Tag: Bonobo

Expander – Bonobo

If you cast me out onto a desert island with only one artist loaded onto the iPod, I would choose Bonobo. The depth of his back-catalogue, and the evolutionary arc of his music are, to my mind, unmatched. He added to his library in August with the release of Expander.

With some production help from Chris Lake, he brings together a few elements – vocal and flute samples, a deceptively intricate drum track, some spooky synths, and a rampant baseline – to flutter between the club and the living room.

For a deeper dive into this track, and some gems from the back-catalogue, check out the excellent Tape Notes podcast with John Kennedy.

TN:144 BONOBO

If you could only listen to one artist for the rest of your life, who would you choose? Let us know in the comments.

Manifest Bliss – United Freedom Collective

With the sun out as it is today, there’s a lot to like about this record.

Manifest Bliss is the debut single from United Freedom Collective, a new project from Mathieu Seynaeve, WaiFung Tsang and producer Robbie Redway. They say their music draws on the clinical work of Seynaeve and Tsang while also taking influence from worlds of Zen Taoism, Chinese plant medicines, and worldwide healing traditions. Lofty goals, but it really does come through, in a Bonobo and Maribou State kind of style. Enjoy!

Rosewood – Bonobo

It has been a beat since I’ve posted about Bonobo. The guy is my most listened to artist of the year, again, again, so it only feels right. Top 1% of listeners baby.

Anyway he has 4 new tracks out ahead of the release his upcoming album Fragments, including collaborations with O’Flynn, Jamila Woods and Jordan Rakei. My pick of the bunch is Rosewood. Bonobo delivering a trademark Bonobo track. Doing what he does best. Touch.

Bonus: all 4 tracks are on this playlist if you want to check out the others. And let’s face it, why wouldn’t you?

There are tickets on sale to 4 dates he has at the Royal Albert Hall. Definitely worth a look.

The Distance – Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

If you’d asked me back in 2012 who my favourite artist was, there’s a good chance I would have said Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Trouble was released that year – to date it remains TEED’s only full length album, and it would be tempting to say that Orlando’s production output hasn’t lived up to its promise. There have been some sparks, not least collaborations with Bonobo, Tinashé and Amtrac, but I’ve been thirsting for some new solo work that hits the heights of that album.

And, here we have it.

It’s a high quality EP. My pick is Into the Light.

Bonus album: Trouble. Where it all began. I’ve don’t know why I’ve never written a gushing post about it before. Here it is in all it’s glory.

Song Exploder

Something a little different for you to dive into today. Song Exploder is a podcast that gets artists to open up about a track they have made. It goes deep on why and how they made it. It will honestly add a whole new layer of appreciation to some of your top tracks and artists.

At the time of writing there are 194 episodes, each at about 20 minutes in length, so plenty to choose from. Scroll through to find your favourites, including: Phantogram, Fleetwood Mac, Tame Impala, Robyn, Bon Iver, Little Gradgon, Gorrilaz, Bonobo, DJ Shadow, Mobb Deep, and whole load of others. The best I’ve listened to so far was Caribou, explaining both the message behind Home, and the techniques he employed in the production.

You can subscribe via your favourite Podcast provider here. Shout out to Ollie Lyth for the recommendation.

Heartbreak – Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs & Bonobo

It’s a big day when two of your favourite artists come together to release new music. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Bonobo. What a combo. The track they have come up with is Heartbreak and it has each of their fingerprints all over it.

I like it. In fact I really like it. It’s the kind of track that will blow up a Printworks set. Nice ravey 90s drums and a soulful vocal sample. What’s not to like really?

Ibrik – Bonobo

Today is a big day. Bonobo has released his first track since Migration in 2017. Ibrik picks up where Migration left us. It is characteristically wandering and delicate, with Middle-Eastern inspired percussion and brass weaving in and out. Picture perfect.

In case you need a reminder of why Bonobo is one of the best producers of our lifetime (whoah, he went there) here is North Borders – released in 2013. It is just one album from incredibly rich and deep discography. Explore and enjoy. And if you ever get the chance to catch him live, don’t miss it.