Net Music Review

Black Sands - Bonobo

Since its heyday in the early 2000's chill out, or ambient electronica hasn't had much to cheer about, in the latter half of the decade its once good name has been dragged through the mud with a series of lame imitators and backing tracks to commercials. British based DJ Simon Green, aka Bonobo might just be about to turn all that around however with his fourth studio offering "Black Sands". Followers of Bonobo's career may well feel justifiably smug, always much more than just another Ministry Of Sound compilation, Bonobo's music has stood apart from the rest of the genre due to his use of live instrumentation rather than rely totally on samples. As a result of such attention to detail and determination not to do take the easy way out leads to a much warmer feel than many of his contemporaries.

Ever since his 2001 debut, "Animal Magic", Bonobo has had the feel of someone who is building towards something, each of his previous three albums added something to the last. "Black Sands" is a lush, expansive record, full of laid back beats and some lovely orchestration, but to limit it to that would not do it justice. Here, Simon Green has found a way to integrate vocals in a more prominent way than previously, without ruining the overall aesthetic to create something that is much more than just coffee table music. The collaboration with Andreya Triana on several tracks serves to enhance the mood, it is also notable that Bonobo manages to keep the length of the tracks down rather than succumb to the scourge of many an ambient album of overly long, self indulgence.

"Prelude" serves as a nice taster to what is to come and sets the tone well with violin and piano laying the foundations before blending almost seamlessly into the stunning "Kiara" with its understated, but menacing bass line. "Eyesdown" sees the first of the collaborations with Andreya Triana to stunning effect. While it takes over a minute to get to the vocals you are not disappointed when the wait is over, her soft, jazz tinged voice fits perfectly to the backdrop that Green has provided. "El Toro" has a nice upbeat feel to it and could almost trick you into thinking that you were sat on Copacabana beach sipping cocktails, while "We Could Forever" continues the upbeat mood but has a slightly Caribbean feel to it./p>

"1009" has a slightly more industrial tone to it than the previous tracks and along with "In All Forms" acts as a buffer before the last act. The next of the songs featuring Triana is "The Keeper" which has a vague similarity to Garbage's "Queer" if you listen hard enough at times, you could be forgiven to hear Shirley Manson rather than the somewhat softer tones of Triana. "Stay The Same", again featuring Andreya Triana is one of the albums highlights, the benefits of using live instrumentation are there for all to hear with the melodies swirling around over a simple beat. The last two tracks on "Black Sands" are the longest on here at over six minutes each but work well at the end closing things out nice is an trippy, hazy feel at times.

While "Black Sands" is by no means perfect and can suffer from the trait of songs not being instantaneously memorable because they all fade into one big haze, it is a remarkable effort. The use of live instruments really lifts this record above Bonobo's contemporaries and into somewhere that cannot really be defined. Part chill out, part ambient, part electronica, when listened to as a whole everything seems to fit together perfectly and seamlessly.