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Bonobo

38
Bonobo

Bonobo

What's a bonobo? A species of chimpanzees like you and me. Downtempo Brit Simon Green has been behind Bonobo ever since Animal Magic, the alluring debut album he released in 2000. Although not one for radical changes, the star of Ninja Tune's roster has, over time, moved away from the downtempo and chill-out delineations he was cast in early in his career towards more intricate soundscapes. That sense of nature is present in Green’s music; the sounds he uses tend to come from acoustic sources and he steers clear of digitally created noise, preferring to craft his own sounds to add a human warmth. Its chirpy percussion and hopeful melody leads into an album that covers expansive sonic spaces and defies categorization. In these troubled times, super-relaxed music is what we need. The journey Bonobo has made from his debut to 2017's Migration is a sense of wonder. Consistently chill. Consistently great. Bonobo is a true musician  making sophisticated music. It's hard not to over-use the word "chill" with his music so I am going to refrain from doing so. A good place to start is "Terrapin" and you can get caught up to speed with "Outliers" or his most recent "Linked". Bonobo is a British born, L.A.-based D.J. doing some of the best work in electronic music today. His most distinctive work tugs at the heart-strings rather than the feet on a dancefloor. His melodies and live instrumentation hint at a fondness for jazz, soul, folk, and minimalism. His hand-selected curated Late Night Tales mix shows just that. This man is soulful, samples from all over the world, and creates downright-damn-good-down-tempo music. Here's the logistics of his discography: 2000's Animal Magic, 2003's Dial 'M' for Monkey, 2006's Days to Come, 2010's Black Sands, 2013's The North Borders, and 2017's Migration which was inspired by his 18-month tour supporting his previous album. Migration is easily the most listenable record of Bonobo’s twenty-plus year career. It’s a record with equal appeal for electronic music fans and general listeners, something you could put on anywhere. Essentially, it recasts downtempo as a genre with more potential than party music.

Bonobo

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