Epiphanies, like many things, catch me when I least expect them.
I think it is the excitement which always follows is partly the reason why am I most unprepared. This one happened whilst I was walking down the street. Under the recommendation of The Attractive Housemates I had given Bonobo a couple of listens, I liked it and I could easily forget myself when the tracks were chiming through my headphones but it was The Plug (Quantic Mix) from the One offs… Remixes and B-sides album which had struck me: For a good while the song itself was listed as ‘Track 03’ which, following an epiphany is ridiculously annoying. But this was it, the song which reminded me of lying on Goa beach in Greece, my moment had come.
Fast forward a couple of years and I had found musical my calling in life. Bonobo, of course is at the forefront and is helping to lead the way. I was pretty excited at the release of Black Sands, it’s one of those albums I can just zone out to and come back to reality an album’s worth later. One of my favourite ‘Bonobo Moments’ (they’re now a thing) was when I discovered a 50 minute Bonobo Boiler Room DJ set. My luck was in, especially as I was supposed to be in the library hacking away at my essays for a good few hours.
Now, I’m quite an excitable person, I ramble and I find most things amazing. I am not quite to Parker from Friends level (“This is the best break up ever!” to provide example) but I am up there. However, when I listen to this mix it’s just easy to relax, forget about everything that one probably should be worrying about (It’s okay, I’ll start that dissertation chapter tomorrow, promise) and just enjoy it. For optimum results I suggest listening to it on a deserted, Mediterranean beach, preferably when the sun is shining.
My favourite section personally is about 17 minutes in followed by Dauwd’s What’s There (which to some extent reminds me of Pogo, I’m not sure if anyone else feels that or if it’s just me on my own but I’m putting it out there anyway) before going into Bonobo’s Kiara (Cosmin TRG Remix). You just can’t go wrong with this mix. Trust someone who has been investigating all corners of this miniature world of music – okay, so it’s actually quite big and I’m still on my quest for the ultimate beach dub album – but for me, personally, you can’t go wrong with a bit of Bonobo, especially his newest album Black Sands. But for now, here is his Boiler Room DJ set:
Some lovely youtuber also provided the set list which I am very sneakily stealing for you:
Bonobo – Untitled. 02. Elphino – More Than Me. 03. FaltyDL – Straight And Arrow. 04. Rocketnumbernine – Matthew And Toby (Four Tet Remix). 05. Bonobo – Untitled 06. Dauwd – What’s There. 07. Bonobo – Kiara? (Cosmin TRG Remix). 08. Throwing Snow – Pyre. 09. Floating Points – ARP3. 10. Bonobo – All In Forms (Mike Slott Remix). 11. Bonobo – Eyesdown (Machinedrum Remix). 12. Mosca – Bax.
Bite the Belt 