This week, the Song of the Day features ACL Fest 2017 artists.
Bonobo is the moniker for Simon Green, a British musician and DJ now based in L.A. His music is a mix of global and celestial sounds, which is probably the reason I hear a lot of his songs on yoga playlists. That’s not to denigrate his craftsmanship, though. Bonobo can seize on a small detail and spin a landscape out of it, one that bridges folk and electronic, organic and synthetic.
For his sixth album, Migration, Bonobo keeps burying deeper into that beautiful friction. New York’s Innov Gnawa helps out on album highlight “Bambro Koyo Ganda.” True to its name, the collective plays gnawa, a Moroccan form of healing and devotional music that gets its power from repetition; some gnawa performances can last hours. American blues music gets some influence from gnawa, and you can hear a little bit of that in Bonobo’s hands. “Bambro Koyo Ganda” is a 21st century blues, one where the words don’t matter, but the feeling and rhythm certainly do.
“Bambro Koyo Ganda” appears on Migration, out now via Ninja Tune.
–Art Levy // host, Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., producer, My KUTX
Catch Bonobo at ACL Fest 2017:
*Friday, Oct 6 // Tito’s Stage // 6:15 p.m.
*Saturday, Oct 7 // Emo’s (official ACL Late Night Show) // 10:00 p.m.
*Friday, Oct 13 // Tito’s Stage // 6:15 p.m.
