This one was an unexpected treat. Two of our favourite contemporary musicians, Finn Rees & SHOLTO coming together and collaborating on a double dose of celestial, cinematic alchemy.

At Mr Bongo we are massive admirers of drummer, musician, and producer SHOLTO (Oscar Robertson). His two albums on Funk Night Records and DeepMatter Records, had both been highlights of their respective years. We’d gotten to know Oscar and sent him a few records. Included in the package was Australian pianist-composer Finn Rees’ debut album, Dawn Is A Melody, which was one of our favourite releases on Mr Bongo in 2024.

In Oscar's words 'For me it was a standout modern jazz record - encapsulating a spiritual / hazy dreamy soundscape which hugely resonated with me. Glissando keys and harp with lush melodies, I was instantly intrigued.”

The pair started following each other online and as luck would have it, Finn was staying in London for the summer season, so they arranged to meet. The pair instantly clicked and said it felt like they'd known each other for years. After 40 minutes of chatting, they started to jam.

'Love In Memory' and 'Bluebell' were recorded over two days - a track a day in Oscar's SFJ studios. Laid down on mostly analogue equipment, the pair utilised Wurlitzer’s, mellotrons, and ribbon mics through Oscar’s ‘70s Studer desk. Composed and crafted without any real intentions, other than a shared appreciation for the same style of music and approach, the tracks started to take shape. The results were as lush, nostalgic and textured as you’d expect from these two brilliant musicians, with a classical feel inspired by artists such as Piero Piccioni, Piero Umiliani, and Henry Mancini.

For the beautiful string arrangements, the pair recruited the talents of Sholto's long-time friend and collaborator Clementine Brown (Penguin Cafe Orchestra) and Matthew Hayes of 30/70, Allysha Joy, Xpress Point, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange fame, was brought in to play bass on 'Bluebell'.

So here we have it, a chance collaborative project built on two musicians' mutual respect for each other's outputs. The result is truly breathtaking.

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Balmat 17 marks both a return and a new frontier. It is the second album on the label from Patricia Wolf, whose 2022 album See-Through is one of the most beloved in Balmat’s catalog; it also marks the first time that Wolf has turned her hand to a film soundtrack. The results are every bit as magical as fans of the Portland, Oregon, composer’s music might expect.

Hrafnamynd—Icelandic for “raven film”—is a new feature-length documentary by experimental filmmaker Edward Pack Davee. Shot on a mix of film and digital formats, and incorporating his father’s Ektachrome slides from the 1970s, the autobiographical film works on multiple levels at once: a reminiscence of his childhood in Iceland, an exploration of landscape and folklore, and a documentary study of the island nation’s ravens—including a talking raven named Krummi.

Wolf is the perfect artist to score such an unusual film. Mixing ambient music and field recording—including extensive experience documenting bird song—Wolf brings an unusually empathic perspective to her music. In the context of Hrafnamynd, her airy melodies, pensive atmospheres, and vivid textures intuitively complement the film’s grainy film stock and blown-out colors. Friends for years, the two artists further bonded when Wolf asked Pack to film music videos for her songs “Woodland Encounter” (from See-Through) and “The Culmination Of” (from I'll Look For You In Others). Pack used Wolf’s previously recorded music as placeholders as he began assembling a rough cut of the film, which made her a natural choice to help him complete his idiosyncratic vision with an all-new, bespoke score.

But Wolf’s soundtrack also indisputably stands alone as a full-length album. Largely created using the UDO Super 6 synthesizer, it features a carefully distilled palette of warm, string-like pads and darkly glistening mallets, rounded out with the very occasional introduction of nylon string guitar. Musically and stylistically, the album’s 11 tracks represent both a continuation of the ruminative sound of See-Through and also an extension into new expressive modes. Few musicians, ambient or otherwise, are as skilled at balancing melody with atmosphere, or at finding ways to eke fresh at finding ways to eke fresh, surprising sounds out of an intentionally reduced toolkit. Meditative, immersive, and emotionally generous Wolf’s Hrafnamynd soundtrack evokes a range of ambient classics from decades past while confidently marking out its own verdant patch of ground.


Artist’s Statement:
Edward and I have been friends for years, but we really started to get to know one another better after I hired him to make music videos for my songs “Woodland Encounter” and “The Culmination Of.” For those projects we got to spend a lot of time hiking in various locations around the Pacific Northwest with his camera, very nice lenses, and tripod. Keeping quiet, hidden, and vigilant we searched for wildlife, good light on the trees, meadows, lakes, rivers, and skies. Edward was already an appreciator of my music and I was already in awe of his filmmaking talents so it felt like a great fit. Although we work in different areas of art our styles compliment one another. We both tend toward slow and careful pacing, with a focus on emotion and introspective reflections on life and the landscapes around us. For this reason, Iknew that I could trust Edward to create videos for my music. We saw so many beautiful and unexpected things on our filming days, but I was moved to tears once I saw how magnificent and poetic it all was. His video work from the cinematography, to the editing, and color correction helped bring my inner vision to life.

A few months after that, Edward surprised me with an invitation to work on the soundtrack for his new film, Hrafnamynd. I enthusiastically said yes. I had always wanted to work on a film, and I knew that his filmmaking style would be inspiring to write music for. I had recently acquired an UDO Super 6 synthesizer but hadn't used it much. I decided that this would be the synth that I'd use for the film. It has the ability to sound very modern, but can also sound so warm and fuzzy, like a synth from the 1970s. It turned out to be the perfect instrument for this project as the film itself straddles time from the ’70s to today.

When Edward sent me the rough cut of the film, he used placeholder music to help give me an idea of the emotion and energy that he was hoping to achieve for each scene. For many of the scenes, Edward used music from my albums as temporary tracks. This told me that he trusted my work and style and therefore I should just trust my intuition with how to proceed. I wanted to make sure that everything that I made was a direct reflection of what was happening on screen, a mirror of its emotion and energy so people could really lock into the film psychologically. This process took my composing to unexpected places—like being led by a strange cat or a raven that seemed to have something to show me. I found that the approach made the music so much more dynamic than my usual style. I really enjoyed being influenced by the action and dialog on the screen. Thankfully, Edward was very happy with the work. I made sure to handle this project with the utmost care because this is about his life and his family, and an exploration of the experiences that made him an artist and filmmaker. While watching the film many times over, I found myself thinking about my own family and my early memories with them and how the place where I grew up has influenced who I have become. I found that his film invites the viewer to reflect on their own lives in a similar way. I hope that this music and film can guide others to contemplate on the history of their beingness and the people and places that shaped them.

Another aspect to this project is the splendor and wonder of Iceland itself. I had the opportunity to visit Iceland for the first time in 2023. I got to play a show there for the Extreme Chill Festival and met many friendly and brilliant Icelanders. I also got to collect field recordings that I used in the film. It's a fascinating place and culture that easily captures the hearts and imaginations of anyone who visits. Whether you spend your time in the city immersed in its impressive arts scene, or venture out into the wilderness to behold its wondrous landscape, it will leave a lasting impression. The soundtrack is also a love letter to Iceland itself.

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Wah Wah 45s are very proud to present the debut LP from an exciting, brand new signing for 2025. The music of Isaac de Martin, otherwise known as IKE, blends jazz and electronic influences into warm, smooth, and often cinematic soundscapes. A certain eclecticism is not surprising considering that the composer, producer and guitarist was born in Italy into a musical family with British roots, studied classical guitar, graduated in jazz and went on to develop his personal style through creative experimentation, live touring and collaborative work with artists from a variety of disciplines and countries. Under the shadow of the pandemic, IKE headed to Egypt, a country that has always held a deep fascination for him. Finding sanctuary between teaching at Cairo's Heliopolis University and observing the progress of an ecological development community, the creative foundation of IKE's forthcoming LP, entitled On Higher Dreams began to take form. Music holds a revered position in Egyptian culture; it has done so for countless generations. With a western eye, some can be guilty of seeing music solely through the lens of entertainment. In Egypt, music holds its more natural position, as an essential and supportive accompaniment to the human experience. In Egyptian universities, faculty meetings often commence with live concerts, setting the correct tone and environment for the discussions to follow. IKE was invited to perform in this setting, and this approach to music, as well as the philosophy that underpins it, was keenly absorbed. In western culture, all too often we bear the contrast of living with a physical and social connection, freedom and expression against one with isolation, restriction and fear. For IKE, Egypt displayed another stark contrast; one which formed the thematic centre of On Higher Dreams. It is water that dictates the pulse of life in Egypt, with the Nile Delta standing as a lush, nourishing testament to the transformative power of the element, when set against the backdrop of the arid landscape it carves its ways through. There is a deep connection between the people of Egypt and this life-giving force. This album is an ode to this fundamental relationship. Upon returning to Europe, IKE spent a year digesting, interpreting, understanding and refining the spirit of the work, before setting about recording in 2022 at Big Snuff Studios, Berlin. The all-analog setup that was available allowed IKE to integrate the warmth of '60s and '70s recordings, creating an atmospheric bed on which contemporary synths could lie. A live studio environment was consciously selected to preserve the raw, honest emotion of the performances. Tracks like Nilo capture the lifeblood of Egypt—the Nile—while Sidda navigates the journey down the Blue Nile to its source at Lake Tana in Ethiopia, paying tribute to Ethiopian traditional music. Risorgini is a homage to Italian film composer Giuliano Sorgini, blending experimental and Afro elements into a resuscitation of his musical approach. The album's overall vintage yet dynamic atmosphere, reinforces the themes of nature and existential flow. It is this that perhaps most prominently shines through on the record. It invites listeners to open themselves to the ebb and flow of life, encouraging a spontaneous, heartfelt engagement with the world in the spirit of acceptance and serenity. IKE's journey through Egypt serves as both a narrative and a metaphor for this liberating approach to life—where, like the water of the Nile, we find our own paths naturally, beautifully, inevitably to reach Higher Dreams.

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Yowzers is a new album by Chicago composer, improvisor, and musical folklorist Ben LaMar Gay.

Gay's de facto debut album—the 2018 compilation Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun—properly introduced him to the world by placing fifteen stylistically diverse tracks from seven then-unreleased albums next to one another. The release of his critically-acclaimed 2021 song cycle Open Arms To Open Us followed, and then the explosive free-electronics of 2022’s Certain Reveries. In addition to being featured on a staggering number of International Anthem releases (including albums by Makaya McCraven, jaimie branch, Damon Locks, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly), Gay is one of the most prolific collaborators in creative music today, making active contributions to Mike Reed’s Separatist Party, Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society, Bitchin Bajas, Theaster Gates’s Black Monks of Mississippi, and many more.

A uniting factor in Gay's deep, multi-faceted discography is a never-ending commitment to taking the stories of the past and pushing them outward, filtered through a sense of self, to keep that information moving. Information moves through Yowzers via the intuitive physicality of Gay’s creative polyrhythmic constructions, as he covertly delivers familiar folk melodies. “It’s the most natural thing,” says Gay. “That’s how the world is. There are overlapping rhythms all around us, and so it reminds you of the reality of the world when you hear them. It’s a loop and the loop is always changing.”

Yowzers features Gay's working quartet with Tommaso Moretti (drums, percussion, voice), Matthew Davis (tuba, piano, bells, voice), and Will Faber (guitar, ngoni, bells, voice), as well as guest instrumentalist Rob Frye and a mini-choir comprising vocalists Ayanna Woods, Tramaine Parker, and Ugochi Nwaogwugwu. The album recalls the high-minded freedom of Liberation Music Orchestra, the glitched-out electronic webs of Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, the unbridled rhythms and sandpaper bellows of Bukka White, and the harmolodic cartoon glory of Arthur Blythe’s Illusions. It’s all there, filtered through an improvisational approach and a lifetime of secrets embodied. For a man who has inhabited and traveled these continents so extensively, it’s safe to call this work true “Americana,” despite what that word might mean to the average person in the United States.

https://listen.k7.com/ff1c4674-9e23-4e01-b7e8-7e1c631f4a18


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Oslo's own Leoparden returns with the new album Disko Inferno, which draws inspiration from everything from 80's disco and pop to Nigerian boogie and laid-back 90's West Coast beats...

Leoparden's lyrics - witty and relaxed - capture everyday moments from life in Oslo, while the music pulses with infectious energy and a playful spirit, crafted for a proper boogie on the dance floor.

Ltd Edition single LP in shrink-wrapped, Gatefold sleeve.

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Ramiro Rodriguez—Son Bayoú accordionist–shouted into the microphone: "We started at the pulga and now we're here!" The crowd erupted. He adjusted his red Hohner accordion to lead his band into a blistering rendition of Andres Landero's "La Pava Congona." "Here" was the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston: the Bayou City's preeminent modern arts museum which invited the group to perform their barrio cumbia inside their hallowed spaces. When I first met them, formerly as Reyno Sabanero, they had in fact originated within Houston's pulga circuit—a network of Mexican flea markets where cumbia, the people's music of Latinoamérica, has long lived and thrived. I later hired them to perform at a Colombian Independence Day celebration I produced, where, along with two friends and deejays—Miles Ake of San Francisco and Felipe Galván of Houston—we spun cumbia on wax before the band stormed the stage with hand drums and accordions. A group of Colombians in the crowd asked what part of Colombia they came from. "Nah pues, somos de Greenspoint," Rodriguez quipped: the Northside neighborhood where they proudly hailed. Led by Rodriguez and Juan Torres, Reyno Sabanero morphed into Son Bayoú: an update on their roots sound with a nod to their H-town pride. Few cumbiamberos cite Andres Landero and DJ Screw as inspirations. But then again, Landero and Screw—icons of the pop underground, the latter a patron saint in Houston's signature "chopped and screwed" sound—share more in common than the disparate genres might suggest. "Soy Landeristo, 100 percent," Rodriguez affirmed. His style descends from Andres Landero: the San Jacinto-born squeezebox renegade whose prolific 1960s-1980s recordings for mythical Colombian labels, from Fuentes to Tropical, define the sabanera tradition. As sophomores, Rodriguez and Torres, whose exposure to tropical music stemmed from early years in Monterrey—a cumbia capital with deep cultural ties to Houston—knew in their foremost band ambitions they'd pivot from synth-heavy Tejano cumbia around them to produce something as Colombiano roots as possible. Friends from Monterrey brought sonidero mixtapes. On YouTube, they streamed Soundway Records' impressive anthology, The Original Sound of Cumbia, learning of faraway accordion kingpins from Anibal Velásquez to Aniceto Molina. Son Bayoú—hand-making güiros in high school, disciples of originators—is less a rehash of the Andean past as a new sabanera variant where la costa collides into the swampy concrete jungles of Screwstonia.

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Glooming Path Shaking Subthunders

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