Sunday, March 04, 2007

Top Ten Albums of 2006: #8 - "Days To Come" by Bonobo

This album arrived at a really crucial juncture for me. All year I found myself wondering where all the great downtempo went. Thankfully, Bonobo came to the rescue with a real gem.

It seems like there's been an ever-growing supply of shallow dinner party background music trying to pass itself off as the latest in urban hipster soundtracks. Days To Come arrived on the scene this year to kick all that to the curb like a bad one night stand.

Sophisticated yet utterly without pretension, the album is a seamless wedding of electronics, live musicians and subtle studio technique that clearly demonstrates the stunning talents of producer / DJ / composer / performer / mastermind Simon Green. Every track incorporates jazz, latin, tropical, and even club elements into a smooth and intoxicating mixture. Guest vocalists Bajka and Fink add a sensual shimmer to several tracks (particularly notable on the title track and "If You Stayed Over" respectively), but the voiceless ones comfortably hold their own. Case in point, I'm certain that the instrumental "Recurring" will be a favorite of mine for years to come.

Beautifully warm, mellow and understated, this is a quiet masterpiece that transcends genres to create captivating, universally human music.

1 comment:

A.J. said...

Funny! I was listening to The Current yesterday morning, sipping my coffee, and the DJ began talking about Bonobo. WTF is this, i thought to myself. And then track played.

VERY NICE (As Borat might say)