Tag: 2011

If The Incredible Bongo Band were British and had formed in the late sixties instead of the early seventies…they still wouldn’t have sounded like this. You’d be closer if you tried to imagine the love child of Roy Budd’s Get Carter theme and the tripped-out psychedelia of sixties French nutter Pierre Henri.

THE BONGOLIAN
BONGOS FOR BEATNIKS
(Blow Up)
Fourth album of retro bongo-driven groove fusion!
7/10
The Bongolian (the alter ego of multiinstrumentalist and Big Boss Man front man Nasser Bouzida) returns with a new record on respected ’60s/Mod label (and famous club) Blow Up, and it’s another psychedelic trip that you’re going to love taking. A rhythmic. ’60s sounding fusion of funk, soul, Hammond, synths and Boogaloo,
Bouzida plays all the instruments expertly and it’s no surprise that tracks like the rousing ‘The Clav Disco’, the blissful ‘Tortoise’ and the aptly titled ‘Hippy Trippy’ will appeal to fans of dance and hip-hop as much as collectors of old funk and soul records. ‘Bongos For Beatniks’ proves that the bongo is a versatile instrument that can be used to make cool, retro music that oozes funk fun. With live shows lined up for the
year, The Bongolian is an experience you need to witness.

Buckle up and brace yourself for the wide-eyed ride that is Bongos for Beatniks. Back on earth after the intergalactic grooves of Outer Bongolian, Nasser Bouzida returns with a newly penned collection of original instro-hipsters that could so easily be the soundtrack to a long lost Italo spy-fi flick. As with Bullitt or the best of Bond, where the opening moments act as an overture for the forthcoming attractions, so the double-whammy wheelspin ‘n’ screech of Riviera Affair and Moscow Queen set the scene. Two conjoined pace-setters bred from the bloodline of Herbie Hancock and hardcoded with the funkiest squeaks, bleeps and boogaloo heard since Head Hunters hit the racks.
V.C.O and The Ballad of Lily Kensington offer cocktail cool interludes: think Pierre Henry styled for weekend casual by Andre Courreges. While show closer, Tortoise Walk, is a panoramic set piece fat backed by a bed of thunderous drums and anaglogue rumbles.
Sharp as a sniper’s eye, and hip-swishingly dandy, the spirit of John Barry lives on in Bongos for Beatniks

“I love this new album. I’ve be playing this quite a bit and I’m going to play it to death, its absolutely brilliant…
…Its official. The bongolian. My new favourite band. You heard it here first.”
Craig Charles, BBC 6Music 14th May 2011

“We’ve been long time fans of the albums, so you can imagine our excitement when album No.4 appeared on the horizon. ‘Bongos For Beatniks’ preceded by the excellent single you’ve been hearing on ‘Lunchtime Loves’… …It’s a superb record”
Nemone (in interview), BBC 6Music 4th Febuary 2011

How has The Bongolian sound evolved over the past eight
years?
“The first album was very raw and done on my old eight track tape
machine so
the arrangements were done on the fly. Things have evolved
arrangement wise
and also sonically: there is a much wider spectrum of sound.”
…

I’ve lost count how many albums Bongolian (aka Nasser Bouzida) has made. You already know him as the leader of the amazing Funk group ‘Big Boss man’ of course, but here, and as with all his records, he shows off his amazing talent by playing every instrument on there, and playing to a every high standard too.
The album is very entertaining, with his visions of late 60’s/early 70’s Funky,  Soundtrack, Library Music Jazziness. It should sound contrived, given the musical subjects, but it doesn’t. It’s a very fresh sounding album with great compositions and he’s managed to make something unique. A feat in itself in this day and age. Groovy.
9/10

Where to begin when discussing the daffy and delicious beats of the Bongolian?
Really the title “Bongos For Beatniks” kind of says it all. I swear the guy must be
a lovechild produced from a threesome between the funky organ virtuoso Jimmy
McGriff, percussionist Tito Puente and the prettiest green-skinned alien go-go
dancer in all the galaxy…

Another multi-instrumentalist who’s been impressing for a number of years now is Nasser Bouzida, AKA The Bongolian…

Multi-instrumentalist master Nasser Bouzida has once again transmorphed into his alternative personality, to bring us the fourth album from the psychedelic astral quest that continues in that parallel universe inhabited by The Bongolian. It’s been some three years since Outer Bongolia was unleashed to critical acclaim and needless to say Bongos For Beatniks picks up from there, hits the ground running and heads off in a multitude of interlinked musical directions. Opening track The Riveria Affair, the first of a baker’s dozen of gems, sets the scene, conjuring up images of a late 60s spy thriller with its film score feel. Other cuts that standout for me on yet another impressive album’s worth of groovedriven numbers are Moscow Queen, Give it To Me (On The Left Hand Side) and the trippy Bongolian Dream. Every track on Bongos For Beatniks
features Nasser on each and every instrument, although on rare live outings The Bongolian performs as a five piece. With funk, soul, boogaloo and a hint of Latino grooves all driven along by the incessant, unrelenting bongo sounds, like previous offerings from The Bongolian, Bongos For Beatniks find favour across many differing genres with dancing at their core. Bongo powered grooves at their very best, Preston Epps eat your heart out.