If there\u2019s a common thread running through the releases on the feverishly eclectic, routinely revelatory Swiss label Bongo Joe, it\u2019s that something\u2019s always just a little bit off, and usually in just the right way. Yours for a single Euro, or more if you\u2019re generous, this label sampler slaps the listener with something different at every turn \u2013 occasionally vexing, far more frequently gratifying. One gets the impression this comp was thrown together on impulse and in haste (the cover art is a clue), driven by the anxious zeitgeist, but it doesn\u2019t lack for noteworthy content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mauskovic Dance Band\u2019s \u201cWeather\u201d and Y\u012bn Y\u012bn\u2019s \u201cPingpxng\u201d each show a chiller side to two of the label\u2019s most prominent acts, their sinuously groovy neo-exotica, frantic danger-disco, and exospheric dub-rock resolving themselves well at room temperature. Hyperculte are here as well, with the woozy, characteristically inscrutable \u201cPenser Ensemble\u201d. A Turkish quotient is covered by the trippy disco-folk of Altin G\u00fcn and Derya Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m & Grup \u015eim\u015fek, as well as the morbid, staggering post-punk of Lalalar\u2019s \u201cIsyanlar\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al Doum & The Faryds \u2019s frenzied \u201cSatieva\u201d is an asteroid collision of cosmic jazz and acid rock, Mameen 3\u2019s \u201cJahrab\u201d an electro-reggae novelty, while \u201cBe Thankful\u201d is one of Bostonian electro-hippie The Space Lady\u2019s endearingly homemade signals to the stars above. On the acoustic porch-jam side of things, Malawian duo Madalitso proffer the sunny shuffler \u201cWasalala\u201d, and Madagascar\u2019s Damily let the hectic, vertiginous \u201cHavandra\u201d off its leash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s more where that all came from, including \u201cAtlantis\u201d, a slippery slice of phase-shifting mystery Moog pop from Switzerland\u2019s L’Eclair, teasing their upcoming EP Noshtta<\/em>. And more still, if you grab this compilations sibling, Bongo Joe’s All-time Favorites : Reissues<\/em>. Reflecting the other side of the Bongo Joe operation, it’s a loot bag full of quirky tropical flavours from decades past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n