Review: Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Stephen Wilkinson, a.k.a Bibio, follows up February’s wonderful Vignetting The Compost with a jaunt to Warp records for his fourth full-length release, Ambivalence Avenue. The near-absence of the lo-fi field music vibe of Vignetting… and its predecessors, coupled with the introduction of programmed beats and an elaboration in genre references, are the clearest signals of Bibio’s marked change in direction here. Fire Ant features relentlessly chopped vocal cuts over a chunky boom-bap beat, that has more in common with the likes of Hudson Mohawke than with any of Bibio’s previous outings. S’vive is a funky slice of continental dance-hop reminscent of Daft Punk or The Avalanches. On more familiar ground are tracks like Haikuesque, Lovers’ Carvings, and the lead single Ambivalence Avenue, which explore a terrain of colour-drenched guitar polyphony, light percussion and psychedelic vocals, which instantly have Wilkinson’s mark on them. Ambivalence Avenue sounds like Bibio flexing his creative muscles, while still fuelled by the subtle flourishes, in both melody and production, that distinguished his previous works. An impressive progression from a natural talent.

[Out June 22 on Warp Records]

Links:

Ambivalence Avenue
Bibio interview
Vignetting The Compost Review
Warp Records site

Posted in Music & Reviews by Martin Skivington on June 9, 2009.

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