Artist: Bondango Feat Lisa
Title: Make Love Make War

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Been a good while since we heard from young Marty aka Bondango and his fancy bag of tricks. This artist was one of the very first I reviewed when I first came to Soundclick, and by my standard this guy has come so far, so fast it's exhilarating. Those first tentative tracks soon grew into a major bombast aided and abetted by the dulcet tones of the Lucious Lady herself, Lisa. It's a matter of fact these days that both Lisa and Bondango have very substantial listeners behind them, and rightly so. As good as they are individually, something special happens when they work together.

And you know I can't say anything naughty about Lisa. The restraining order says so

One of the things that has impressed me most about Bondango musically isn't what they put into it, it's the energy that somehow infests each and every track that does it for me. Replete with echoes of the Human League, Make Love Not War is as good instrumentally as anything I've heard from this artist. It's structure reminds me in places of that irritating Visage track too. Obviously Marty's has his head stuck in someone's 80's record collection. Whatever it was he's made bloody grand use of the experience, and in the process delivered a peach of a electropop track that will only enhance his growing reputation.

For me, this was much more of a musical experience than a vocal/lyrical one. Not that any red blooded male can actually ignore Lisa whispering make love to me in your ear, but you get my drift. There's no doubt that this very singular vocalist has created her own niche and sound, and it's displayed here in all it's glory. I did feel the initial verses were either too full of words or even rushed in their delivery but I think that's probably down to me, not the track. Maybe, like a lot of their tracks, it'll just keep getting better with repeated plays. That's definitely been the case previously.

Oh, and the track I am thinking of is Visage's Fade To Grey. The chorus is a ringer for it...

Being bondango...

LET ME introduce Marty Ball, known to his friends as Bondango.

He has been producing tunes for ten years now, and although he has had some success, I feel he needs a wider audience.

At school, he discovered he had a natural talent for computers. His musical influences at the time were diverse, taking in mod, ska, and punk.

He found himself drawn to Joy Division, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno. Also, he was influenced by producers such as Jam and Spoon, DJ Dag and other German hardhouse and trance gurus of the early 90s

At college, friends with the same musical tastes surrounded him, so a natural progression moved him towards dance music.

From starting out on a humble laptop computer, Bondango has built up a formidable array of musical equipment, and during the last three years has produced around 40 dance tracks.

Marty has close links with the IT industry, which has played a big part in getting his music recognised

At the minute, he has had a lot of positive feedback from record labels, with offers in the pipeline, but to him, it's not just about being signed to a label.

Said Marty:"I will go on producing music because I enjoy it. I don't try and stick to a particular genre - I've recently completed remixes for the likes of S and Collide.

He adds: "My mood at the time affects my work, I have a love for dance music and that's were the main ingredients come from."

To hear samples of some of Marty's work, check out www.dj-bondango.com

Wow man, what can I say?

In my modest opinion, the track speaks for itself.
The intro reminds me alot of what you would hear in the outback of Australia. Very nice man, very nice.
As the beats kicked in, my head automatically started bobbing.
I cannot believe the awesome synth work in this track!
Excellent overall! I am practically speechless.

Although this track is not my style at all, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Rating=**********

Review of my choice:

Great opening. It’s kind of like a mumbling of some voices. The chirping of the synth almost sounds like an insect. The grass-hopper for instance. Great beat setting in. Nice synth sequence around 1:48. The way this one is a head rush is simply explained: the dazzling synth effects along with the beats!

The one thing I am lacking in my eardrums is the bass. Other than that, this one is a goody, if you will. Very rhythmic, making you want to get up and gyrate your body to the sound of the beat. This 4:24 minute song does not offer a whole lot of variation, but it offers: beat – rhythm! Something you can dance to.

I just wish, that this one would have some bass to it. If there is one, I sure cannot hear it on my THX system.

All in all, this one is still worth a listen to.

Like I said: if you like to dance, here is the tune for just that!

Mike

Interesting intro...sounds like some overly delayed sample. And now I hear some techno. This reminds me of an artist, "Aqualuce" who I've actually had the chance to talk to. In fact, that's about the only thing this track brings to mind.

After the breakdown, there is an arpeggiating synth reminiscent of psytrance, a fav. Now we're ready. The track is steadily building, and so far I have no complaints. 2/3 into the track, (not all that long a wait) this has gone pure psy. Though not quite as chaotic, the synths used remind me of Total Eclipse/Juno Reactor.

Not too many technical comments here. Everything fits in the mix. Maybe some spacey effects to spice things up, but otherwise this is a solid hard tech/psytrance combo.

A must listen for any tech-head.

10/10

fpoole

First we start off with Bondango’s Dance track I Want You the review was suppose to be on Anaolg Org(asm mix); however that track is no longer posted. all-in-all this track starts off very well… caught my interest rite from the start of the song to the end. Everything in the track is very well balanced except for the vocals, “I want you” bellowing throughout the entire track… the sample is loud too loud and becomes very annoying after the first couple times it was used… however, it doesn’t take that much away from the track. With it’s awesome rhythm formed by the percussions… definitely will get your body moving in you seat. The track leads up very well to it’s main focal points of the track, where all the fun starts… bass line chosen fit the track very well, along wit it’s pads and synths the track becomes a very nicely put together Dance tracks. The breaks are nicely placed, samples used very well, exit is great… kind of have one of those effects to it where u have to listen to it one more time. Despite the fact that I found this track great there are a few things, like always, that I found that I didn’t like; however, very minor things that could be fixed. For one thing, other then the vocal samples, I felt the track was a lil’ too long… after the first 3mins I started to become bored of the track, with it’s long sessions of nothing happening to the track to liven it up more… in my opinion this track should get a 8/10; however, that’s just my opinion.

Oooer missus!!! (snigger, snigger) He said a naughty word.

And definitely not the first one from young Marty's mouth either, I'll bet. Still enough about learning other languages, I know you are dying to know what el Bondango has in store for you this month. If you are not familiar with the story so far let me recap: the first couple of Bondango tracks I wasn't that struck with, then they delivered the superlative, Pride followed the next month by the blistering dance/ragga track Rock It and now it's a sex machine.

Huh, huh and all that squishy stuff...

'Fess up time, I've actually had this track on my daily playlist for a while having picked it up from Marty a week or so ago. Played the crap out of it too and - I'll be really honest - the style isn't something I'd normally like at all. However with a refrain like 'people are still having sex' I'd say its a bloody shoo-in for the top of any charts you care to mention. Me, I like to fondly remember what sex must have been because when your body is crumbling as fast as mine, even thoughts can be too much to handle...

Musically and stylistically, Analaog Sex is electronica in a dance stylee, mixed in with the aforementioned refrain and assorted sex noises (huh? ya mean people make noise when they are having sex?) so if you are easily offended by material such as this, you may do better elsewhere. If however you like a good tune and a good laugh all mixed together then step into Dr Bondango's office for a daily dose of Analog Sex and you'll be as right as rain in no time.

Tell ya what, this artist is improving in leaps and bounds...

.........I just thought I should share some of the impressions I have gathered over that year, especially - of course - from the musical angle. Although I have been reviewing on Ejay for three years, most of my favourite artists from there are either individual musicians and/or inspired collaborations and those favourites are already well known to anyone who has been reading my reviews. I don't intend to talk about them here, this is about what Soundclick has to offer the fan/listener...

The one thing that has struck home time after time this past year is the incredible depth and range of most of the musicians on Soundclick who are - on the whole - real instrument playing musicians. Now, before y'all get your knickers into a twist about the rights and wrongs of making music......the incredible talent and diversity of Soundclick artists who IMHO are making some of the best music around anywhere on the net. .....those who have impressed the beejezus out of me, those who are continuing to sound better and better and finally - my favourite sector - those who break the rules and STILL come out with killer tracks...

All of these artists have delivered consistently good tracks since I came here, or have show a marked improvement from track to track or have something a bit special that singles their music out as worthy of attention: FrequenCee, Rey Valera, Bondango, 32767, Mike-K, Starting Over, dcallen, Dickumz Da Ox, Hash and Brain, Thielus Grenon, Latmat, TRP Nmewreckidz. ,,,,,,

After the very welcome surprise last month of Bondango's superlative Pride track - which is still getting a daily thrashing from my MP3 player - I was looking forward to hearing this new track from Marty and Lisa. No matter what the track was like, in my mind anyway, nothing could better Pride for raw emotion so maybe a mindless musical jaunt this time out could count somewhat as light relief.

As it happens I heard this in the middle of last month as well and have been playing it fairly strongly ever since. Having picked up the final version about a week ago, and played it to death, there is no doubt in my mind that Bondango have come up with the goods yet again - at least in my books. Now the reason I felt I had to quantify this statement because a track like Rock It would appeal to me but ceratinly may not to everyone. The main reason I like it is because it has a killer (and I mean totally killer) ragga rap that seems to be utterly seamless and - as usual with this genre - rocks like a son of a bi** on steriods.

As well has having that as a star turn, Rock It is also a straight ahead, no holds barred dance track that even Stephen Hawking would have trouble keeping still to. Where Pride was drenched in emotion this is just plain sweaty, as indeed you would be if you downloaded it and played it several times a day as I do. Ultimately though, as in all tracks that I play through my Hi-Fi system the final arbiter has to be my four year old twins who absolutey LOVE a good jig about the living room with Daddy and they are even asking for this to be played to dance too. Now that, as far as I am concerned, is the taste of modern youth (well toddler anyhow) and with taste like that, who could go far wrong. Bondango have been going from strength to strength over the past few releases after what was - to me - a not very auspicious start. No matter though because they are certainly hitting all the right markers now as Rock It and Pride so amply demonstrate. Don't take my word for it though ya lazy sods, get downloading and see for yourself.

Steve Gilmore

Bondango – Rock It!

Being a regular on my own personal playlist with his utterly superb ‘Pride’ track, Bondango has become a popular figure within the Electronica scene. Not only does his page present many, many tracks – but many of them are produced in different styles making him one very competent producer – especially in the dance scene.

Having heard a ‘sneak’ preview of Rock It a few days before its official release, I was eagerly awaiting the finished product and initially on the opening bars this sounds like one catchy mother of a house track. The MC vocals are catchy and up until the 01:20 mark this sounds like it going to be one stormer of a track. It builds up the intro to intrigue the listener and really does make you want to listen. However, the first problem in this track arises at the aforementioned 01:20 mark when, for no apparent reason, the vocals drop out for around eleven or twelve seconds leaving just a 4/4 house beat. It’s after this that the main riff of the track comes into play. I didn’t feel that this section actually served any purpose and actually made me loose a bit of interest in it for a while; why not go straight into the riff at the end of the vocal? Hmm – well, it is Bondango’s track and not mine after all!

When the riff kicks in though, it does lift the track very well. Bondango told me that this was made for ‘the masses’ which I think is probably the best description for this – very catchy and very commercial. But on a more technical level, I felt that the overall track lacked a little ‘punch’. Firstly, there’s no hard hitting bass line that I feel could have really added depth to this and there’s no real build-up that makes the ‘mad-for-it’ clubbers want to go absolutely crazy. I say this because I feel that there is a real potential for it in this track.

The breakdown that occurs just after the 02:00 mark begins really well, leaving just the riff and the MC vocals and at 02:45 a brilliant drop in the track allows for a potentially massive build-up. But at 03:28 the track just carries on as if nothing ever happened – leaving me feeling a little disappointed. It’s a shame because Bondango has made a track that simply oozes massive potential, but I think that what’s been done here doesn’t quite deliver on its promise.

Beat: 7/10
Sustaining Listener's Interest: 8.5/10
Groove: 8/10

Overall: 7.5/10
I would love to do a remix of this track – and who knows, maybe I’ll get the opportunity; maybe I won’t () There’s a potential for a real stormer here, but the product at the moment just misses the mark for me as it currently stands. Sorry!

Critique Portion

Style
X On target for today’s market in Euro Dance genre

Style Comments:
Very Euro Dance

Melody/Instrumentation
X Good music in verses
X Memorable Hook

Melody/Instrumentation Comments:
Eventually the chorus does get stronger and I’m totally impressed, also the beats eventually change which is just great.

Structure/Arrangement
X Well-written structure
X Good sectional contrast

Structure/Arrangement Comments:
This structure is perfect long but hey this is a dance song!

Vocal
X Vocal does help to show song
X Adequate Diction

Vocal Comments:
Everything is nice and in key sounds real good.

Title
X Good title

Title Comments:
Good Title

REVIEW Portion:
Rock It by Bondango is a great dance tune done by a very talented artist. It never gets boring; it builds continually till the end. Perfect for dance gets yah moving and keeps you moving. People who enjoy dance would do well to play this tune! Get over there and listen!

Good luck with your music,
Cameron
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http://www.soundclick.com/latmat

Not sure if this is not part World Music! The vocals could fit into the reggae category at most times.

I’m, amazed at Bondango! He can put some music together that will just absolutely rock you and want to dance all night, as with this piece I have listened to. The beat is outstanding, so is the bass.

The vocals are quite interesting, but do not change a whole lot throughout the composition. What I am most impressed with is the music (while ignoring some of the vocals, but not all – since they do add a certain flair to the track).

I don’t know how exactly Bondango does it, but, he just produces one quality track after another. This one is the perfect dance track, in my opinion. Euro or not – you can shake you booties to this one.

There’s not a whole lot to criticize at all. This one is a tune that will keep your interest throughout, despite the vocals, of which I think they’re a bit overdone. But, that’s all a matter of personal taste.

I love the track … give it a listen!!!

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give this one an eight (. And that’s pretty fekkin’ good, I want you to know!!!

Mike
_________________
Cheers,
Mike Kohlgraf a.k.a. Mike-K

Smooth vibe, glacial delivery. Your arrangement is other worldly without

being cliche' and your rhythm creates a sexy pulse that's sure to keep the

listener enthralled for the duration.

Solid production to boot.

DC

'Pride' is the latest collaboration by Lisa T with another musician, and this time she has been working with Marty aka Bondango. The ease with which Lisa's voice can be adapted to so many songs and genres just goes to show how good it is and on this song she once again shines so brightly!
'Pride' opens with a male vocal that is mixed and muffled but very male and soon Lisa comes in with her very soulful and sultry voice, and the contrast grabs you right from the start. Over a rhythmic electronic background there is a very cleverly crafted interplay of the 2 voices but the lead being given over to Lisa. Reminded me a bit of Kate Bush in parts, but difficult to be certain about reference points or comparisons because you get lost in the overall flow that sweeps over you and holds you. Lisa and Marty have billed it as 'Mellow' and, indeed, mellow it is but I kept thinking of the 'trance' genre seeing as I was getting so entranced by the repetitive lyric, melody and percussion.
Whatever genre 'Pride' should be in is up to you perhaps but one thing is for sure: this is a song that both Lisa and Bondango have a lot to be proud about!

Bard

A Pride I can take some pride in....

Bondango's been a regular in my review lists ever since I started posting on Soundclick and I haven't always been kind to them and their music; not because I didn't like their music but because - to me - the flaws outweighed the work. Therefore I was surprised a while ago to find a PM from Marty (one half of Bondango, Lisa, vocalist is the other half) asking me to have a quick listen to this track. Usually, I don't do that but Marty's cool so I gave it a shot. Damn me if I didn't love it from the first note or two. We chatted a while about mixes and I heard no more until this popped into the list.

OK, now I have a chance to show you guys.... Bondango haven't, bless 'em, lost all their spots and teen angst (joke guys) just yet but this is a very, very strong track in terms of delivery and drama. Mixwise, it isn't the proverbial bears butt mix, its a much more sleek, aware thing and THAT is a major step forward. The real leap on this outing though is the emotional guided missile this track carries in its belly. Lisa has a plaintive, lonely sounding voice that really fits this track, especially the 3-hanky-weepie choruses that are the tracks main vocal highlight.

It does my heart good to see an artists progression and this case is no exception. With the sight of this track, I see where this artist may be going too and I for one am going to be a passenger. All the technical matters notwithstanding, Pride is an eloquent, passionate call that works on your pleasure centeres admirably. Marty and Lisa have done an absolutely bang-up job on this very winsome track that deserves a much bigger listening audience. Come on, give 'em a shot, you may well be very surprised...

Oh, and don't forget the hankies...

Steve Gilmore
Soundclick * Rebel Riffs * Vitamin C * Acid Planet

Bondango - Pride

This got to number one if I’m not mistaken? Well, just from listening to the first ten seconds of this, I can see why. This sounds both deep and gorgeous – both on the music and the vocals. I’ve always thought that female vocals add so much to mellow music and this track so far supports that opinion.

There’s plenty of variation in this track that the lyrics are clear and crisp, resulting in a track that is very catchy and pleasant to the ears. Luckily the beats are not too over-powering which would have really spoilt this track if that were the case – but nothing takes over the stage or sounds overly loud; all the little effects and separate effects are each given their own time to shine and it all results in a very balanced track.

I wonder what the intention was with this track. Was it written for the intention of just simply chilling out on a beach in an exotic location somewhere, or a track designed for – well, put bluntly – shagging to? Either way it could quite easily serve purpose for both. Well, whatever the design was for, I’m sure Bondango must feel that he’s achieved it with this outstanding track! The only problem I had with this track? No bloody download option!

Beat: 8.5/10
Sustaining Listener's Interest: 9/10
Groove: 9/10

Overall: 9/10
Quality track, very enjoyable to listen to and something that would certainly feature a lot on my play list were the download option available. But never mind, I’m sure Bondango won’t mind the extra plays tallying up his daily statistics!

Frequen-Cee
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* Drum & Bass * Rave * Dance * Hard House *
Official Site - Updated 4th January 2004

Bondango – Mantra Return 2004 (Exploding Mix)

What an intro! I love that bass line as it immediately springs suspense and intrigue to the listener and the vocals make a wonderful addition to this, immediately setting the stage for a dark and sinister House / Techno track.

After the lengthy drum roll, the bass line is given a flanged effect which gives the track a surprising amount of depth and immediately I’m given visions of a nightclub scene with the strobe lights going hell for leather! However, one thing I have to admit with this though is that I felt slightly disappointed with the fairly weak beats. Although they go well with the bass line, I was hoping for a really hard – tough as f*ck – 4/4 beat to layer over the top of this. The one that is used is good, but it’s not enough to make me personally go mental (ooh I love me beats, I do!).

If anything, I’d describe this as progressive, although the progression isn’t taken as far as I’d expected, or even hoped, with this I still found it very enjoyable to listen to. Fans of House and Techno will, at the very least, get the same amount of enjoyment out of this as I did. For those wanting some really banging mental house to go absolutely stark-raving, mad, bonkers to might feel a little disappointed by this. But by Christ, go and listen to it now nevertheless as it is a quality tune! And while you’re listening to it, I’m off to listen to Pride again

Beat: 7/10
Sustaining Listener's Interest: 8/10
Groove: 8/10

Overall: 8/10
A quality tune that I feel could have been so much better if a harder beat was used. But then that’s just my personal preference. I loved the effects and the bass line in this and they’re really warped and sci-fi like, but it narrowly just misses that ‘f*ck me!’ factor.

Frequen-Cee
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* Drum & Bass * Rave * Dance * Hard House *
Frequen-Cee Official Site - Updated 4th January 2004

Artist: Bondango
Title: Mels Hell

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I reviewed Bondango's remix of the Prince classic When Doves Cry a month or so ago and I wasn't impressed by it. There were two reasons for that. I believe a remix should bring something new to the party and Bondango (and vocalist Mel Carr) managed to bring something too new to the party, secondly because musically - IMHO of course - it didn't do anything for me. Given that the title of this track mentions Mel, I automatically assume that this is yet another Bondango/Carr collab...

After listening to the track a few times I also have to assume that neither person is particularly bothered about that old chestnut, production. Damn shame really because I believe that a cleaned-up, properly mixed version of this track would kill from a thousand yards. Seriously. Within this poor aurally assaulted-from-all-angles mish mash is the beating heart of a fire breathing, hotel room smashing Rock monster. Great shame then that the vocalist (the aforementioned RM) hardly gets his head above the mix long enough for anything really exciting to happen.

The track starts with an over-loud synth sequence and the ubiquitous 4-to-the-floor associated with the genre. Shortly after a noticeable click in the track, the voice starts up and - through my system - seems to rise all the way from the soles of my feet. With a voice that instantly reminds you of Bahaus, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop et al, this guy's voice sends shivers up my spine and I can't remember that happening on When Doves Cry. Unfortunately, once the track gets going the vocal gets completely buried under an avalanche of too highly tuned hi-hats and the worst snare sound I have ever heard, none of which helps this track fulfill its true potential.

Make no mistake. There is an absolute KILLER track here...but this isnt it :-(

Steve Gilmore
Soundclick * Rebel Riffs * Vitamin C * Acid Planet

Bondango-(good to listen to a hardware producer at last!)
"electric word" kind of sloppy, but with some interesting lead sounds. Lacking just a tad in that variation thing, the lead synth sounds so evolve quite well when the little noise drops start appearing, but the song as a whole is well, a little boring. The 3 kicks per bar thing aint working for me im afraid, and the rm1x hats are very distinguishable. "scream" nice vocal dropped in, nice little delay effect giving it a nice shimmering quality. A little groove box style this one, very pattern based and repetitive. A little better, but once again, its not really that special. I think some more practice is in order maybe, you seem to have got to grips with your gear well which is good, but its lacking individuality. Try experimenting a little more and take in some new styles. -Si

Songs: "Electric Word" 5/10, "scream" 7/10

I'd been promising this guy a review for ages so I've finally now gotten round to giving it a once over! This starts with some pleasant thunder like effects to give that atmospheric vibe, before the vocalist (Lisa according to the BSP) starts her part of the tune. A tiny error occurred here I think - the thunder effects faded out a little abruptly, well, at least to me they did; I could be wrong.

For a title like Scream I expected this to be some banging house tune, but on the contrary, what we're given is a fairly down-tempo track with a nice beat and a fairly retro-sounding bass line. The vocals are nice and are well sung - which is always good considering how easy it is to go off key with vocals. However, I did suspect that there might have been some very faint clipping at some points of the vocal sections (between 02:30 and 02:40 as examples) - again though, this could just be me.

The track itself is a progressive natured track, but one that I enjoyed listening to because each section of the main break builds on the one preceeding it, rather than just plodding along without any development. The breaks also flow along very nicely and being honest, I could see this being played during a mid-roller DJ set quite easily. It's catchy and has a good dancing beat to it. Good job!

Beat: 8/10
Sustaining Listeners Interest: 8/10
Groove: 8.5/10

Overall: 8/10
An enjoyable track and certainly one that lives up to Bondango's reputation as a quality producer - the recent #1 position was indeed well deserved.

Well, I'd be lying if I said this was my type of music, but I think I'm open minded enough to give it a whisk. I'm a chill-head pretty much so I might like it, even if I dont see the long term appeal of certain types of music. I'm cool listening to house, trance, techno et al if I'm at a club, but I fail to see the broadness of these genres. Still one mans tea pot is another mans fish tank, so I'll review it as honestly as possible.

The song is based around , i believe , one of those cassettes you listen to, to 'improve your confidence' (correct me if I'm wrong -was it recorded especially?) very clean and sharp, no blips and blops and it all mixes nicely into itself. Here comes the first niggle though...but it's a personal one... I couldnt chill out to this. Other people might be able to, but I can't. Admitedly it's not as hard as other similar songs in the genre, but it's not comedown music, nor is it background music and its not just before bed music (in my opinion!). And I get the impression that it is sposed to be chillout, firstly because of the nature of the vocals, and secondly because DJ Bondango said it himself.. so.. I just find the thumping beat too abrasive to allow relaxation. That doesnt mean I think its bad though, read on..

Repetitivity is a problem with a lot of dance music and while it does affect this tune, it doesnt affect it much thanks to the progressive beat and the leading vocal. I did feel that the second set of hats that come in could do with being turned down a little or maybe having some more reverb added to them to give them a softer sound. At the moment they are a little bit too piercing for my liking, and I imagine it's worse when it's played out at full blast.

But those are very small things, and the second one can be altered without having any affect on the track as a whole. The smoothness of the mixing and the concept wins it over for me, and what we have is an extremely enjoyable tune. I'm sure proper dance music fans would like it very much, so well done. And peace to a fellow 'this side od the ponder'
_____________________________________

Nice series of pads to begin with, immediately shows it to be as a trance tune. Between the 00:40 mark and 01:20 the beat gradually starts building into a rather nice complex rhythm which contains more than just a simple kick drum and snare.

Around the 02:10 mark the tune takes a welcomed turn and goes even darker than what it was originally before kicking back into the main theme again. The track itself is not especially pumping and feels fairly chilled out - would certainly act as a good mid-set roller, definitely. The main parts of it are swamped with some very nice dark soundscapes, especially around the middle part of the track.

At 04:20 the track really takes off which a nice turn which certainly got my feet tapping away - yeah, I was feeling the groove to this - certainly the best track I've listened to from the Bondago stables so far! Very well produced and plenty of variety in the track. It's not a 'banging' track that would get the crowds going mental, but it certainly would provide the atmosphere that is associated with dark trance.

Beats: 7/10 - A little bit weak for my tastes but plus marks for the variation.
Sustaining Interest Levels: 8/10
Groove: 8/10

Overall: 8/10
Good vibe and a track that I certainly enjoyed listening to. It sounds like a lot of time has been taken over this; the structure and beats all flow along nicely and provide plenty of varying moments for the listener, especially enjoyed it after 04:20. Impressive work - nice track!

Having reviewed many of Bondango's tunes of late I feel like I'm kind of getting used to his style - or, at least I thought I was until this little offering came up!

I always enjoy listening to Electronica music that incorporates female vocals, even more so when they're not of the typcial happy 'we're all free!' kind that you normally associate with trance. This track feels like an up-tempo Massive Attack track. The vocals sound eerie and are well sung - am I detecting a slight hint of reverb on them? The beats fit perfectly and overall it's a very catchy and pleasant track to listen to. In fact, I think that this could easily allow for another minute or so be added to it.

I enjoyed this track - whether this would have worked as an instrumental I'm not sure but with the vocals, this makes the track so listenable it disturbing! I was hitting the 'Play' button straight away after the initial run-through! Impressive work! Dark, down-tempo in a sort of 'up-tempo' way (if that makes any sense!) and certainly worthy any Electronica fans' time!

Beats: 9/10
Sustaining Listeners Interest: 9/10
Groove: 8/10

Overall: 8.5/10
It does need mastering but once it is I think this will sound absolutely marvellous! Catchy as hell and deserves some serious listening attention - probably my favourite Bondango track so far to date! Good work!

Sept 2003

We've already had an Electric Band this month, might as well chuck in an Electric Word as well. DJ Bondango, for those who know not, is a Soundclick habituee who placed this track on my review list for this month. Other than that I know next to nothing about this artist, so lets have the music do the talking...

OOooohhh, very smooth intro promising much and - thank God - delivering it too. I hear far too many extended intro's in this game. I can spot 'em a mile off these days. That doesn't mean that Bondango doesn't believe in extended intro's, in fact it's difficult to define where the intro stops and the track starts. That's how seamless it is. The intro therefore sets the mood of the track so if you like the first 30 seconds of this track, odds are that you'll like the rest even more.

The Electric Word is that rarest of all creatures - a great groove - and one that DJ Bondango rides like a seasoned trouper. Fact is, this is a very, very good track; innovative, as funky as a barrel full of monkeys and - as I've already said - totally seamless. To be fair it IS only an instrumental but this is a instrumental that REALLY should/deserves to be heard and by as many people as possible.

Deep soul cooking and the smell is mouthwatering...

The same cannot be said for that barrel full of monkeys. Not a pleasant pong at all, I'll have you know. Tell ya what, let's not go there at all. You guys get on with downloading this diamond of a track and I'll just go and throw something at those damn simians - the screeching is worse than my kids and I NEVER thought I would say that in this life.