Just when you have finally checked out, absorbed, explored, considered and generally squeezed every essence of goodness out of the musical suggestions presented to you by one episode of the Bongo Boy Rock n Roll TV Show, another one hoves majestically into view. But that is exactly as it should be. This is, after all, a show aimed at taking the hard work out of finding the best new music, a show which does all of the heavy lifting for you and presents you with a shortlist of the best new music around, from underground grassroots acts to breaking new stars to established artists.
The series is a return to the heady days of MTV when videos ruled the roast and the power of sound and vision was at its height. The Bongo Boy Rock n Roll TV Show has been on National TV in prime time slots on terrestrial TV channels for over a decade with each episode bringing the best of new music from around the world and across all genres. This show Premiered on 3rd May on Channel 29 in Portland, OR USA, and was followed with heavy rotation Nationwide on 72+ TV channels in the USA.
But if the concept is one that has been around for a while, the music is nothing if not cutting edge and this episode kicks off with the staccato R&B-infused pop of Meresha. Trouble is a sassy, sultry slice of modernity with a neon-soaked video to match and as the opening salvo for the show, immediately underlines how forward-thinking and of the moment the show’s programming is.
Silence, courtesy of Studeo, takes us down a more rock path but one that is no less up to date, a poised and polished groover with a poignant and powerful environmental message at its heart. Rock and roll for the modern age, conscious, deep and with something to say but never losing sight of the sonic signature of the genre. Ocean Creatures, from Jane N The Jungle, carries on the rock theme, wandering from balladic pop-lulls to soaring, sky-searing highs, again another example of where rock music is today and how even a genre this established still has interesting places to go, when in the right hands.
We Chose To Go To The Moon by the wonderfully named Stonks Bros finds us driving headlong through Balerica dance sounds and hi-energy clubland vibes, it is infectious to the point of being euphoric, and if the message of the previous tracks is to look after our home planet, the message here, told mainly through its cool, animated video, is about where we might go next and what might await us there.
Maryann brings us The Outsider, delivered with a voice that seems straight out of a 60’s underground blues club or a 70’s psychedelic west coast festival and things wrap up with Grayhawk’s Half Moon Serenade a cool blend of timeless and trippy folk with more Mediterranean and world sounds joining the dance.
It is easy to see the general theme of this episode, and it is one that matches the music found here…cosmic!
Contact: bongoboyrecords@aol.com
TV Guide for local TV broadcast listings: Bongoboytv.com
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