| When I first came across Bibio's first album, fi, i couldn't get enough of it. Even the guys from Boards of Canada were saying that this . . . THIS is the stuff of childhood dreams. Music that sounds like it's been pushed through this box and that box to eventually sound like only the sweetest jack-in-the-box could make such a seasoned-sounding tune. Well, now he's come out with another masterpiece, aptly titled Hand Cranked, as if paying homage to the positive feedback he's recieved for his distinct yet oddly familar aesthetic. Here we find Bibio expanding on the formula, however, going a step further than his already amazing soundscapes to add secondary and tertiary layers that allow for much more intricate pieces that move much more noticably than the songs on fi. And that's not to say that fi is an inferior album to this one so much as Bibio's progression is quite clear, and duly noted as something to be appreciated, since his defiance of genre is exactly what allows him to create such beautiful works of art. The earliest highlight from this album is clearly "Quantock", the guitar work within which is unmatched in any of bibio's previous work, and which thankfully remains a continuous thread throughout the course of this album [see "Woodington" for further examples]. In other words, he couldn't have done a better job crafting an album that stands not only as an amazing progression on an already unbelievably good formula, but that, as an equal measure, stands on its own just as well, if not better than anything that came before it. - Tribe Nashville |
1XLP/Out Of Print