October 2003

Old-Skool Armageddon!!
Death$ucker brings their third Bong-Ra release, after the Riddim Wars and Peel Session, the Old-Skool Armageddon is a tribute to the 90's rave and jungle period...
Back to the good old days when the drugs still worked and parties were free... Check out: Death$ucker

September 2003

Camping Flight to Lowlands Paradise 2003
The Lowlands Festival A/V Set appears on DVD in a couple of months. Audio-visual breakcore mash-ups featuring scenes from pictures like; Scarface, Clockwork Orange, Rollerball, Cannibal Holocaust...to name just a few!

August 2003

Camping Flight to Lowlands Paradise 2003
Saturday 30th of August 2003. Lowlands Festival, India Tent @ 02.30. Lowlands is Hollands biggest alternative festival. This year with acts like Foo Fighters, Beck, PJ Harvey and a whole bunch of other crap. But, must say it was wicked performing to a crowd of 2000 dopeheads at 2.30 in the morning. Some technical problems delayed the set, but nonetheless Lowlands experienced some breakcore mayhem!
Check Out www.lowlands.nl

Club Lek / 3 VOOR 12 : VPRO : 27-08-03
A special one-off set was done live for the Dutch radio show Club Lek together with A/V Wizard: Eboman, doing wicked-ass digital turntablizm during the set. Three tracks were recorded... 1. Eboman Sucks 2. Jah Kingdom 3. Shapeshifta
Check Out www.3 voor12.nl

1 Year Breakcore a Go-Go!
19 September sees the 1 year party of Breakcore a Go-Go! nights!! Just about all the most infamous dj's and producers have terrorized Rotterdam. The regular team is gonna bring some real damage... Doors open at 22.00 !!
Check Out www.waterfront.nl

"Where's that NUKE button?"

August 2003

Press : Killahman Machine (CLASH002)

Jockey Slut
Moving from strength to strength, Holland's Bong Ra christens a suitably psycho pseudonym with a pair of heart attack inducing mash ups. Occupying the deafening warzone between Ambush and Alec Empire, the death trip dread injects rave stabs, ragga rhythms and atavistic amens into a splattercore energy rush. Making Dylan sound safe, Hardware sound soft and 'Champion Sound' sound like Musical Youth, this is an essential 7” for dancehall immolation.
Kevin Martin

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD

LiveXS
In 1998 Bong-Ra's debut 'New Millennium Dreadz' appeared through Djax Records, followed by the 12-inches Darkbreaks Volume 1 and 2. Now we're given 'Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! containing elements of jungle, ragga, dub and gabber finely mixed with hip-hop, rave, metal and punk. Guest vocalists are Crispin (my cat!), The Dirty Dred, who appears on three tracks, Rotterdam dj/mc Mike Redman and UK riotgirls Lolita Storm. Even BBC-dj John Peel seems to be charmed by Bong-Ra's work and invited him to record a Peel Session for BBC1. One of the highlights on 'Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill1 Kill! is the tracks Dub Murderer feat. The Dirty Dred which builds up slowly only to errupt into hardcore drum 'n' bass. Great terrorizing tracks fired at you like machine guns like Killa Gorilla and SickSickSick MPH. Cool. Hip. Rock 'n' Roll. Bong-Ra you say ? Ya better believe it son.
Roel Janssen

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD

Holland Rocks
Bong-ra hit the Dutch drum & bass scene in the late '90s with the release of several EPs on the Djax-X-beats label. After several years of silence Bong-ra returned to the scene last year with a couple of 7" singles. And now there is the CD Bikini Bandits, Kill, Kill, Kill. Jason Kohnen's drum & bass style hasn't changed much and is still very original. Metal, reggae, old Prodigy-rave, and of course jungle: it's all there and even better than before. A great album. And although drum & bass is somewhat on a dead track, jungle is still very much alive!
RL

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD/ Breakcore a Go-Go! 12"

OOR
Breakcore nights, like the monthly Breakcore a Go-Go! at Waterfront in Rotterdam, aren't set up for theregular dance crowd. Its not the handbags and easy dancemoves that rule the dancefloor. The dancefloor's the hardcore dance domain for punks and other alternative freaks. Bong-Ra, active in the scene since 1998, is in his element at these parties. Being Holland's biggest breakcore-export, he knows what to do. Not just freaking out on raw jungle, but also ragga, hiphop and more to achieve his extreme crossover. Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! has therefore become a weird trip with twelve different tracks proving that if you ignore the barriers, you can reach far in the dance genre. Something Benji Webbe realises, who was far ahead of his time in the early nineties with his crossover band Dub War, and now currently active in Skindred. His unique voice energizes several tracks. Which have found their place in the 'Dancehall of Doom'. There seems to be an endless range of musical terms for Bong-Ra's sound. Which also counts for the 12-inch Breakcore a Go-Go! containing four remixes of 666MPH. The tracks with Lolita Storm sounds like a Breakcore Teenage Riot and the track with Aphasic nearly passes 666 BPM. Due to this diversity his work is getting a lot of appreciation abroad, so its no surprise Bong-Ra is crossing more borders.
Lucky

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD

Music Minded
What's the problem with beautiful, slutty women ? Mostly that they dont have taste in good music. So if you dont want Ace of Base or Jamai (Dutch Idols winner) to form the soundtrack of your sex life, you're usually left with less appetising Strokes-like babes. But...it looks like Bong-Ra brings new perspectives. Looking at the Bikini Bandits cover you'd expect a Baywatch meets The Donna's sleaze rock orientated CD. Nothing less is true!, cause Bong-Ra is an experimental electronic producer not ashamed of his ragga-, rock-, and jungle-influences, and for this album only uses the visual assistance of Steve Grasse and his succulent Bikini Bandits. The fact is that Bong-Ra's avant-garde soundscapes are exciting and innovating, and that the girls leave you drooling and that the 'Aphex Twin goes porn' effect has maximum result. But if the bimbos appearing in the CD booklet will be charmed by this music...I doubt it.
Arnold Scheepmaker

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD

Kindamuzik
That's been quite a while! Utrecht's Jason Kohnen's fine old-school drum 'n' bass records always went down really well. But after his debut 'New Millennium Dreadz' he disappeared back underground. The last couple of years Bong-Ra released records on German and English labels, and on his own jungle label Clash Records. Now there's his second full length entitled Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill!. Hilarious title ? Yes, but not as hilarious als the videoclip. The Bikini Bandits are a group of gorgeous dark haired beauties who, dressed in bikinis and carrying an arsenal of weapons, experience various violent adventures. There seems to be a full length movie about to be released in which none other than Jello Biafra makes a cameo appearance. Bong-Ra made a track for the movie soundtrack and dedicated the whole CD artwork with these American beauties. A good move. Beautiful women, fast cars and heavy breakcore go hand in hand. Bong-Ra knows his craft. With the help of vocalist Benji Dred (ex-Dub War) and Digital Hardcore screamers Lolita Storm and MC Redman the ruckus is brought on. Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! is a superb breakcore record full of ragga, drum 'n' bass, rave, distorted basses and broken beats. With the ultimate climax being the claustrophobic 'Monster Trucks' that ironically functions as the calm between the chaos of noise. Although the guitars rage hard on this track. There'sno better breakcore than this. Don't forget to watch the '666MPH' clip on Bong-Ra's website and listen to the remix 12-inch 'Breakcore a Go-Go!' featuring remixes from the likes of Panacea. And the record company forgets to send me a copy. Damn.
Theo Ploeg

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD

Platomania
A good old ear bashing. There. Thats how you describe Jason Kohnen alias Bong-Ra's music. He's been terrorizing parties for years as dj or live performer with an uncompromising mix of hardcore drum 'n' bass, industrial dischordant sounds and screaming samples. This time he's added two new elements; rock 'n' roll and visuals. The rock 'n' roll can be found in the song structures and the visuals from visual artist Steve Grasse who in a joint project provided the cult pictures for the Bong-Ra videoclip. It looks like Bikini Girls with Machine Guns from the Cramps if you think about it. But if the Cramps make raunchy rock, then Bong-Ra sleazy electronic punk is quite unique.
Recensent : Bram Peeters Genre : Dance Verschenen in Plato Mania nr: 179 Datum review: 5-6-2003 Plato Mania: 4/5 : prima deluxe

Press : Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill! CD

Planet Internet
Strong cover on this Bong-Ra CD. The appetising Bikini Bandits are a big parody on the many tits 'n' ass hip hop videos from the US and their horny looks, sexy outfits, and love of guns and cigarettes merge perfectly with Bong-Ra's music. The promotional poster is hanging in front of me....drool...Huh, ooh, sorry I just got distracted...where was I ? Oh yes, the music, Bong-Ra makes down and dirty drum 'n' bass layered with overdriven samples. Distorted ragga vocals, gabber bass drum kicks, hard-hitting raps: its gotta be fat and gritty and preferably as hard as possible. Rhythmically and atmospherically the whole is sound, but musically it can get one-sided. Creative beats and basses which alternates with melodies which are too simple, a female singer with vocals which are to thin or umpteenth sonic orgy: perfect dancefloor fodder, but twelve tracks is too much and somewhat limited. Nice but nothing more than that.
Rutger Steenbergen

May 2003

Bong-Ra vs Bikini Bandits @ AVECOM Multimedia Exposition
“The Art Of Vulgar Aesthetics”
Gele Rijder: Arnhem : Museum of Modern Arts 08 May-01 June 2003

The Bong-Ra vs Bikini Bandits project will be presented as an audiovisual exposition at the Museum of Modern Arts in Arnhem.

On Your Knees Motherfuckers!... Sleazy chicks, Sawn-Off Shotguns, Roaring Guitars, Hot-Rods, Splattered Beats... Its all possible in the world according to Jason Kohnen and Steve Grasse... Brought up with images and sounds from Russ Meyer, Sexploitation, Black Sabbath, Tarantino and the Sex Pistols...it's quite obvious that Bong-Ra and the Bikini Bandits will result as one of the most cult co-operations in audio and video... Grasse has proven to capture the cult imagery of the seventies, and place it into the new millennium. Silicones and Shotgun's galore...A heavy dose of raunchy girl power...the kind of women John Wayne Bobbit barely lived to tell about! Kohnen has managed to create a new millennium crossover between electronics/dance and rock.
Uncompromisingly heavy basses, distorted beats and pounding chords...we present the birth of ‘Wreck N Roll'! The project started around two years ago when Gyromart (Steve Grasse) and Bong-Ra (Jason Kohnen) showed mutual interest for each others work. A concept was conceived creating a fusion of Gyromart's visuals and Bong-Ra's audio. The "Bong-Ra vs Bikini Bandits" project contains several views on the current music and video industry. The initial goal of the project, the 666MPH videoclip, was to see in which form audio becomes inferior to visuals when it comes to videoclips. An experiment in manipulating audio success through visuals. The project took off leading to various concepts like the merging existing genres, audio/visual combinations, soundtracks, etc. The exposition can be seen as 'The Art of Vulgar Aesthetics': Sex, Violence, Guns, Distortion, Hardcore....and a huge amount of bad taste!

Avecom flyer

Breakcore a Go-Go!
Waterfront Rotterdam

Two monthly Breakcore night hosted by Bong-Ra, FFF, Dionysos and Assassin.

November 2002 saw Holland's start to a first regular Breakcore night. Waterfront, Rotterdams finest venue realized it was time to introduce some bpm mayhem to their dancefloor... Together with FFF, and later joined by Dionysos and Assassin, the Breakcore Squad have brought some acclaimed DJ's and producers to Rotterdam.

Breakcore a Go-Go! #1 : November 2002
DJ Scud, Bong-Ra, FFF

Breakcore a Go-Go! #2 : January 2003
Aphasic, Parasite, Bong-Ra, FFF, Dionysos

Breakcore a Go-Go! #3 : March 2003
Christoph Fringeli, Hecate, Eiterherd, Bong-Ra, FFF

Breakcore a Go-Go! #4 : May 2003
Society Suckers, Sickboy, Aphasic, Bong-Ra, FFF, Dionysos, Assassin

Breakcore a Go-Go! #5 : June 2003
Rotator, Electric Kettle, Xanopticon, Dev Null, Bong-Ra, FFF, Dionysos, Assassin

Breakcore a Go-Go! #6 @ Metropolis Festival : July 2003
DJ Scud, Bong-Ra, FFF

Breakcore a Go-Go! #7 : September 2003
Christoph De Babalon, Bong-Ra, FFF, Copacod, Dionysos, Assassin

Breakcore a Go-Go! #8 : November 2003
Doormouse, Bong-Ra, FFF, Dionysos, Assassin

Breakcore a Go-Go! #9 : January 2004
Bong-Ra, FFF, Dionysos, Assassin

Scud @ Metropolis 2003	FFF @ Metropolis 2003	Bong-Ra @ BCGG#4

For those who know Bong-Ra won't be surprised by the gritty, dark & dirty sound produced on his debut CD “New Millennium Dreadz” in 1998. Five years on, the long awaited follow up “Bikini Bandits, Kill!, Kill!, Kill!” hits the fan. His adventures into jungle, ragga, core and hip-hop have produced a unique insight into the raw side of electonica, placing dance/electronics next to the grittyness of punk and rock; hence “wreck ‘n' roll”. Along side the gritty sounds, are the raunchy visuals of the Bikini Bandits , US producer Steve Grasse's white trash answer to the gangsta hip-hop videoclip phenomenom. Together with Gyromart (Grasse's company), two twisted minds fuse their oddball audio and visuals. The other collaborators on the CD are the vocalists: Benji Dred, well known of the infamous band Dub War, and currently of Skindred . Dutch rapper and owner of Rotterdam's infamous Redrum Recordz label will apper on two tracks, and none other than the ladies of Lolita Storm , who resided on the Digital Hardcore Recordings label (Atari Teenage Riot). So the point is clear! prepare yourself for the unexpected...

The "Breakcore a Go-Go!" EP contains mind shattering remixes of the 666 MPH tracks. Remixes from none other than Panacea , Aphasic , Lolita Storm and FFF vs Dionysos

Press : Riddim Wars 7"

Bad Planet
Riddim Wars is the latest release on Bristol based independent label, Death$ucker Records . Limited to 300 copies, it features two tracks of ragga jungle mash-up straight out of Holland. The A side track 'Bumba Claat' is a mish-mash of oldschool rave samples, sirens and jungle beats blended together with a gut-churning bassline to make any dancefloor hungry for more. The B side track is called 'Lef Some Fi Dead' featuring samples from the True Playaz track 'Supa Sharp Shooter'. Once again the ragga influence here is obvious and highly infectious. This record is a must for any self-respecting breakcore enthusiast.