Bonobo: Migration (2LP) [NINJA TUNE]

Why you'll love it

This 180g 2LP set comes with printed inner sleeves and a download card. Migration reached the top five of the UK Albums Chart and scored 77 on Metacritic.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 180g vinyl
• Printed inner sleeves
• Download card included

About the album

Simon Green made most of Migration in airport lounges and hotel rooms. The tour for The North Borders ran to about 175 shows across three continents, so the laptop became the studio, and a move from New York to Los Angeles's Echo Park, plus some losses in the family, got him thinking about identity, travel and home.

The result is warm, restless electronica that feels like it's always on the move. "Kerala" flips a fragment of Brandy's "Baby" into a fluttering, euphoric single, "Bambro Koyo Ganda" brings in the Brooklyn Gnawa group Innov Gnawa, and "No Reason" features Nick Murphy's aching vocal. Jon Hopkins adds piano, "Grains" samples Pete Seeger, and "Second Sun" borrows from Syrinx, the Toronto electronic group led by John Mills-Cockell, with the Toronto Repertory Orchestra in the mix. There's even a track called "Ontario."

Art director Neil Krug shot the cover in the Mojave Desert and pushed the colour as far as he could without it being ridiculous, his word. Mixmag called the album a music-making masterclass, which, given it was made in departure gates, should give hope to anyone stuck at Pearson.

Also at Kops: more Bonobo on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Ninja Tune (cat# ZEN236), a reissue of the 2017 album.