Marcus Eoin, of Boards of Canada, describes Bibio as “the antidote to the modern laptopia of pristine electronic music.” And indeed, it’s hard to miss Stephen Wilkinson’s chase for authenticity on this and his other recordings. Rutty arpeggios scrape over found sounds and field recordings, rarely troubling the mind, always evoking a warm, long lost, autumnal day.
On “Under the Pier,” the noise takes center stage, sounding like a dusty record spinning on the ancient, dirty turntable in your uncle’s basement. Sometimes the sound gets more ethereal, as on “The Clothesline and the Silver Birch,” and sometimes (“Mr. & Mrs. Compost”) it take a backseat to what sounds like a vocal track unearthed by diligent, archaeological vinyl scholars from a time capsule buried in the backyard. “Weekend Wildfire” varies the pattern a bit, containing mostly guitar parts, a little organ, and very little ambient noise at all. The track feels comparatively naturalistic, and would make a fitting soundtrack to an afternoon spent re-reading your favorite passages in Thoreau’s Walden.
...These are beautiful, expressive pools of sound, redolent of nothing so much as the contentment of childhood. - The Agit Reader |
