Plectrum Bongos For Beatniks The Bongolian

Published on 1st June 2011 (UK)

Media title : Plectrum The Cultural Pick

Author : Dave Collins

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