Monkton: Bibio cheats Old Father Time with yet another 2009 release
That Bibio has already wheeled out his second album this year leads me to believe that it’s not just a vintage 4-track and a knack for a timeless tune up his sleeve. Two albums of epoch-traversing sonic experimentation in 5 months? This is definitely the behaviour of a man with a time machine stashed away in his rumpus room.
Me, I have a soft spot for the folkier moments of the first record (Vignetting the Compost). There’s a canny charm to its rustic acoustics - that pillaged vintage sound, tenderly overseen with contemporary sensibilities and an eye on the great back catalogue in the sky - it’s the kind of thing that gets me all nostalgic and excitable. But, that said, Ambivalence Avenue is a bigger triumph. It makes more sense out of Bibio’s time-travelling impulses, turning his verve for period drama into intelligent disco. Granted, he will always be a little too much of a sound-fetishist to create the perfect 10, but his latest amble is a close shave and certainly his best yet.
MP3: ‘Ambivalence Avenue’ - Bibio
Although someone should definitely sit him down and have a talk about album titles.
Monkton x
