Bonobo: The North Borders (2LP) [NINJA TUNE]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set spreads the album over four sides of 180g vinyl, with printed inner sleeves and a download code. It gave Bonobo his first UK and US chart entries, reaching No. 34 in the UK.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 180g vinyl
• Printed inner sleeves
• Download card included
• Lyrics included
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Simon Green started out making slow, dusty trip hop for Brighton's Tru Thoughts before Coldcut signed him to Ninja Tune, and every album since has taken him a little further from the bedroom and a little closer to the festival field. By The North Borders he was writing and producing everything himself, building electronic tracks out of real instruments and taking them on the road with a full live band.

"Cirrus" was the first taste, premiered on Gilles Peterson's BBC Radio 6 show, and its looping bells and chimes later closed the pilot episode of AMC's Halt and Catch Fire. Erykah Badu brings her unmistakable voice to "Heaven For The Sinner," Grey Reverend sings the gentle opener "First Fires," and tracks like "Emkay," "Ten Tigers" and "Know You" glide between downtempo, bass music and soul. It's warm, intricate and built for headphones as much as for dancing.

The North Borders turned Bonobo from a name passed between friends into a touring headliner, and it remains a favourite starting point for new listeners. Not bad going for a man who named himself after an ape.

Also at Kops: more Bonobo on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Ninja Tune (cat# ZEN195), the 2013 album.