Bonobo (musician)

Simon Green (born 30 March 1976), known by his stage name Bonobo, is a British musician, producer and DJ based in Los Angeles. Green has recorded and performed solo DJ sets under the name Mr Blue and together with Robert Luis from Tru Thoughts as Nirobi and Barakas.^[1]

Music career

Green's first release under the moniker Bonobo was in October 2001 with the song "Terrapin" on the Tru Thoughts compilation When Shapes Join Together.^[2] He released his debut album Animal Magic on Tru Thoughts in 2000.^[3] With this album, completely self-produced and self-instrumented, he became one of the "new downtempo pioneers."^[4]

In 2001, Bonobo was signed to Coldcut's label Ninja Tune and in 2003, after one album of remixes on Tru Thoughts in 2002, he released Dial 'M' for Monkey. In 2005, Bonobo contributed to the Solid Steel series, with his It Came from the Sea, the release date was scheduled for 10 October 2005, but was released a week early, the mix features several exclusive tracks as well as remixes and re-edits.

His third album, entitled Days to Come, was released on 2 October 2006, the first single from the album was "Nightlite", featuring vocals by Bajka.^[5] Following Days to Come his tracks have appeared in a number of media-related items. Days to Come was voted Best Album of 2006 by Gilles Peterson's listeners.^[6]

The song "The Keeper" featuring vocals by Andreya Triana was released in September 2009 as the lead single from his fourth album Black Sands, released in March 2010.^[7] Black Sands brought rapturous praise and saw Green expanding his music to include gamelan, afrobeat and middle eastern music influences. After their collaboration for Black Sands, Green produced Andreya Triana's debut album Lost Where I Belong.

In February 2012, Black Sands Remixed was released on Ninja Tune, featuring tracks from the original Black Sands record remixed by electronic producers such as Machinedrum, Lapalux, Floating Points and Mark Pritchard.

The first single off the next Bonobo album, "Cirrus", was given its worldwide debut on Gilles Peterson's BBC Radio 6 programme on 19 January 2013. The album is titled The North Borders and was set for release on 1 April 2013, but was released early in its digital format after a promotional copy was leaked prior to the planned launch date.^[8]

In July 2014, Bonobo announced on his Facebook page that October 2014 would see the release of The North Borders Tour - Live, a DVD and live album recorded on The North Borders Tour over the course of the past eighteen months.^[9]

In January 2016, Bonobo announced on Twitter that he intended to release a new album sometime in 2016.^[10] Bonobo released his sixth album, Migration, on 13 January 2017 via Ninja Tune.^[11][12] It was announced on 3 November 2016 with the release of the single "Kerala" and an official video.^[13] The album features Nick Murphy (Chet Faker), Rhye, Innov Gnawa and Hundred Waters.^{[11] [12]}

The official video for the single "Kerala" is directed by Bison (Jon Hopkins/London Grammar/Rosie Lowe), featuring lead Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace/Inside No. 9).^[12] The album artwork was designed by Neil Krug (Boards of Canada/Lana Del Rey).^[14]

Style

Whilst often touring solo, and performing DJ sets and residencies, in 2010 Bonobo opted to start touring with a full band for the Black Sands album tour. The band plays live renditions of studio material, with a singer, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist, string section, electronics, and drummer, often with improvisations and solos.^[15] His albums employ sampling, for example 'Behind the Light' (from Pick Up EP, 2003) uses a clip of 'Judy' from John Renbourn.

Discography

Live at Brixton Academy, London in November 2013

Albums

Other albums

• One Offs... Remixes & B-Sides (2002)
• Sweetness (2002)
• Solid Steel Presents: It Came from the Sea (2005)
• Black Sands Remixed (2012)
• Late Night Tales: Bonobo (2013)
• The North Borders Tour - Live (2014)

Singles and EPs

DVDs

• Live at Koko (2009)
• The North Borders Tour - Live (2014)

Production work

• Andreya Triana - Lost Where I Belong (album) (2010, Ninja Tune)
• DELS - "Pulls" (feat. Kerry Leatham) (single) (2014, Big Dada) (co-production)

Songs in soundtracks

Some of his songs have appeared or have been used in advertisements, television and game soundtracks, namely "Pick up" and "Flutter" were featured in the snowboarding game SSX on Tour;^[17] "Nightlite" appeared on UEFA Champions League 2006–2007;^[18] "Ketto" was featured in Skins (Vol.2 Ep.6) and the Citroën C4 Picasso advertisement;^[19] "Flutter" is the opening title theme to CBC Television's sitcom jPod; and "Recurring" was used in a surfing film broadcast on Fuel TV.^[20] "Eyes Down (ft Andrea Triyana)" was used in the Bionda Castana Autumn/Winter 2013 Fashion Film: David Gandy's Goodnight.^[21] His music has also been featured in the interludes between segments on NPR and in bumps on the Adult Swim network, most notably during the Toonami programming block. "Cirrus" is featured as the closing song of the pilot episode for the AMC show Halt and Catch Fire which debuted on Sunday 1 June 2014. "All In Forms" was the final song used in the film House at the End of the Street in 2012.^[22] His song Eyesdown can be heard in the background in the restaurant in the second episode of the third season of The Newsroom. "Kong" can be heard during a scene in an artist's studio in the eighth episode of the second season of House of Cards.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bonobo.

• Official website
• Bonobo discography at Discogs
• Bonobo interview for Clash magazine, September 2006
• Profile at rcrdlbl.com