____twoism

From the Warp/Bibio newsletter: "Presenting my tenth studio album ‘BIB10’ – released next month via Warp Records.

I think as ten is such a milestone album, I wanted this to be more of a party album. It also has its dreamy and melancholy moments, but there’s a lot of fun and playfulness. I hope people get up and dance to some of these songs."

The opening track, "Off Goes The Light", is available now. I'm really looking forward to hearing the whole thing.

Always looking forward to new Bibio, however, the description of the album he gives doesn't strike me with confidence.
We'll see how it turns out.

Bibio's poppier output can get pretty questionable at times, but I have to say, I'm digging this single.

Sherbet Head wrote:Bibio's poppier output can get pretty questionable at times, but I have to say, I'm digging this single.

I'm also liking it. It's in a very strange key.
Reminds me (oddly) of some jangle-pop. Right on!

The single sounds like if Daft Punk, the Smiths and 10cc were thrown in a blender.

And yet, it's wonderful!

I hope the rest of the album is as good! I could use a good polyester electronica dance album since Daft Punk kicked the bucket

This is nice enough, but...

I realize that Phantom Brickworks is an outlier in Bibio's discography as far as it sounding completely different from his other albums, but I think it's great and would love if he did a Phantom Brickworks II.

Josh wrote:This is nice enough, but...

I realize that Phantom Brickworks is an outlier in Bibio's discography as far as it sounding completely different from his other albums, but I think it's great and would love if he did a Phantom Brickworks II.

Agreed. As much as I enjoy the trademark Bibio sound™, Phantom Brickworks is unquestionably my favourite record of his.

I'm sure you're already aware of its existence, but the follow-up EP was rather nice too!

Echelon wrote:The single sounds like if Daft Punk, the Smiths and 10cc were thrown in a blender.

And a bit of recent Beach House lushness as well!

Given the single quite a few spins now and I'm really into it.

Something I'm hoping to hear on the new album is more along the lines of the track with the phone sound and the one after it in the WXAXRXP unreleased tracks mix.

The second single dropped. I don't think it's as successful as the first one but I still like it. The Prince falsetto part at the beginning is nice and catchy. (I like Prince so I don't mind a good tribute) but the lower pitched robot vocal midsection doesn't do much for me.
However the track ends decently with a moody synth instrumental section and more vocals.

I'd consider this track like a slightly more successful Mind Bokeh one.

You know who it also reminds me of? Daft Punk circa Random Access Memories. Even the golden yellow cover makes me think of it too. Which I don't mind. I've been weirdly fascinated with that album for the last year or two.

Yeah, not feeling this one as much.

I do like the guitar solo and the final quarter of the track, though. I'm not writing this album off just yet.

Sherbet Head wrote:Yeah, not feeling this one as much.

I do like the guitar solo and the final quarter of the track, though. I'm not writing this album off just yet.

Second listen and I love Potion! Somehow Bibio manages to balance between modern pop/r&b and good taste. He's very careful not to go too far with either

Josh wrote:This is nice enough, but...

I realize that Phantom Brickworks is an outlier in Bibio's discography as far as it sounding completely different from his other albums, but I think it's great and would love if he did a Phantom Brickworks II.

You'll be delighted to hear that Phantom Brickworks II is the next album,



Listen from 25m 20s.

So, this one's been out for a few days. What do we all think of it?

Firstly, I'm glad he didn't go all in on the whole disco/funk pastiche. There seems to be a good balance between that stuff, the soft rock, and the traditional Bibio folky tunes. The album has some really nice moments in tracks like Sharratt and Cinnamon Cinematic, but at this point, not much else is really standing out for me. I think I need to live with it for a while, and hopefully, learn to love it.

On a separate note, the news of PB2 has got me all giddy!

Just listened through it on a nice good weather walk, I liked it. I don't think this is gonna be an album I come back to alot, like i do with Vignetting and Ambivalence. It has a nice blend of all his previous styles, which suits a tenth album I guess.

Sherbet Head wrote:On a separate note, the news of PB2 has got me all giddy!

Wait, what??

Josh wrote:

Sherbet Head wrote:On a separate note, the news of PB2 has got me all giddy!

Wait, what??

Check Wildfire's post above mine.

There's also another recent interview where Bibio reiterates the fact that Brickworks 2 is "almost ready to go", but BIB10 was prioritised as it felt more appropriate as a milestone/celebratory record. If I had to speculate, I'd say it'll come out around a year from now, seeing as it's always been a project with a heavily autumnal aesthetic.



The whole interview is worth a listen, but for the PB news, skip to 1:17:50

Sherbet Head wrote:

Josh wrote:

Sherbet Head wrote:On a separate note, the news of PB2 has got me all giddy!

Wait, what??

Check Wildfire's post above mine.

There's also another recent interview where Bibio reiterates the fact that Brickworks 2 is "almost ready to go", but BIB10 was prioritised as it felt more appropriate as a milestone/celebratory record. If I had to speculate, I'd say it'll come out around a year from now, seeing as it's always been a project with a heavily autumnal aesthetic.



The whole interview is worth a listen, but for the PB news, skip to 1:17:50

Nice!

Similar thoughts from me to what's been posted above – I like the album, but don't love it (yet). A few tracks have jumped out at me (Sharratt, Rain and Shine, A Sanctimonious Song) and there are a few I don't really get. It's great to hear the references back to his earlier stuff for the 10th album milestone, like the instruments/riffs on Sanctimonious.

I have a bit of a problem with Bibio because Ambivalence, Vignetting, Hand Cranked and Fi are all hugely significant albums for me that gave me feelings I'd never had before when I first heard them and which I've kept going back to for years. I hope I'm wrong, but to be honest I don't expect any new release to affect me like when I was discovering music as a teenager.

I'm going to give Phantom Brickworks another go after seeing the hype here – I was preoccupied when it came out.