Electronic artists bringing organic warmth to their recordings are not so few and far between as black-and-white mindsets about 'real' music might believe.
May 22, 2013 - Music Downloads // Events // News // Album Reviews. Bonobo - The North Borders (2013). coverplixid.com Artist: Bonobo. The first time I heard Simon Green I was looking for something special, new and making me feel happy and relaxed at the same time. Album Description. On his 2013 release The North Borders, British producer Simon Green (aka Bonobo) continues along the organic-meets-electronic path that his 2010 release Black Sands followed, but this walk takes place as it's turning to dusk, and there are varying degrees of mist and chilliness along the way. Solid Steel Presents Bonobo: It Came From the Sea.
The days of computer-generated sounds being the stuff of sci-fi soundtracks and cult, collectors-item releases are, of course, long gone. Bonobo is one of many artists capable of crafting a widescreen and wholly organic-sounding world – and the British producer’s fifth full-length is a worthy successor to his celebrated 2010 set Black Sands.
Like its predecessor, The North Borders comprises tracks of a relatively down-tempo disposition: easy listening for those who’ve reached the dazed dawn after a wild night out.
That’s not to say they lack for movement, as the skipping momentum of cuts like Know You and Emkay – the latter a partner in its percussive patterns to Black Sands’ Andreya Triana-starring Eyesdown – prove. Lead single Cirrus is evocative of Four Tet’s chiming edge-of-the-dancefloor numbers, a track that’d sit pretty in any warm-up DJ’s set, gently coaxing bodies into motion.
And like Black Sands, Bonobo – real name Simon Green – invites a host of vocalists to sing atop a handful of his early-hours arrangements. Closer Pieces, with Cornelia, is a sweet combination of popping beats and almost child-like vocals, something like Woodpecker Wooliams joining Nosaj Thing for a transatlantic chill out.
First Fires, with Grey Reverend, could be mistaken for a James Blake number at distance – though its sumptuous strings might feel a little incongruous in the Mercury Prize nominee’s average mix.
The highest-profile guest is Erykah Badu, whose turn on Heaven for the Sinner is expectedly immediate yet extraterrestrial. Nobody does Badu like Badu, and long may that continue.
The North Borders isn’t a giant step onwards for its maker – rather, it feels like a very natural extension of Black Sands, with everything pitched just that little bit better, each arrangement sparkling a touch more. It’s incremental progression – notable but, in the grand scheme, not revelatory.
But Bonobo’s not an artist of grandstanding statements. He’s too experienced for that. These songs are perfect in their pigeonhole: to his established audience, wide as it is, they’ll be warmly welcomed, and those who see electronic music as the enemy are recommended to spend some time with it. Cold and calculated, soullessly synthetic, this is not.
UK producer Simon Green, who works under the moniker of Bonobo, is an artist tailor-made for KCRW. He is a master of downtempo, silky-smooth trip-hop, a sound that the station has savored for decades. He’s a bassist who knows the value of a solidly built spine to drape his smart electronic touches upon. And he’s a savvy judge of talent, having recently helped singer/songwriter Andreya Triana with her debut album and featuring her on his own records.
With The North Borders, his 5th full-length album, Bonobo demonstrates all of these skills in one nicely rewarding package. Effortlessly groovy, but just as much elegant and sweeping, the album features a series of talented vocal guests, including the incomparable Erykah Badu on one of the album’s highlights, “Heaven for the Sinner,” as well as some fairly recent UK newcomers Grey Reverend & Szjerdene, not to forget hotly-tipped Swedish songstress Cornelia. It’s a seductive package that has already been a Top 10 charting record, proving that over ten years since his debut Green still hasn’t lost his touch.
-Eric J. Lawrence
Bonobo The North Borders Zip Download
Track List:
Bonobo The North Borders Zip File
1. First Fires (Featuring Grey Reverend)
2. Emkay
3. Cirrus
4. Heaven For The Sinner (Featuring Erykah Badu)
5. Sapphire
6. Jets
7. Towers (Featuring Szjerdene)
8. Don't Wait
9. Know You
10. Antenna
11. Ten Tigers
12. Transits (Featuring Szjerdene)
13. Pieces