Bong-Ra

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bong-Ra


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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Jason Kohnen
Alias = Killahman Machine
Born =
Origin = Utrecht, Netherlands
Instrument =
Genre = Breakcore, raggacore
Occupation =
Years_active = 1996–present
Label = Ad Noiseam, Sublight Records, various others
Associated_acts = Servants of the Apocalyptic Goat Rave, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Celestial Season, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation
URL = [http://www.bong-ra.com/ bong-ra.com]
Notable_instruments =

Bong-Ra is the performing name of Dutch breakcore musician Jason Kohnen from Utrecht. Formed in 1996, initially producing and DJing jungle music. Previous to Bong-Ra Jason Kohnen performed as bassist and drummer for stoner/doom metal band Celestial Season amongst others.

Kohnen's style contains a variety of crossovers and fusions of different genres, including metal, gabba, jazz, rave, and jungle, becoming one of the front runners of the breakcore genre, sometimes credited as "yardcore" or "raggacore", blending reggae and ragga with breakcore.

Biography

Bong-Ra's 1998 debut album "New Millennium Dreadz" was released on Djax Records; it was the first Dutch full length drum and bass album ever released.

In 2001, Kohnen set up the Clash Records label releasing a mix of hardcore, ragga, and jungle on 7" vinyl, releasing artists like Parasite, FFF, Soundmurderer, I:gor and Murderbot. In 2004, the sublabel Kriss Records was set up, oriented more towards metal/breakcore, releasing material from Jahba, Drumcorps, DJ Scotch Egg, and Snares Man.

The "Breakcore a Go-Go!" breakcore/jungle parties in Utrecht and Rotterdam, together with FFF, where the first recurring breakcore parties in Holland, running from 2003 to 2005.

On 21 February 2002, a Peel session by Bong-Ra was aired on BBC Radio 1, which was later released on vinyl. John Peel regularly played Bong-Ra tracks after he had been sent a 4-track demo in 2000. Kohnen also got to meet John Peel in person and he considers the Peel session as one of the highlights of his career. [ [http://3voor12lokaal.vpro.nl/magazines/news/index.jsp?portals=6337&magazines=6338&news=64988 VPRO 3VOOR12 Utrecht JOURNALISM: Bong-Ra stoft Peel-sessie af als eerbetoon ] ]

His second full length album "Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill!", released on Supertracks Records in 2003, saw a cooperation with US Gyromart, creators of the Bikini Bandits. The videoclip to the track "666 MPH" aired on nightly rotation on Dutch MTV, and the album became part of a multimedia exhibition in the Museum of Modern Arts in Arnhem.

Discography

* "New Millennium Dreadz" (1998, Djax Records)
* "Darkbreaks Volume 1" (1998, Djax Records)
* "Darkbreaks Volume 2" (1998, Djax Records)
* "Riddim Wars" (2001, Death$ucker Records)
* "Peel Session" (2002, Death$ucker Records)
* "Darkbreaks EP" (2002, Russian Roulette Recordings)
* "Clash001: Jungle Talk / Killah One" (2002, Clash Records)
* "Breakcore a Go-Go!" (2003, Supertracks)
* "Bikini Bandits, Kill! Kill! Kill!" (2003, Supertracks Records)
* "Clash002: as Killahman Machine" (2003, Clash Records)
* "Old-Skool Armageddon" (2004, Death$ucker Records)
* "Renegade Bubblin"' (2004, Supertracks Records)
* "Praying Mantis E.P." (2004, Russian Roulette Recordings)
* "Conquering Lion" (2004, Hydrophonic Records)
* "Blood & Fire" (2004, Soothsayer Recordings)
* "Clash006: Soundwave / Warhead" (2004, Clash Records)
* "Warrior Sound" (2005, Supertracks Records)
* "Grindkrusher" (2005, Ad Noiseam)
* "Monsters of Mashup" (w/ Enduser & Shitmat) (2005, Ad Noiseam)
* "Colony of Electric Machines" (2005, Vynalogica)
* "I Am the God of Hellfire!" (2005, Ad Noiseam, Very Friendly / Supertracks Records)
* "Servants of the Apocalyptic Goat Rave" (w/ Sickboy) (2005, Suburban Trash)
* "4 Adaptations of Rossz Csillag Alatt Született" (w/ Venetian Snares) (2006, Planet Mu)
* "Soldaat van Oranje" (2006, Sublight Records)
* "Stereohype Heroin Hooker" (2006, Ad Noiseam)
* "The Kill" (w/ Enduser) (2006, Ad Noiseam)
* "Sick Sick Sick" (2007, Ad Noiseam)
* "Full Metal Racket" (2007, Ad Noiseam)
* "Panther Fight" (2008, Mashit)

References

External links

* [http://www.bong-ra.com/ Official website]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20031204151520/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/sessions/bongra_20020221.shtml Peel Sessions: Bong Ra] – info on Bong-Ra’s Peel Session "(link to Internet Archive page, since [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/alt/johnpeel/sessions/bongra_20020221.shtml page on the BBC website] doesn’t exist anymore)"
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