Shackles of Ramm, but don’t waste time reading this tracklisting this album was made for dancing to. "
4/5
24/01/02

hmv.co.uk
"Let's face it, it's pretty difficult to find a good groove these days, especially one that hasn't been manufactured by a bunch of machines. However, there's hope yet if Nasser Bouzida has got anything to do with it. Because Nasser, producer and the man behind Big Boss Man is the Bongolian in question, a dude driven by the search for a good groove. Consequently, the album of the same name is a musical journey through dirty, driven funk and into spaced-out Latin Soul with positively no prisoners taken along the way. Enjoy the ride. Please note: no samples were used during the making of this album. "
02/02

channelfly.com
"Forget hippy, this is trippy. Forget cheesy, this is sleazy. Forget Mini Me, this is Mini Cooper. You get the idea. Meet the Bongolian, also known as the big boss man from the band Big Boss Man. His eponymous debut takes us on a short, sharp trip into a fast-paced organ and bongo-fuelled world of funky rhythms and groovy grooves. We're taken to a world well below the camp, cheesy, happy-clappy hippies of the fake slap-stick Austin Powers' London, deep into an as yet unexposed '60's British underworld. Forget hippy, this is trippy. Forget cheesy, this is sleazy. Forget Mini Me, this is Mini Cooper. You get the idea. Featuring the recent (and hugely addictive) 7" "Bongohead", the deep down and dirty "wahwah" guitars on "The Fatback Showdown" (don't panic - no Peter Frampton in sight here) and the Cordurouy-style of "Dirt, Sweat and Bones", the album opens as it means to go on, and holds the same upbeat tempo with minimum vocals and maximum grooves for its full, short yet exciting 36 minutes. There's not a lot else to be said for this record - play it and you'll see it speaks for itself. It's whatever you want it to be, but above all, it's funky. It might not be your average Fly-reader's music, but rest assured that everyone will find something in this they can relate to. Yeah baby. Martin Kahl.."
Martin Kahl

no.6: the bongolian 'bongohead'
BU023 7"

scootering: single of the month
"With a blend of funky flavoured bongo driven rhythm married with a farfisa organ, the end result is an astral trip of spaced out funky grooves, with a fat back vibe reminiscent of the very early seventies. Add a massive injection of manic bongo workouts and a smattering of machine gun style drum riffs. Last ingredient being an occasional yet essential repetition of this uplifting funky Soul 'n' Jazz workouts title, and voila, an absolutely wicked and captivatingly cooking number.
Bongohead is a taster for Nasser's side project The Bongolian, album of the same name is set for release early next year. On the strength of Bongohead it should be an absolute scorcher."
12/01 #188

what's on
"Farfisa organ, funky guitar and groovy vocals - augmented by tasty bongo playing. It's what the kids want, what the kids need and what they must have. Totally mind-blowing."
28/11/01

back:
outer bongolia (BU040 LP/CD)
the bongolian (BU025 LP/CD)
bongohead (BU023 7")
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related pages:
introduction to the bongolian
releases
blow up 45 series

links:
www.bongolian.com
www.myspace.com/thebongolian

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