Bonobo Late Night Tales: Bonobo Vinyl 2LP
Late Night Tales and Bonobo were pretty much made for each other, it just took them a while to both realize it. Stepping forward into the compiler's spotlight for the 33rd edition is Simon Green aka Bonobo – a musician, producer and DJ perfectly suited to soundtrack an evening spent reclining to some parallel beats. Six albums to the good (The North Borders released earlier in 2013), Green has been on a winning streak since 2010's breakthrough Black Sand.
His music has aided the sales of Citroen cars and Olay creams, as well as soothing the puzzlement of Lost. Wrapped in delicately programmed drums, Green's music is at once both somber and reassuring. If what comes out the other end is the music of Bonobo, then this is the fuel that keeps the engine running: soul, jazz, classical, pop, funk, leftfield, rock. Pianos and brass are abundantly present.
Our ivories are warmed and tickled by the classic, Bill Evans, and new school, with Matthew Bourne's mournfully beautiful "Juliet" and Dustin O'Halloran's "An Ending A Beginning." The brass section comes courtesy of Menehan Street Band's jazzy "The Traitor." Also included is YouTube sensation "One Thing" by Peter & Kerry, R&S signing Airhead, jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby and the timeless soul of Dorando's "Didn't I."
Not only that, but there's Bonobo's special LNT cover version, a brilliant reading of Donovan's "Get Thy Bearings." As the light dims, the unsettling sounds of Shlomo pierce the misty evening air, before giving way to the ethereal splendor of Eddi Front's "Gigantic" or even Nina Simone's paean to an imagined rural idyll "Baltimore."
"The way I approached this mix was very different to how I would normally. I wasn't thinking of it as a DJ mix so much as a selection. I've been familiar with the series for a long time, and I was conscious of that, but I really wanted to put together a curated selection. The criteria for choosing the songs was really music I've been playing away from the dance floor over the years. So there's a wider variety of stuff on here, from neo-classical to more abstract electronic pieces to spiritual jazz. It's more a reflection of the stuff my music is informed by." - Simon Green
Bonobo Late Night Tales: Bonobo Track Listing:
LP1
1. Dustin O'Halloran - An Ending, A Beginning
2. Bonobo - Get Thy Bearings (Exclusive Donovan cover version)
3. Dorando – Didn't I
4. Nina Simone - Baltimore
5. Menahan Street Band - The Traitor
6. Romare -Down The Line
7. Shlohmo - Places
8. The Invisible - Wing (Floating Points mix)
9. Badbadnotgood - Hedron
LP2
1. Matthew Bourne - Juliet
2. Airhead - South Congress
3. Matthew Halsall - Sailing Out To Sea
4. Dorothy Ashby - Essence of Sapphire
5. Peter and Kerry - One Thing
6. Eddi Front - Gigantic
7. Bill Evans - Peace Piece
8. Benedict Cumberbatch - Flat Of Angles Part 3 (Exclusive Spoken Word Piece)
