:: Bibio sigms to Warp Records

By: Carmine Pascuzzi

Following in the footsteps of pioneering electronic acts Boards Of Canada, Clark, and Aphex Twin; Britain's Bibio is the latest signee to iconic indie label, Warp Records. Taking his name from the inconspicuous black & red fishing fly - known amongst anglers as the bait to lure in colourful rainbow trout - he makes joyous music, where startling melody lines unexpectedly emerge out of grainy, glorious lo-fi.

A lover of texture and colour and noise, his first outings as a recording artist started five years ago on Mush Records. Having completed a trilogy of albums, Bibio's departure to Warp also reflects a difference in musical output.

Bibio‘s Warp debut, 'Ambivalence Avenue’, is a patchwork of summery beats and saturated vintage indie. Some is vocal, some is instrumental, and it ranges from vintage disco beats to swirling expansive pieces and plaintive guitar songs. As Bibio commented, “Come Autumn, I'm making moody degraded tape loop ambient stuff, come Summer I'm making stodgy beaty tracks with flutes.” And his influences stretch far and wide: “In the last couple of years I got excited by J Dilla and Madlib, but also going further back, an obsession with 60s and 70s Brazilian music, especially Joao Gilberto and Marcos Valle. ”

Bibio's sound is also owed to extensive field recordings, sampling squeaky trees and rain, a fascination with the outdoors that goes back to early childhood. “There's something fascinating and beautiful about seeing or hearing something crumble and decay,” he says. “It adds texture, noise, dust, fluff, cracks and knots - it adds unique character.”

One of Bibio‘s biggest fans is Chris Clark, whose own album 'Totem's Flare’ is due out in July. “We used to compete over who had the best tracks to play when camping out in Wales,” says Clark. “I'm always on at him to make tweaked out electronic stuff, and he's pushed me into new directions too… hearing his work and ideas has inspired me to create mammoth harmonies from amps and strings, which I never thought possible. So our rivalry has bloomed into kinship.”

Bibio‘s 'Ambivalence Avenue’ is powerfully subtle, wholly illuminous, and one of the most fascinating albums you will hear this year.

A sampler of the album can be heard here