black sands

          seeing as 3 nights ago I went to the Bonobo concert at Arenele Romane, i think it would be nice to review both his new album and the event that promoted it.
          Bonobo (Simon Green) is yet another british musician who busies himself with producing downtempo or trip-hop or chillout or "whatever you want to call it" music.
          his fourth album, "Black Sands" was released in March 2010. it gives perfect continuity to his work, especially coming after his third album "Days to come" which was also amazing. 
          the tracks just flow one after another, creating amazing sequences along the album (which definitely has to be listened to as a whole, from beginning to end).
          the vocals on this one belong to Andreya Triana, who is a very pleasant presence, although it is pretty hard to fill the shoes of Bajka, who gave an amazing performance on the previous album "Days to come". still Andreya manages to create a wondrous mood whenever her voice appears on this album.
          the complexity of the tracks and the presence of so many different musical instruments is what makes Bonobo's music so interesting. because, apart from creating electronic music, he skilfully combines it with classical instruments, thus creating an interesting and alluring sound.

BLACK SANDS (2010)

 

by BONOBO  (since 1999)

 

>> laura recommends:

1. Kiara

2. we could forever

3. El Toro

4. stay the same (feat. Andreya Triana)

         these tracks are just a sample of what the album sounds like but they are best when listened to in their context.
          kiara stands out with it's powerful beat and the swirling synthesizer accompanied by chinese violin patterns which give the track an exotic feel.
          the main star of we could forever is the flute, that comes in after a funky and also exotic (this time latino-ish) mixture of sounds (hi-hats, bass, guitar riffs, chirps and other producer-type sounds).
          el toro is also latino-influenced and that can be felt from the first notes of the track. it consists of masterfully overlaid instrumental lines (from violin - which gives the song a spin now and then, jazzy bass, hi-hats, drums, keys) that are clearly meant to be played live. all of these diferent lines create a crescendo that is topped off with looping jazzy trumpets which divide the track into different segments.
          after the acoustic guitar intro, the sick beat kicks in on stay the same. then, the vocal performance of Andreya, overlapping with fragments of jazzy saxophone at the chorus, creates a soothing and mesmerizing feel that keeps you hooked until the end of the track, when a sax solo slowly mellows the song out.

          now, about the concert!
          it was amazing especially because it was Bonobo with his live band. so the stage was full of instruments and other things necessary for a live performance.
          despite the fact that we had to wait for like 4 hours until Bonobo started performing, it was totally worth it. (although some of the artists that performed before him kinda sucked big time. 
except Sensor who were good. but DJ "don't really know his name" that played his mix right before Bonobo was horrible. and there was one more band - don't know their name either - who were not good.)
          one thing i didn't like about the concert was that, knowing that it was a live show with instruments and such, it would have been nice to see the artists playing their instruments. the stage was, at most times, really dark and "mysterious".
          also, there was this red headed lady photographer that was always on the stage taking photos and walking around in front of the band, like she was one of them. she annoyed me like hell.
          aaanyways, the performance of Bonobo with his live band, and let's not forget Andreya Triana, was smashing. and Andreya was truly amazing on stage. i loved her.
           here are some photos from the concert:










the end.