Bonobo - Black Sands reviews
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| Popmatters |
 We all know the much-derided Musak peddled by many a Buddha Lounge/Café Del Mar compilations helped the cause of dragging “chill out” through the mud. Luckily, the downtempo franchise has managed to benefit from Simon Green (aka Bonobo). While more uptempo artists like Fink and the Herbaliser were recently finding new relevance with concert-hungry audiences by striking a happy medium between laptop production and live instrumentation, Green was doing this back in 2001. His debut and only release on Tru Thoughts Animal Magic was a highly textured trip hop affair, by turns soporific and piquant, majestic and claustrophobic. Even though it recalled DJ Shadow in the minds of many critics, Animal Magic went one further with real trumpets and pianos, which gave it an immediate quality lacking in most purely sampled material.
By the time Days to Come came out in 2006 on Ninja Tune, Green had acquired an appetite for live vocals and his fondness for world music, developed during the days of Dial M For Monkey (2003), was well and truly consolidated. Strains of Erykah Badu could be detected throughout his sound palette, while Green’s explorations into the “exotic” took on the form of Madlib if he were to add to his long list of collaborators Quantic. Yet, despite the cacophony of influences and intimations, Days to Come was a triumph in cohesion. In short, Green was able to do to chill out music what J Dilla did to instrumental hip-hop. Both acts managed to keep their respective genres relevant even as they took to unconventional production methods that were more demanding of the listener, but also more rewarding than any standard chart-topping fare....full text |
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| Themusicfix |
Since emerging in 1999, Simon Green (aka Bonobo) has made just a handful of releases. His 2001 Ninja Tune debut Dial ‘M’ For Monkey was a lush and layered take on down-tempo dance music and one that received much critical acclaim, while his last album, Days to Come, was the start of his move to a more live sound. A skilled multi-instrumentalist and a talented DJ, Bonobo is one of the few artists around today that has managed to take the trip-hop sound and transfer it effectively to the live arena with sold-out shows across the globe. His fourth and latest album, Black Sands, shows an artist at the top of his game.
The orchestral sounds that punctuate much of Bonobo’s work are present here from the off, and despite other artists distasteful use of strings, a real aura of emotion is present from the beginning of the record. ‘Kiara’ flows and thumps in amongst the violin, while cut-up vocals ebb and flow in amongst it all. Some of the highlights of previous records were the tracks which managed to successfully merge chilled-out jazz with a hypnotic beat. That base is covered here with the dreamy ‘Kong’, here fleshed out with Mediterranean sounding acoustic guitars and pipes....full text |
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| Theskinny |
| There are a few new strands woven into the tapestry of Simon Green’s Bonobo. The surprises start with Kiara Prelude, whose lush strings drop into warm, distinctly electronic breakbeats laced with sub bass and a swash of cut-up vocal samples. The electronic influences continue on the hip-hop / jazz hybrid of Swing, and the sparse but soulful 2-step of Eyesdown. Even more familiar-sounding tracks such as All in Forms have a warm digital sheen to them. Green pulls this off without once compromising the epic, organic sweep he achieved on Days To Come. Andreya Treyana’s vocals pack less punch than previous collaborator Bajka, but she does lend an earthy, soulful quality to the album. Its closing title track is an understated waltz which effortlessly shows Green’s skills as a composer and producer, on a par with labelmates The Cinematic Orchestra. He also has at least one ear still on the bassbins. The results are simultaneously beautiful and heavy. [Bram Gieben]...full text |
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