Lists
10 iconic Bonobo moments
An under-the-radar master
Bonobo AKA Simon Green is one of dance music’s most paradoxical characters. He loves to DJ but is best known for his live performances. He’s considered a pioneering chill-out artist but hates being described as such. His career has been under-the-radar but he’s also one of the biggest artists in dance music today.
It’s lead to Green being as much a favourite of an experienced head as a fresh fan. His tunes and melodies, always luscious and intricate, lend themselves to any kind of moment at any time of day. People are always up for a bit of Bonobo.
It wasn’t always this way, he was a staple of organic electronic music in the 2000’s but never seemed to find the next level. That all seemed to change with ‘Black Sands’, followed by ‘The North Borders’ and this year’s ‘Migration’. Now living in LA, Green is global and much-loved. And it feels like it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.
Check out his most iconic moments from a distinguished career below.
Signing with Ninja Tune
Having moved to Brighton in the 90s, Green put out his first release on local label Fly Casual. ‘The Scuba’ EP featured a remix from friend Amon Tobin and caught the attention of university friend Rob Luis who started the Tru Thoughts label and played alongside Green at the Phonic:Hoop club night. Following Green’s debut album, ‘Animal Magic’, he signed with Ninja Tune and a truly formidable formation was born. Today, you can’t really think of one without the other. Bonobo has established himself as one of the label’s flagship artists and the luscious sounds he captures fits perfectly into the organic-yet-electronic-vibe Ninja Tune has so carefully curated. Long may the partnership continue.
Gracing our February cover
Come on, there’s no way we were leaving this off our list. Bonobo’s first magazine cover was ours in February earlier this year just as he was preparing for the release of his sixth album, ‘Migration’. We witnessed the affect Green has on his hardcore contingent of fans first hand, spoke in depth with him about the albums that most inspire him and he even gave us his thoughts on pterodactyls. Fortunately, you can read the full feature here.
His Instagram skills
No, don’t worry, this isn’t going to devolve into some diatribe about social media influencers. All artists have social media these days but Bonobo’s Instagram is actually one of the best curated pages on the platform. Green definitely has an eye for composition and knows how to work a filter, plus, with all his travels he gets to visit some genuinely interesting and beautiful landscapes. If you haven’t follow him already, now you know. Check it out here.
‘The North Borders’ tour
Bonobo as an electronic live act was nothing new by the time ‘The North Borders’ came out. Green had been getting a band together since 2006, and before even using the Bonobo alias, he had channeled his early love of The Dead Kennedys through bands. But this tour took everything to new heights. Having just released the incredibly popular album, anticipation for his live shows were at a premium and he didn’t let the fans down, enlisting a full orchestra for many of the shows and involving multiple collaborators. By the time they reached London’s Alexandra Palace at the end of the year, the band had played 175 shows in 30 countries across three continents over 18 months in front of 2 million people. Green was, of course, at the heart of every performance, switching between guitar, bass, drum pads and an overall conductor role with aplomb. Career-defining stuff.
The Outlier Festival
Not content with completing one of the most epic tours in recent memory, Green also launched his own festival last year. With a stripped back three rooms at Tobacco Docks, Bonobo was joined by a powerhouse line-up of Special Request, George Fitzgerald, Giles Peterson, Kiasmos, Lone, Romare, Yussef Kamaal and the late, great Trevino. The all-day party was the perfect showcase for genre-hopping artists. It didn't come back in 2017 but here's hoping it makes another appearance in the future.
His 'Late Night Tales' compilation
"Having cemented his status as Ninja Tune's anchorman via his sublime fifth album 'The North Borders' in March, Simon Green closes his year with the 33rd(!) edition of 'Late Night Tales' series. Piano and strings form its backbone, with touchstones by Nina Simone and Bill Evans contrasting with nu-classical scores from Matthew Bourne, Dustin O'Halloran and Matthew Halsall. An exclusive Bonobo cover of Donavon's 'Get Thy Bearings' and consecutive big band brass numbers aid an early lounge dynamic, while glitch-hop from Romare, Floating Points, Airhead and Shlohmo give the mid-section a beat-driven tempo. A vastly resourceful and well-structured opus by a true master of horizontal stylings. Recommended." That was James Lawrence's 9/10 review of the album for us when it came out and, trust us, it still rings true today.
His collaboration with Cyriak
When the video for Bonobo’s track ‘Cirrus’ dropped, it was hailed as a trippy masterpiece. It’s kaleidoscopic and production line aesthetics perfectly tied in with the song’s clinking rhythms to create the audio-visual equivalent of one big, slick machine. In fact, that’s exactly what happens as unique archival footage is turned into literal animations of pistons and robots. British artist Cyriak was behind the animation, and gave the song a new identity. Now we can’t help but think of whirring machines when listening to this iconic track.
'The North Borders' album
Quite simply the album that made Si Green what he is today. Until 2010's ‘Black Sands’, Bonobo was kind of that guy that you’d heard the name of, thought it was a cute alias, and figured he was kind of a leftfield trip-hop artist who's music you might hear in passing but never really focus in on. He was one for the Ninja Tune heads. 'Black Sands' changed that, and ‘The North Borders’ completely blew that reputation apart. The album made him a household name and a must-see live act. It was also the first time the artist had ever really focused on 4/4 music and the garage influences on the album are also stand out point. Listening back to it in 2017, tracks like 'Emalkay', 'Jets' and the Erykah Badu collaboration 'Heaven For The Sinner' is as fresh as ever.
The Bonobo alias
Green reportedly regrets calling himself Bonobo, apparently fans now won't stop talking to him about the monkeys. But the fact is the name is a massive part of who he is. It's playful, it's organic, it's natural and perfectly sums up the kind of music he makes. In fact, animals in general have always played a part in his persona. His first album was called 'Animal Magic' and various tracks names include 'Ten Tigers', 'Kong' and 'Turtle'. But, who doesn't like animals?
His love for film soundtracks
Bonobo's music has always had that element of the cinematic and grandiose. Whether it's the soaring string section or exotic samples they've always felt like the soundtrack to an equally great movie. It's no surprise then that he is a massive fan of cinema soundtracks. In our cover feature he listed 10 of his favourites including the Birdman soundtrack, Lalo Schifran's Enter The Dragon' and Alain Goraguer's very weird Le Planete Sauvage and has named-checked Ennio Morricone and Bernard Herman as some of his inspirations.
