Bibio: Vignetting the Compost

Label: Mush

The means might be electronic but the ends are pure folkie escapism. On his fourth Mush album, Stephen James Wilkinson—the English producer better known as Bibio—reveals himself to be a technicolor fantasist, playing what might be straightforward folk-pop in anyone else’s hands but using a variety of gear to elevate the music a few feet off the grass, to about middle dantien level (hey, look it up and learn to meditate!). Love the mixed meanings you can read into Vignetting the Compost, too (for now I’m going with, “Everything’s garbage but you can still find your purpose”; yes, that’s what I’m going with). The pastoral folk/electronic-hybridism sweepstakes are getting kinda crowded, but don’t bet against this easygoing naturophile. (M.L. Thrope)