Leicester Bangs Reviews The Bongolian Outer Bongolia

Published on 1st December 2007 (UK)

Media title : Leicester Bangs

Nasser Bouzida is the Bongolian of some renown and this to all intents and purposes is his first solo musical journey heavily underpinned by an obvious interest and delight – this is serious feel-good music – in playing drums and percussion coupled with his own heavy Bongo rhythms. His debut single, the funky Bongohead was released to much critical acclaim in late 2001 and since then it seems he has been busy writing recording and touring in preparation for the next stage in the Bongo evolution / revolution. To listen to the Bongo-meister is to enter into the world of 60s chic-a-psychedelic musical trip par excellence. These spaced out heavy bongo rhythms underwritten by Latin Soul are a joy; groove-oriented delight after delight. Witness something of the space age in ‘Feel It’, a dance floor groove classic in the opener with ‘Talking Synth’ and the Mambo underscore in ‘Bongo Mambo’ is delicious in its understated authenticity. The ‘Gospel According To’ the Bongolian is a self-deprecating marvel- it’s Blues Brothers, Green Onions and a trippy jazz classic all rolled into one. Fourteen tracks in all, not a dull moment from start to finish; this is a Bongolian triumph.