Below Zero

It never fails to amaze me how swiftly a moment of fortune can so easily become a noose round the neck. Especially in the fickle world of the music biz… in the case of Bonobo the moment, or perhaps the year, of fortune came when he released his debut album 'Animal Magic', at the precise time that 'chill' was the buzz word on everyone's lips. Never mind the fact that, even on the evidence of those first efforts, he was a truly gifted producer, you can't beat the power of the buzz. As is the way of these things, the buzz became the murmur, and soon became the background hum, as endless chillout comps, ads, and media campaigns swamped the shore of our consciousness. 

A young Simon Green (for it is he who is the monkey king) refused to be dragged down by the lazy journalistic prose that labeled him 'chillout' and 'downtempo'. Far from it! He upped the stakes, and indeed, even stuck his neck out, moving from his original label Tru Thoughts to Ninja Tune, and set about taking things to the next level. 

He has a techy studio way about his sound and his release, “Dial M For Monkey” had a strong focus on live instruments and darker shades of soul and rhythm.  He then went about building his live band, and they would go on to play some of the biggest festivals in the UK and tour from Italy to Russia.  He has toured the US and played alongside Amon Tobin, and Ninja Tune has asked him to put together a mixed-album for “Solid Steel”.  As a DJ, he has a laid back style and plays a combination of hip-hop, jazz, broken beat, latin, funk and soul with the occasional psyche rock and drum and bass thrown in just to keep everyone on their toes. 

http://www.bonobomusic.com

http://www.myspace.com/sibonobo