 |
MH-263 Bibio - Vignetting The Compost  Seamlessly amalgamating nature and electronics, Vignetting The Compost, the third full-length release from Bibio, channels instruments and vocals from a bygone era through a futuristic digital portal. History may credit Edison with the phonograph but, in truth, the first such device mysteriously washed up on the shores of England in 1876… playing Bibio. Vignetting The Compost is at once timeless and innovative; 60s-esque folk guitar and mechanic manipulations of sounds whose instruments of origin are less important than the feelings they evoke, layer upon each other with ease and intricacy. Just when you expect to hear Nico’s moan escaping your stereo, Bibio himself comes through with a voice that could have sung next to her on “These Days.” Truly, this is an album for the ages. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviews Summary |
| Some of Bibio's most varied and immediate work - All Music Guide / A beautiful, crackling bricolage of vintage sounds - Evil Monito / Bibio’s best record - PopMatters / Quite perfect - Losing Today / Bibio should have no problem calling his greatest - Urb / Beautiful, expressive pools of sound - The Agit Reader |
| Bibio’s sound is at once unique and instantly welcoming. Delicate acoustic guitar lines are looped, phased and bent, layered forwards and in reverse, sculpted into fragile symphonies in miniature. It’s a formula that’s served the British artist well over his past two albums, and earned him accolades from influential friends like electronic outfit Boards of Canada. Vignetting the Compost finds Bibio pushing at the boundaries of that sound, but only slightly. Where Hand Cranked featured Bibio’s voice on one track, “Flesh Rots, Pip Sown,” “Mr and Mrs Compost” and “Great are the Piths” all feature vocals. The lyrics mix morbid and fanciful imagery, placing the mood squarely in freak-folk territory. “Weekend Wildfire” is buoyant enough to recall Sigur Ros’ “Gobbledigook” — it conjures the spirit of a campfire singalong without the singing. These new touches and refinements won’t be enough to quiet those who accuse Bibio of milking one production trick, but the result is beautiful nonetheless. - Fast Forward Weekly |
