Bibio-graphy

I talk a lot on here about the importance of archiving (and further to that, accessibility), it's something I feel very strongly about if it wasn't clear enough already. There's plenty of artists out there making an effort to preserve bits and pieces in some form or another, and this time we're going to take a look at some of these offerings from Bibio.

You might know Bibio from his works with Warp Records - 2009's Ambivalence Avenue no doubt comes to mind, a fantastic introduction to Bibio, chock full of hip-hop jams and folky infusions. Bibio had been hard at work before then though, releasing a steady string of albums until that point.

Unlike some of his Warp cohort, Bibio doesn't have a million and one aliases with different releases and seems to have settled on the name very quickly. Or at least, it seems that way - but tucked away on his Soundcloud are some self-proclaimed jams under the (somewhat unfortunate these days) 'Duckula' moniker.

They hail from 2007 - the period between Hand Cranked and Ambivalence Avenue, which is audibly apparent. These tracks would feel right at home next to some of the tracks on the latter, particularly the Jazzy, [adult swim] bump style beat that is on Take Time. It's not readily obvious why these tracks went unreleased, this one in particular feels very complete, much more than a simple sketch or a cool sounding idea that didn't pan out. Though if he's anything like me, it's could just be one of many that just happened to slip through the cracks.

Bibio · Take Time (Duckula 2007)

Mine You Are fits that bill (no pun intended) a little more, way shorter and it certainly feels much more like some fooling around with a sample than the above. It still would have fit in with a little tweaking, some of the tracks on Ambivalence Avenue have distinctly separate outros for example. Not a complaint though, it certainly is a neat sounding jam, and I'm happy we at least got to hear it in some form.

Bibio · Mine you are (Duckula 2007)

I do always appreciate a little peek behind the curtain like this, it's always fun when an artist shines a little light on their process after all. At the same time, as someone in the creative world, I admire them for doing so in the first place - I imagine there's a pressure to only put out the super polished final pieces. I know in my case there are plenty of old, unfinished works that will never see the light of day, but maybe one day I'll resurrect something kind of cool I was playing with but didn't pan out, much like Bibio has done here.

I'll be back soon enough with more but until next time, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF