Wilkinson's Vignetting the Compost impresses

Producer Stephen Wilkinson combines field samples and electronic sounds.

By Tom Carbone

Published Feb. 9, 2009

Bibio, the solo moniker of producer Stephen Wilkinson, released Vignetting the Compost this month and its folk-infused soundscapes are worthy of much attention.

After attending the University of London with a focus on sonic arts, he discovered some of the most revolutionary electronic music of our time such as Aphex Twin and perhaps his biggest influence, Boards of Canada. Named after a fly he and his dad used to tie when they went fishing, Bibio put out three previous releases in which he fully developed his unique identity as a solo musician experimenting with noise and recording methods.

Even though he has flown under the radar for the last few years, Vignetting the Compost is bound to show up on a lot of blogs early this year as a potential for best of year lists.

The album starts out with "Flesh Rots, Pip Down," a lo-fi, acoustic tune looped with muffled vocals in the background. Most of the lyrics are completely indecipherable, but it does not take away from the music at all. Bibio's brand of cassette recording reeks on this track, something that is seen throughout the entirety of Vignetting the Compost as well.

"Everglad Everglade" combines swirling acoustic guitars with sampled bird noises, frog noises and other ambient layers. Wilkinson can blend noises together in a way that is rarely achieved.

By combining field samples and seemingly broken electronic sounds, Wilkinson develops songs that simply add layer after layer to create a complex, sonically astounding track by the end. "Weekend Wildfire," is one of these songs. A seemingly perfect combination of bird noises and hushed undertones echo throughout the track makes it one of the standouts for sure. This isn't the only song that puts the looping echos to work. "The Ephemeral Bluebell" is another that combines many of these elements to create a cohesive and catchy song.

The final track, which contains a subsequent hidden track, finishes off the album by combining many of the same sonically ambient and melodious foundations seen elsewhere on Vignetting the Compost. Again, Wilkinson doesn't add anything to the track vocally, but it certainly doesn't feel like it lacks in any way. The sort of '60s-esque vibe he adds to each track really shines in the conclusion, resulting in a song with an unclear time period.

Even though Wilkinson hasn't received the most publicity in the world, it hasn't stopped him from steadily releasing some of the most interesting and relevant folktronica of the decade. And by gaining the support of a huge influence, Boards of Canada, Wilkinson really found his niche in the music industry. It doesn't seem like his relatively unknown body of work is any less complete or well done because of it though. Wilkinson's effort to record with cassettes and broken samplers is admirable, considering the beautiful songs he's making with these out-of-date devices.