BONOBO.

MmMmM...BONOBO.
so sweet, so smooth, so sexy.

I have been raving about "bonobo" since I was introduced in February. I keep getting tons of "what is bonobo", "who is bonobo", "how do you bonobo"....so I figured that it was time to spread some knowledge.

First, I will give you an introduction. I love music. Live it. Breathe it. To say it is a passion would be an understatement. I go through phases with the genres of music that I am listening to...usually there is one specific band that I have on repeat. While I was in Costa Rica I was stuck on singer-songwriters and acoustic tunes. Very raw, very acoustic tunes. Well, one day while sitting in Soda Mary, sweating like crazy and playing some Dominoes, this fro-haired monkey walked in with a sweet mac-laptop under his arm. I said "hey buddy lets be friends". We surfed the reef the next morning and as it turns out, this guy who goes by the name of "Ozzie" is a total music aficionado! I totally violated his itunes and took tons and tons of amazing music from him. I posted a blog when I was down in Costa, boasting of all the new tunes that Oz had hooked me up with. Of all that he gave me, one changed my life. Seriously.

OZWALD : THE MUSIC MAN

**************************************

BONOBO
is one man.

SIMON GREEN aka BONOBO.

Bonobo the band/man is not to be mistaken with Bonobo the chimpanzees from the Congo.

"Bonobos, arguably our closest relatives, are found only in the Congo Basin rainforests of the central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where they are under threat from bushmeat hunters and habitat loss. Populations have rapidly declined over the last 30 years.

The differences between the common chimpanzee and the Bonobo are slight. The Bonobo has longer legs, shorter arms, and a narrower trunk. It is generally smaller, with a rounder skull and flatter face. Another distinguishing feature is its black face and red lips, and a prominent tail tuft which is retained by adults - chimpanzees only have one at the juvenile stage.

Bonobos exhibit remarkably different social behavior than chimpanzees, with an emphasis on peacemaking."



When you listen to Bonobo you picture a band so big that it fills a room, all collaborating to create this bit of genius. Though in reality, it is one person. Bonobo's real name is Simon Green. He is a British musician, producer and DJ. Bonobo is his main project, but he also performs and DJ's {solo} under the name Barakas...sometimes collaborating with {Robert Louis} under the name Nirobi & Barakas. Music and talent flow through Green's veins, because at 18 he moved to Brighton and released his debut album, Animal Magic (under Tru Thoughts record label). This album as COMPLETELY self-produced and almost totally self-instrumented. The man, or should I say "boy" then, is a genius.

BONOBO : ANIMAL MAGIC, 2000

Also released over the next few years under Ninja Tune Records was the Scuba EP (also in 2000), Bonobo Presents "It Came From The Sea", One Off Remixes and B Sides in 2002, and 2003's Dial "M" For Monkey.

October 2nd, 2006 brought the EPIC album "DAYS TO COME" which was highly successful.

"Simon Green a.k.a. Bonobo returns with his third album and the kind of quantum leap in quality that very few artists make. “Days To Come” has the feeling of a classic all over – a big, brooding, emotional and uplifting record that you can dance to, do the dishes to, or sit and really study.This is not just a knob-twiddling producer but a multi-instrumentalist at work, who writes, plays and then manipulates almost every note of music he releases.Green hasn’t abandoned the instrumentals, though. “Ketto” arrives with a dreamlike intensity, “On Your Marks” hits with the all the force of early-era Shadow, while Part 2 of “Transmissions94″ is amongst the most beautiful and transcendent music that this quiet and self-effacing producer has yet crafted. With his fantastic band (in which he plays bass and with whom he has headlined the Big Chill and the Glade at Glastonbury) set to transform these studio pieces into living, breathing music, the stage is set for Simon Green to step up. The days to come look bright indeed, but sad and beautiful and lovely, too. Don’t miss them."

Several songs on the cd feature musician and poet Bajka. Bajka, pronounced "Biker", is currently based in Berlin, Germany. She was born on Christmas Day 1978 {which explains so much, she is certainly a gift to us all!}. I did a bit of digging and this is what I found {thanks Wikipedia!}:

Bajka is B. Pluwatsch (born Christmas day, 1978) is a poet and singer, currently based in Berlin, Germany.

She is the daughter of Uve Müllrich, a member of the German band Embryo and founder of the band Dissidenten. She was born in India, and grow up in Portugal and South Africa. She attended schools in Goa, Bangalore, Lagos, Portugal, Seattle, Durban and Cape Town.

Bajka studied music in Prague. Her relationship with Asia remains the main theme of her poetry. She has performed spoken word poetry on several projects, including Dissidenten's "Instinctive Traveller", Radio Citizen's "Radio City (feat. Bajka)", "Bubblegum". She has also performed among others with the Moroccan singer Noujum Oazza and his band Urban Dervish, Indian singer Manickam Yogeswaran, and for the Royal Moroccan Orchestra.

In recent years, her role has moved from poet to singer. Her voice is described as jazz/soulchill out and electronic dance tracks. Most recently, she appeared on several tracks on Bonobo's latest album, Days To Come

BAJKA

"Bonobo uses a wide variety of samples in his music combined with heavy, often complex basslines. His music generally develops linearly - with new elements such as basslines or percussion coming in one after the other. In Days to Come, he mixes this sonic background with the clean yet distinctive vocals of Bajka, who often uses harmony to build up a multifaceted sound. Whilst often touring solo, and performing DJ sets, in 2004 Bonobo opted to follow the growing trend amongst electronic acts of playing with a full band. The band plays live renditions of studio material, with a singer, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist, string section, Electronics, and drummer. Simon Green mainly plays bass guitar, and leads the band from the middle. " --wikipedia

Another collaborator, Brazilian electronic musician and DJ Amon Tobin has done some really fantastic remixes of Bonobo tunes, definitely worth checking out. In the late 90's it is Tobin who is credited for creating the new music genre "trip hop". Also on the Ninja Tune record, he is considered their most successful artist and his music has been featured all over the world.

Bonobo, I love you. Bajka and Amon Tobin, I love you too. Thanks for giving me beautiful music that I can live to. A soundtrack to my life. Yoga has been taken to new, spiritual levels because of your music....my days are brighter because of your beats, and my soul is happy because of your flow. Thank you, Thank you. I hope that everyone else enjoys Simon Green and his crew as much as I do. Big thanks to Oz man for sharing the wealth.

LINKS

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www.myspace.com/sibonobo
www.myspace.com/bajkamusic
www.myspace.com/tobinamon
www.myspace.com/sibarakas
www.myspace.com/tmjuke

www.ninjatune.net/home : they have some AMAZING musicians, check it out.

www.bonobomusic.com