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MH-244 Bibio - Hand Cranked  Following the success of his debut album, Fi, Wolverhampton, England's Stephen Wilkinson, aka Bibio, has assembled Hand Cranked, a fourteen track collection of idyllic found sound and lazy Sunday musical ramblings. The release maintains a stylistic bond with his debut, again focusing on his love for saturated guitars, warbling effects, and natural beauty, although this time with a slightly more whimsical feel. An increased confidence is also evident, both in the heightened virtuosity of Bibio's guitar playing and with his first appearance as a vocalist on the track, "Abberiw." With his first two albums, Bibio has established himself as an exciting new talent, and Mush is proud to provide him an outlet for his work. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| A lovingly-crafted, hand-made gift - Mojo / Utterly evocative and painterly - All Music Guide / Simply beautiful - One Week to Live / A quietly captivating assemblage - The Daily Telegraph / Just fantastic - Lodown / A fine wordless yarn - Miami New Times / Wilkinson's coiling melodies are charming, memorable - Lost At Sea |
| Reviews | |
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| One of last year's surreally gentle music surprises came from Bibio, the 4-track project of Stephen Wilkinson. Not your typical Mush affair, the Englishman had caught the ear of Boards of Canada's Marcus Eoin, who then introduced him to the label. While on paper it must seem strange that a member of B.O.C. would be captivated by a lo-fi project of which the primary instrument is an acoustic guitar, it all makes sense once you listen. Wilkinson's delicate, finger-picked playing is looped and processed against found sounds and the results are amazingly impressionistic and pastoral, conveying much of the same hazy nostalgia you feel listening to a Boards record or Aphex Twin's ambient vignettes. Wilkinson's second album, Hand Cranked, picks up right where he left us with 2005's fi, but the serene melodies are ever more direct and buoyant. A singer even appears during the brief "Abberwi," his halcyon voice beautifully bleared alongside the warbled guitar. As much as the word "psychedelic" is thrown around these days, it really is the perfect descriptor to Bibio's music. Not in the traditional sense per se, but Wilkinson blurs his songs with spacey, technicolor production and the results are all at once organic and otherworldly. |
1XLP/Out Of Print