BIBIO 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Folktronica mainstay Bibio returns with more of his pastoral delights. The talented instrumentalist and producer perfectly fuses his two distinctive sounds into a lush new world that is soothing, escapist and thoughtful, His lyrics, of course, lend the album real weight beyond the pure musical joy, though his acoustic guitar and violin sure does take some beating. If you can, it's also worth searching out the video for "Sleeping On The Wing" - an animated piece by Sonnye Lim that shows bird flight and live Bibio performances interspersed with one another.

Review: It's startling to think Bibio has been comfortably nestled on Warp Records for 10 years now. The folk-leaning beatsmith has taken his sound in subtly shifting directions while staying true to his delicate, melodious identity. On this latest album "Ribbons" he's sounding sweeter than ever, twirling up a 60s reverie of finger-picking guitar and tender vocals guaranteed to bring on sunshine, real or imaginary, no matter what time of year you pop it on. There are some more crooked moments to be enjoyed for fans of the more beat-oriented Bibio sound - "Pretty Ribbons & Lovely Flowers" has a wonderful crunch to it, but for the most part it's a treat to get lost in the pastoral reverie of the album's main themes.

Review: Stephen Wilkinson has now made some seven albums under the auspices of Bibio, all the while notably avoiding any kind of genre restrictions in his pursuit of a unique and affecting style that somehow embraces glacial ambience, folk, jazz, reggae and '70s rock along its path. 'A Mineral Love', meanwhile, takes a nature-inclined theme and uses it to create a delicate and seductive record that is as engaging as it is stylistically elusive. At all times though, a flair for melody and texture prevails throughout these ditties, ultimately creating something not unlike an imaginary John Martyn as produced by Four Tet in 1982 - and as strange and beguiling as that sounds.

Review: Reissue of highly lauded folktronica album, originally released in 2005 on US label Mush. Bibio is UK producer Stephen James Wilkinson, who has released several albums and EPs on Warp, his last being 2014's "The Green EP". This reissue will certainly help fans join the dots between then and now, with ambient and folk still being his main crossover point, just as it was a decade ago. Highlights on here being the looped and layered banjo workout of "Bewley In White", the sombre acoustic expressions of "Puffer" or "Cantaloup" (the latter sounding like it was recorded on a broken tape machine and to interesting effect) and the creepy lo-fi ambience of "I'm Rewinding It". Highly recommended.