Life is complicated and busy. Did you notice? Keeping up with the music, movies and books that fed your youthful imagination and conversations is harder than ever, but even more important. Here's the good news: there's never been more great new stuff. The challenge is to find it.

So here are my highly opinionated views on sounds, sights and words that will help you keep it fresh and real, and links to the veins where the richest motherlodes can be found.

Feed your head.
- JumpingFlashJack

Friday, June 10, 2016

Lighting Up June


Bibio, A Mineral Love

I’m fresh from a college reunion where the twenty-something DJ was spinning decades-old tunes that must have been sourced from a Wikipedia list of what was hot back in the day.  Shoot me now.   As if your musical tastes get stuck on “REPEAT” when they hand you your diploma.   Not mine.  I’ve been gorging on the sound of right now ever since and this disc couldn't be fresher.

Bibio is Steve Wilkinson, a British music producer and guitarist who makes percolating, R&B-influenced electronic music with a warm human gloss.  His guitar style is slightly reminiscent of John Mayer but a closer listen reveals a deep debt to Brazilian Joao Gilberto.  Wikinson's falsetto recalls Barry Gibb’s “Stayin’ Alive” vibe (in a good way!).  But the star of A Mineral Love is the intricate, liquid melodies that take a wide step away from the sound of current EDM and radio pop, but are completely inviting all the same. 

 “Light Up the Sky” and “Town & Country” will draw you in and make this guy’s special talent plain. 

My new rule of thumb is to seek out anything that's among the monthly picks of any two or more KCRW DJ’s (http://www.kcrw.com/music/dj-picks);  I’ve had this one on repeat since I spotted it there.   It’s going straight to my own “Best of 2016” list.  (Thanks to Jake for tipping me off to Bibio a couple of years back.)
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