reviews / 2011

BIBIO - Mind Bokeh

Name: BIBIO – Mind Bokeh
Item: Mind Bokeh
Rating: 4.5
Author: Roberto Mandolini

2011 (Warp)

electronic

by Roberto Mandolini

4.5

England's Stephen Wilkinson made his debut as Bibio in the mid-2000s with an album, "Fi", closely tied to the elegiac electronica of Boards Of Canada (who blessed it with a quote printed on a sticker attached to the packaging of the CD's first pressing). Album after album, Wilkinson has tried to move away from that model, heading toward a dazed, naive form of folk songwriting. The best example of this direction is the fine "Vignetting The Compost" from 2009, the last work released for the American label Mush.

Since 2009 it's been Warp itself – the label that introduced the world to the talent of Boards Of Canada – that has taken the young musician from Wolverhampton under its wing, releasing three albums by him to date. The latest of these, "Mind Bokeh", comes across as a misstep in Bibio's discography. Having thoroughly shaken off his original influences, Wilkinson has ended up with a watered-down, ineffectual synth-pop tinged with rose-water funk ("Pretentious", "Light Seep", "Feminie Eyes").

The tracks worth keeping on the new record seem to be exactly the ones that don't stray too far from what he's shown us in the past: the 'imaginary' soundtrack of "Excuses" and the pebbly ambient of "Mind Bokeh". The closing track, "Saint Cristopher", introduces new elements into Bibio's palette, shifting the center of gravity of his music towards slick, plasticky light jazz territory.

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21/04/2011

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Roberto Mandolini, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition