Biography and career
Beginnings at Mush Records (1999–2009)
A resident of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England, Wilkinson developed a passion for experimental music during his time atWarp and ''Ambivalence Avenue'' (2007–2009)
While continuing to record lo-fi guitar pieces, Wilkinson was inspired by artists like J Dilla, MF Doom, and Madlib to begin a short-lived hip hop side project named Duckula. Listening to Daft Punk and Warp Records artists also inspired him to create 90s french house and electronica tracks, and Brazilian guitarists like Marcos Valle and João Gilberto deeply influenced his guitar playing and led him to write funk, soul, and samba inspired pieces. After a period of trying to separate his various styles into different side projects, Wilkinson was encouraged by his friends to de-compartmentalize and merge his interests under the Bibio name. In 2007, he recorded the song "Ambivalence Avenue", which he now regards as a milestone in his career – "it combined the lofi tapey Bibio guitar sound with weightier beat based production, fingerpicking with jazz chords, it had a Brazilian influence, a folk influence and a hip hop influence, it was a realization of an idea in my head trying to come out, it was a combination I had been striving for a while. Making this track gave me a new confidence and triggered what became the most prolific period of my life so far." The song caught the attention of Steve Beckett of Warp Records, who encouraged him to keep recording in this style. Wilkinson "knuckled down" and recorded the tracks that would make up ''Ambivalence Avenue'' between 2007 and 2008. On the strength of these recordings Bibio signed to Warp Records in August 2008. ''Ambivalence Avenue'' was released in June 2009, four months after ''Ovals and Emeralds'', and marked the start of a new sound and era, embracing vocals, hip-hop beats, folk and pop song structures, and funk/soul guitars. Wilkinson regarded it as "another debut album" and recalled recording the album during "difficult years, having a degree that meant nothing to the world around me... being in my mid 20s and not knowing where I was heading in life in a town with little opportunity," and was uncertain whether people would enjoy its variety. ''Ambivalence Avenue'' was met with largely favorable reviews, with Tiny Mix Tapes describing it as his "most creative and penetrating release yet" and ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork'' ranking it as the 33rd best album of 2009, stating "it's shocking how utterly and successfully he rewrites his playbook." Some reviewers were more critical, with Drowned in Sound claiming "Bibio’s tendency... to either smooth the edges of his creations into non-threatening abstraction or fail to zone in on his best ideas is frustrating." Companion release ''The Apple and the Tooth'' followed shortly after in November 2009, his fourth major release of the year, featuring four new songs and eight remixes of tracks from ''Ambivalence Avenue''. The original tracks were described as "expert, full of electronic papier-mache layers of arpeggiated guitars, glitchy drum patterns and joyful percussive samples," by The Guardian. In some publications, it is referred to as Bibio's fifth album due to its length.''Mind Bokeh'' and ''Silver Wilkinson'' (2011–2014)
Bibio's next studio album, ''Mind Bokeh'', was released on 29 March 2011 in the US and 4 April in the UK, promoted by the single "Excuses" in February 2011. It continued the sound of ''Ambivalence Avenue'' with more mixing of genres, including forays into power pop on "Take Off Your Shirt" and microhouse on "Saint Christopher". Wilkinson described the album as having a "balance of the familiar and the non-familiar." ''Mind Bokeh'' was met with mixed reviews. Clash (magazine), Clash ranked ''Mind Bokeh'' the 24th best album of 2011, and Slant Magazine, Slant praised the album for being "fluid and formless, committing to pop structure and melodies one moment only to eschew them the next, often all within the same track", while Tiny Mix Tapes called the album "an ugly stepchild of a record, neither diverting enough to work as pop nor novel enough to satisfy as pure electronic music," and XLR8R felt the LP had "a less than desirable success rate". ''Mind Bokeh'' was followed by two accompanying EPs, ''K is For Kelson'' in May 2011 and ''T.O.Y.S.'' in August 2011, which featured alternate versions of "K is For Kelson" and "Take Off Your Shirt" respectively alongside new music. Bibio's sixth record ''Silver Wilkinson'', named after a fishing fly found in a charity shop, was recorded shortly after ''Mind Bokeh'' and was released 13 May 2013. Wilkinson took lyrical inspiration from films and daydreams and sought a "cinematic, panoramic and lush" sound for the record, while electing to "pick up the guitar more and focus on a more melancholy live sound". "Sycamore Silhouetting" dates back to 2007–2008 and existed in "many different versions" before being finished for ''Silver Wilkinson'', and "You" began as part of the side projects which led to ''Ambivalence Avenue''. Significant parts of lead single "À tout à l'heure" and "Dye the Water Green" were recorded outdoors in Wilkinson's garden. Wilkinson described the album as his "most melancholy perhaps as a whole". The album was met with mostly positive reviews, with AllMusic praising the album as "a scenic route through Bibio's music that showcases its depth as well as its breadth." ''Silver Wilkinson'' was followed by ''The Green EP (Bibio EP), The Green EP'', released in January 2014, which features archive tracks chosen to compliment Wilkinson's favorite track "Dye the River Green". Bibio next contributed "Dye the River Green" and six original songs to the 2014 film ''Men, Women & Children (film), Men, Women & Children'', directed by Jason Reitman. Wilkinson spent a day with Reitman playing unreleased tracks over film footage, and described the experience as "very perfect, like dream come true stuff". Four of the six original songs appear on the film's soundtrack album. In 2015, Warp Records reissued ''fi'' for its 10th anniversary, adding an uncut version of album closer "Poplar Avenue".''A Mineral Love'' and ''Phantom Brickworks'' (2016–2018)
Released 1 April 2016, Bibio's seventh studio album ''A Mineral Love'' featured collaborations with Gotye, Oliver St.Louis, and Wax Stag, as well as a prominent 70s, 80s, and alternative R&B sound, and was described by PopMatters as a "joyous yacht-psych fever dream". Wilkinson began the sessions for ''A Mineral Love'' in February 2015 by building a sound-proof home studio, which he credits with helping take the album away from the "bedroom producer approach" of his earlier records, and cited Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Prince (musician), Prince and B. B. & Q. Band as influences on the album. Wilkinson had been friends with Wax Stag from early on in his career, while his collaboration with Gotye happened entirely over email, the pair never met. Bibio was introduced to Olivier St.Louis through his feature on Hudson Mohawke's song "Butter" and bonded with him quickly over "guitars, brogues and watches". Their collaboration led to further meetings, and in September 2017 the follow up ''The Serious EP'' was released, featuring three more songs written by the pair..The song “Why So Serious” was included in the soundtrack for Ubisoft’s 2017 video game Watch Dogs 2. Another followup EP ''Beyond Serious'' was released on 12" and digital on 5 May 2017. Wilkinson had been making house music since "before the name Bibio came into being" and had always wanted to release "an EP or something of just house tracks". Inspired by a recent purchase of a Roland TR-808, Wilkinson recorded four tracks using nothing but the machine and a ring modulator, then developed the songs further with synths and chopped manipulated vocals from the recently recorded ''The Serious EP''. ''Phantom Brickworks'' was released 3 November 2017, preceded by the single "Capel Celyn" on 27 October 2017. In a divergence from his work over the last decade, the album is entirely ambient, made from a set of improvised compositions consisting of processed piano, synth, and guitar loops surrounded by tape hiss and field recordings. Recorded over ten years, Wilkinson produced the LP based on the concept that "places can be haunted by meaning," reasoning that "human beings are highly sensitive to the atmospheres of places, which can be enhanced or dramatically altered when you learn about the context of their history." Most of the song titles are references to abandoned places in the United Kingdom, such as Capel Celyn, a community in Gwynedd, Wales that was intentionally flooded to create a reservoir in 1965, and "Capel Bethania," a song named after Bethania, Aberdare, a chapel demolished in 1991. The album was well received by reviewers, who called it Bibio's most accomplished record. It landed at number 11 on ''Time Out New York''''Ribbons'' and ''Bib10'' (2019–present)
Bibio's ninth studio album ''Ribbons (album), Ribbons'' was released on 12 April 2019. The album marks a return to the lo-fi guitar oriented roots of his earlier career, such as on 2009's ''Vignetting the Compost'', while retaining some of the funk and soul influences featured prominently on ''A Mineral Love''. The album was well received by critics, accumulating an overall score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim." Canadian music publication ''Exclaim!'' stated, "With Ribbons, it is clear that Bibio is trying to take the best parts of his music over the years and bring them together into one concise, but eclectic, album, and on more than a few moments, he succeeds beautifully." Ten track EP ''Sleep on the Wing'' was released June 12, 2020, and was an extension of the lo-fi sound of ''Ribbons'', featuring a variety of traditional string instruments and folk inspired songwriting. AllMusic called it "quintessentially Bibio, and spending more time with it is a joy." Across 2020 and 2021, Warp Records obtained the rights to Bibio's Mush Records recordings, and began reissuing ''Hand Cranked'', ''Vignetting the Compost'', and ''Ovals and Emeralds'' on vinyl and digital. ''Hand Cranked'' was reissued digitally with five bonus tracks, including the original recording of "Cantaloup Carousel" from 1999. On 08 September 2022, Bibio announced his tenth studio album ''Bib10'' would be released 21 October 2022, calling it "more of a party album" and "an ode to guitar in a very different way."Live
Bibio rarely performs live in front of an audience, preferring to share studio sessions recorded at home. He embarked on a DJ tour through 2009 and 2010 in support of ''Ambivalence Avenue'', and continues to DJ live on occasion. He most notably toured a live solo electronic show in 2011, working with midi controllers and a laptop remixing songs from ''Ambivalence Avenue'' and ''Mind Bokeh'' on the fly, as well as a one-off show in 2017 in Japan where he performed with a TR-808, TB-303, and laptop in the style of his ''Beyond Serious'' EP. Although he discussed putting a live band together in 2011, none materialized, except for a small band of friends for ''Silver Wilkinson'' studio sessions. He confessed in 2016, "I said that... because it was expected of me, that forming a band was a logical step to make. In honesty, it's not something I want to do," and later explained "I like to perform alone in my home or studio into microphones, that's how I like to express myself as a musician, it's a place where I can get lost in my world of imagination and make something for people to connect to, I can't feel like that in front of an audience... it takes me so far out of the zone that I don't feel like I can get into the music."Visual work
Stephen Wilkinson creates the majority of the artwork for Bibio – including ''fi,'' ''Hand Cranked,'' ''The Apple and the Tooth'', ''Mind Bokeh'', ''Silver Wilkinson,'' and ''Ribbons''. He also works on videography, having created the film for his ''Mind Bokeh'' album sampler, the music video for "A Tout L'heure" and co-directing the video for "Excuses" with Michael Robinson. Wilkinson is an avid photographer, working with film / analog photography.Discography
Albums
* ''fi (album), fi'' (2005, Mush Records) * '' Hand Cranked'' (2006, Mush Records) * ''EPs
* ''Ovals and Emeralds'' (2009, Mush Records) * ''The Apple and the Tooth'' (2009, Warp Records) * ''T.O.Y.S.'' (2011) * ''The Green EP (Bibio EP), The Green E.P.'' (2014) * ''The Serious E.P.'' (2016) * ''Beyond Serious'' (2017) * ''Zen Drums/Dada Drums'' (2018) * ''Phantom Brickworks (IV & V)'' (2018) * ''WXAXRXP Session'' (2019) * ''Sleep on the Wing'' (2020, Warp Records) * ''Vidiconia'' (2021)Singles
* "Sheila Sets Sail" b/w "Tribio" (2006, Artist's Valley Records) * "Ambivalence Avenue" b/w "Fire Ant" (2009, Warp Records) * "Hedged-in" (2009) – contributed to The Relay Project, an online musical "collaboration" * "Lovers' Carvings" (2011) (UK Singles Chart peak: #170) * "K Is for Kelson" (2011) * "Excuses / Old Friends" (2011) * "Willenhall" (2012) – split single with Clark (musician), Clark * "À tout à l’heure" (2013) * "Dye The Water Green" (2013) * "Petals" (2015) * "Town & Country" (2016, Warp Records) * "Heath Town" (2016) – split single with Mark Pritchard (music producer), Mark Pritchard and Clark (musician), Clark * "Capel Celyn" (2017) * "The Art of Living / Spruce Tops" (2019) * "Curls" (2019)Remixes
* Clark (musician), Clark – "Ted (Bibio Remix)" from ''Ted E.P.'' (2006) * Epic45 – "The Stars in Autumn (Remixed by Bibio)" (2008) * Lone (musician), Lone – "Midnight Feast (Bibio Remix)" from ''Cluster Dreams'' (2009) * Neon Indian – "Mind, Drips (Bibio Remix)" from ''Mind Ctrl: Psychic Chasms Possessed'' (2009) * DM Stith – "Abraham's Song (Bibio Remix)" from "Heavy Ghost" (2009) * Grasscut – "The Door in the Wall (Bibio Mix)" (2010) * Gonjasufi – "Candy lane (Bibio Remix)" from ''The Caliph's Tea Party'' (2010) * !!! – "The Most Certain Sure (Bibio Remix)" from ''Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass'' (2010) * Tycho (musician), Tycho – "Spectre (Bibio Remix)" from "Awake (Deluxe Version)" (2014) * Dorian Concept – "Ann River, MN (Bibio Remix)" from ''Joined Ends Remix EP'' (2015) * Boards of Canada – Kaini Industries (Bibio remix) * Marly Lüske – Smell (remix by Bibio) (Warp records 2007) * Villagers (band), Villagers - A Trick of the Light (Bibio Remix) from ''The Art of Pretending to Swim'' (2018)References
External links