Customer Reviews

Animal Magic

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There's a paper waiting to happen that discusses why everyone with a computer, some string samples and a half-speed beat thinks they can make quality downtempo music. Just look at the sheer volume of modern lounge material released monthly, repackaged ten different ways with all the hot nametags. Much of it has craftsmanship, but how much has inspiration?

That's the noticeable ingredient on Simon Green (Bonobo's) slow motion debut Animal Magic. Within the rich textures of each track, and the earnest instrumentation - chimes and Asian cooing on "Sleepy Seven", sitar, keyboard twinkles and back-looped voices of "Terrrapin" the idea and the hook are clearly felt.

Highly lauded "Kota" has already been a huge hit, the guitar plucks, swooning strings, and present bass thump woven into heartfelt song. "The Plug" slowly winds in muted horns, (again) stylized strings, and a slice of old soul that somehow Moby missed. Near the end, Green even opens it up a bit, closing with some cranked up drum programming and jazz showmanship.

It's a cohesive album with an appreciably diverse field of sounds within. Not quite a five star wonder, perhaps, but as the work of one man? Superb. Next time you have the itch for a Now That's What I Call Chill factory comp, what say you give an artist album a try instead?

Bonobo, a new signing to the magnificent Ninja Tune label (those underground cats who can do no wrong), will surely please those who know proper records don't sell 10 million copies and aren't found at the Virgin megastore.
I will keep this short and sweet, as not much really needs to be said about "Animal Magic", other than it's flat out beautiful, soulful music, quite mellow and damn near impossible to throw into any one genre- which is what makes a good record.. the downfall of the whole music industry and all it's cookie-cutter bands/groups is that they all try to stay within one genre, so that the record can be easily and neatly placed in the proper section at your local K-Mart. Back to the matter at hand...
"Animal Magic" would probably be found in your "trip-hop" section of the record store, as most of the songs are beat driven, though blues, soul, and a touch of jazz play a part as well. If you're familiar with the brilliant Amon Tobin, you'll probably find much of this record similar to Amon's down-tempo work, though Bonobo's music is sweeter, gentler, not quite as devious as the sinister Amon's. I realize that this review doesn't give you any idea of what the record actually sounds like, so sample some of the tunes and hear for yourself- if you dig slow, lush, genre bending lounge music, you're in for a treat. WARNING: Trance dancing candy ravers- this album is boring, and you're better off sticking to your one-dimensional cheese beats. Go get the new Paul Oakenfold disc. This album probably has a bit too much substance for your Ecstacy-riddled minds to bear.

Bonobo is one of those artists who typically shows up on chill-out compilation sets--maybe a little too often--but the man does indeed put the C in Chill-out. From beginning to end Bonobo's very ambitious debut, Animal Magic, is a wave of druggy downtempo tracks reminiscent of work from a more laid back Amon Tobin. That's no wonder since Bonobo mentions him in his liner notes as well as has remixed a song or two of his. Songs like the haunting "Sleepy Seven", the enchanting "Shadowtricks", the the Tobin-esque "Kota", and the melanchonic "Terrapin" are all stand-out tracks that showcase Bonobo's talents.

This cd falls into my top 5 downtempo/Jazz core catagory. Right alongside Permutation by Amon Tobin, Kaleidoscope by DJ Food, A Livingroom Hush by Jaga Jazzist, and Resound by Ugress. This cd contains track after track of pure, unfiltered downtempo beats. Played with (but not used excessively); Sitars, flutes, and horns. Check out the rest of his albums, they're all this good.

I am greatful for musicians like this. Wonderful downtempo with a spice and funk that omits boring repetition.
I am a hard one to please, esp with chill-out type music. Often ppl overdo the CHILL factor.
These guys are DOPE.

Come on folks, this album just got easily accessible. Thank you, Ninja Tune! It is ridiculous that I am the first person to review this album. More people who have heard this album should have been inspired to put something down about it.

Undulating streams of relaxed downtempo smoothness. Ha! That was my effort at trying to put this beautiful music into words. Truly, this is an impossible task. Just listen- in your car, in your room, at work, at school, where ever, you know?
No one yet that I have forced this on has disliked it. What kind of record is that? I think it speaks for itself.

This album stays at the end of my CD changer. It usually hits right as I'm going to sleep and carries me whistfully on the arms of a gentle wind into sleep land. It's not really a party album, per say- obviously, but a gem for the laid-back ear.

There is really just so much to this soon to be classic. Just when you think you have the beat down, it changes up. The production is so tight and clean it will make you wish you could make music like this.

Surely, if you like good downtempo, you will thoroughly enjoy this. I don't think any track PREDOMINANTLY stands out against the rest. Certainly, I have never turned this album on to a specific song. At it's best when played from start to finish, in my opinion.

GO AHEAD, buy this now; you can thank me later. Seriously!

Listening to Bobobo's (Simon Green) debut album, i wonder why isn't Bonobo's name revered along other electronic music luminaires like Amon Tobin among music connoiseur's.
Like his labelmate and friend Amon Tobin, Bonobo's music is a collage of disparate (mostly) acoustic musical elements (hi hop drum rhythms, spoken word snippets, standup bass, sitars, acoustic guitars, string sections, saxes, etc) put together in a imaginative and cohesive way to create something new and exciting.
In this album, Bonobo is the closest thing you would hear to Amon Tobin's groundbreaking early work without the Drum and Bass workouts and brazilian percussion. Every track is a different and touching song, with unique musical elements that will have you humming and listening to this album for hours over and over again: The unintelligible female vocals on "Sleepy Seven", The snaking sax lines in "Dinosaurs", The acoustic guitar arpeggios and weird distorted synths on "Kota", The impossibly high-pitched female vocals and sitar on "Terrapin"...

I own an extensive Electronic music collection with hundreds of albums and over 10000 songs, anything from Aphex Twin to Zoviet France, and this is one my favorite albums in my collection.
If you like downtempo / Chillout music, you must get this album, you won't be dissapointed!

Bonobo's "The Plug" is the only melancholic masterwork so far of the electronica sampletronic musical revolution. Nothing Moby has done, no arranged melody of other chillout savants, has had the epic scope and compositional eptitude of this gorgeous theme. This CD redeems the life of the bored, truculent pop consumer, gives that overloaded brain a vision of a tight, accessible, bountiful outside world. In this surfeit of corporate western music, with cacophony ringing in every worker's overloaded cerbrum, Bonobo makes your environment seem sane, whoelsome. Pair "The Plug" with track 10, and your commute will be uplifted.

This one is not as deep and good as many of Bonobo's other efforts. That's not to say is not a good album. It's OK, it just lacks a lot of the depth, variety, and musical intelligence that is obvious and plentiful in "Dial M For Monkey" or "It Came From The Sea".

The music is very loopy and uninspiring at times, but somehow he manages to make a decent album. Much more downtempo and slow than his later work and quite eclectic.

Best song IMO is Silver. If the rest of the album would have captured the essence of that song, we would have had another masterpiece in our hands...

3 1/2

A decent chillout-type scenario works best a mid-background music, growing tiresome when examined closely. Though much of the sampling certainly borders on quality, usually the regularity of it all dulls through more then these exotic beats would indicate. In the genre, a quality find..in sheer musical evaluation..not so much.