Unieke tweedaagse rond het al even unieke Zwitserse (maar vooral wereldse) Bongo Joe Records

Met de steun van Liveurope en Pro Helvetia.

“After seeing many of our artists* perform at Ancienne Belgique over the past decade, we’re truly honored to host two nights in this iconic venue as part of our 10 Year Anniversary Tour. The connection between Les Disques Bongo Joe and Brussels is a special one, as we’ve collaborated with some of the key players in the local scene - including Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers, DJ soFa, Cheb Runner, Funky Bompa, as well as local collectives, radios, venues, and record stores. Coming to Belgium to celebrate this anniversary together means a lot to us!”, aldus Cyril Yeterian, muzikant en Bongo Joe-opperhoofd.

(*Altın Gün, Baby Berserk, Chouk Bwa, Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, Lalalar, Meridian Brothers, Meril Wubslin, Nyati Mayi & Astral Synth Transmitters, Pixvae, Societé Etrangé, Nunsantara Beat, …)

20:00 Alice (CH)

Alice is een Zwitsers trio met een bijzondere moeder-dochter dynamiek: Lisa en Yvonne Harder vormen de kern van de band. Bongo Joe: “Alice’s music subverts French and Occitan folk music to create a unique sound that combines art-pop, folk song vocals and synth experiments.” Hun album L'Oiseau Magnifique is daar een treffend bewijs van. Verwacht je aan “a thrift-store synth, bizarre wit and arresting vocals with an intergenerational, all-female micro-choir”.

21:00 Cyril Cyril & Le Syndicat du Futur (CH)

Hoe mooi kan een verhaal zijn? Cyril Cyril bestaat uit twee heren die allebei Cyril heten, waaronder Bongo Joe-opperhoofd Cyril Yeterian. Le Syndicat du Futur zijn hun kinderen Jeannot, Zoé, Marilou, Marlowe en Lénaïs. Hun instrumentarium: stemmen, een typemachine en pingpongballen. Met hun eerste wapenfeit en single La Meteo / Le Monde Embêtant brengen ze “sharp and joyful manifesto-like texts to express how absurd and boring the adult world seems to them”.

22:00 Lalalar (TR)

De kern van Lalalar is Ali Güçlü Şimşek, die geen AB-onbekende is. Als gitarist van Gaye Su Akyol stond hij al vier keer op ons podium én hij was er in 2022 ook bij voor een heuse Bongo Joe label night. Lalalar combineert moderne synth sounds met traditionele Turkse instrumenten. Hun jongste album En Kötü lyi Olur (2023) vertaalt zichzelf als ‘at its worst, it will be good’. Het is hun “beacon of hope in our ever socially, politically, and climatically challenged world”. De realiteit wijst uit dat deze acuter is dan ooit. Vorige keer zeer explosief en dansbaar. Mag het dak eraf?

Fun fact

"We decided to name our store and label in tribute to the very unique American street musician George 'Bongo Joe' Coleman (1923 – 1999) who was very popular in Texas and despite lucrative offers from established venues, for 30 years, preferred playing on the streets of different US cities and recorded his only album in San Antonio: George Coleman: Bongo Joe, in 1968 with producer Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records.

His self titled record is one that we have always cherished and was reissued years ago by our friends from Mississippi Records. His music was created with a pure DIY attitude and his message and the way he sung was in our opinion very ahead of its time. George 'Bongo Joe' Coleman's family were over the moon after seeing photos of our record store in Geneva, named and were very excited that European music lovers, so far away, decided to honor the name of their loved and long-lost relative."