Ninja Tune’s Bonobo and Jordan Rakei have been on a 22-date North American tour since February and the two of them make perfect cohesive sense as duo headliners. Opening the doors to History, one of Toronto’s newest music venues, you could feel the excitement in the air. It was a slow start with arrivals but with a slight delay, the stage went dark for Jordan Rakei just as the room began to get denser. This is not Rakei’s first time in Toronto, he’s been here before and this vocalist, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has a strong fanbase in the city. 

Jordan Rakei is best known for his sultry, composed, shiver-inducing voice, and so naturally his songs are smooth and touching, with hints of blues and jazz.  Earlier this month Rakei released a 4-track EP Bruises as a follow-up to his critically exclaimed 5th studio album What We Call Life (2021) and people’s favourite Origin (2020). The new EP is a very collaborative effort (which he is no stranger to): “Defection” was co-written with Oli Rockberger, strings for “Bruises” were done with Amika Quartet, and “Lightning” is written by Georgia Potter (aka Moreton). It is also worth noting that this collaborative theme will quickly become the theme for the evening and I suppose in retrospect, it always is when it comes to Ninja Tune artists. 

For this performance Jordan was on stage alone, situated in the center under a blue spotlight, occasionally adding guitar into the mix for songs like ”Sorceress”. Tonight’s hour-long performance was a mix of old and new tracks, highlighting “Defection” and “Bruises” from the latest EP. Rakei’s live performances take on a life of their own, “Midnight Mischief,” originally created with Tom Misch, took on a much more jazzy, abstract perspective. This tasty twist continued through other tracks as well, “Say Something” and “Family” specifically, while “Mind’s Eye” built up slowly to a powerful conclusion, bursting the room into applause.

After a brief break Simon Green, better known as Bonobo, took the stage accompanied by a full band. Green’s latest release Fragments (2022), is a work of art but was a struggle to make. Pandemic had a massive impact on his creative process, there were no clubs to test-drive the tracks in, isolation took its toll, and at times he was not even able to go home. For Bonobo, this was “the most emotionally intense record yet to create,” but these broken processes gave root to experimentation and collaboration. Ideas came from all directions and in time bonded into a cohesive record that Ninja Tune called “crossover electronic records of the year”. Now, having lived out in the wild, the record is a triumph over personal and collective struggle and a “surging, joyous return” to enjoying live music together.

Green has been performing with a live band for a few years and this band, flute and trumpet included, is a force to reckon with. The skill of each individual band member was showcased at one point or another throughout the set but combined their sound will rock any stadium. Set in front of a full-size screen projecting visuals from the record and Green’s escape into the wild the concertgoers were transported to the Canadian mountain ranges and Utah valleys in kaleidoscopic and slightly psychedelic visual plays.

Naturally, the set began with songs from Fragments (“Rosewood” “Counterpart”) but soon enough the band was joined by singer Nicole Miglis for “Surface” (Migration, 2017). Dressed in pink bell-bottom pants and an oversized ruffled yellow top Miglis looked like a dandelion in full bloom, floating across the stage, occasionally hiding her hands in the yellow petals. The set moved across

Green’s entire repertoire of songs in no particular order from “Kiara” and “We Could Forever” (Black Sands, 2010) to “Cirrus” (The North Borders, 2013), to “Outlier” (Migration, 2017) and back to most recent releases with “Tides” (originally performed by Jamila Woods). Jordan Rakei came back out for the soul-wrenching “Shadows” and Nicole Miglis graced the stage for “Break Apart” (originally performed by Rhye) and “Day by Day” for the encore (originally performed by Kadhja Bonet). At one point Miglis’ dress lit up like a Christmas tree, pulsing tiny lights to the beat of the music, in an oddly classy kind of way she became one with the light show while belting out the lyrics with grace, palm reaching out to the sun. 

A handful of songs (“Kiara,” “We Could Forever,” “Bambro Koyo Ganda”) built up into heavy dance tracks, accented by pulsing strobe lights and constantly moving background images. Here we are, on a wilderness adventure together, journeying to the sounds of “Kerala”, exploding into cheers and applause as the song, and the show come to an end.

Seeing Jordan Rakei and Bonobo again, and on the same bill, was a truly tasty treat and a fantastic start to what will hopefully continue to be a fresh new music season.  

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The Bonobo touch, ambient beats effortlessly mellow and clear, is best served live.

That subtle nature simmers through his set, a minimalist’s playdance. Bonobo has made comparisons often, in interviews, between the European and American aesthetic, as can be seen through UK house and garage and the ableton-fuelled phenomenon of EDM. The set he DJ’d in Vancouver last Friday at Celebrities suggests the hypnotic tempo and steady beats of that English electronica generally reserved and associated with 3 a.m. after hours parties in North America rather than the go-to cache of guaranteed club bangers.

To no surprise Bonobo drew out the expats and working holiday young’uns to the club, where everyone sounded just a bit British or perhaps Irish, to the undiscerning Canadian ear. For a local pipsqueak DJ in Vancouver who plays at weddings and some clubs on the strip, this would not be the night to play British-ish, or perhaps it was the ideal night. It was a sold-out show, and this speaks to the healthy career of Bonobo. A pioneer of downtempo in the early aughts, Bonobo has continued to evolve and sharpen his sound, to become lumped, in recent years, under the same colloquial breath as Mount Kimbie, Four Tet or even George Fitzgerald.

As an ambient artist, Bonobo is very accessible. Digging deeper, for those who are already fans of the dynamic combo of world and electronic sounds demonstrated by ODESZA, a similar gentle experimentation of “exotic” sounds permeate Bonobo’s works. For those that enjoy a dance floor with the rhythms of UK garage, attending a Bonobo show is not a bad idea. These were several of the instinctive sounds he’d return to in the atmospheric rises and lows to his set.

Captivating and complex, Bonobo played a set lit well into the night.

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Joaqopelli, a Native American Basque Gypsy, started Thursday off with a traditional flute performance at the Living Room stage, a beach stage with a casual feel beside the Salmo River.  The song called “Down spirits from the heaven to feel the power of the creator”.   The set was perfect for the 11:11am start, and set the tone for the Living Room stage for the rest of the festival.

The highlight of any music festival is discovering something new.  This year it was Big Gigantic.  The American Duo started in 2008, and combine live performance with “Djing”.  Funk, Dubstep, House, HipHop, Electro Soul, and Jazz all mixed with live drums, saxophone and keys.  The genres were all over the place, but each transitioned seamlessly to the next.  Some technical issues led to a late start, and the stage presence a little stiff at first, but that all became irrelevant as they got into the first song.  The dynamic between the two fits with the improv style that makes the live set so fluid with the audience.

Adam Shakih holds a special place in electronic music for me. He was the first DJ I saw almost a decade ago.  This year he played right after the opening ceremonies in the Grove.  A calming, lawn gnome covered venue in the woods.  The set was very relaxed and complimented the sunshine peeking through the trees.

DJ Anger is the embodiment of the mindset of the westcoast DJ.  The self taught, hip-hop influenced DJ plays a huge range, reggae, bass heavy, funk, breaks and more.  He calls Victoria home, and his influence is embedded in the Vancouver Island music scene.  Anger was the first DJ I photographed almost a decade ago, and has moved into producing, as well as helping aspiring DJs in the community.  He is involved in festivals, events, local sets, producing and DJing all over the place.  He is on one of the hardest working people I have come across.  Anger has helped build and shape the Victoria music scene, and it shows.

Dua & Generic also hail from my hometown of Victoria.  Generic has several DJ comp titles, a resident DJ, he teams up with DUA for big events like Shambles.  His sets are filled with glitch hop, drum and bass, dubstep, broken beats, while scratching and mixing his own tracks in.  This is an artist that is new to me, but after this performance I look forward to more.

Shambhala is more than music, it is a weird concoction of every genre of everything.  Morning yoga everyday, a unicorn parade, tourist guide tours, spirit hood gathering, potlucks, muay thai, tantric yoga, the rocket ship (you are placed between 6 gongs and they send you to outer space), aerial silk, and fashion.

Each year local vendors put on a fashion show, highlighting things for sale, as well as varied, unique creations by artists.  Previous years had outfits made from garbage, cleaning supplies like rubber gloves, and pieces that were not traditional clothing pieces (like rubber chickens).  This year saw a lot of sparkle and shine, with some avian influence.

A voice for independent music and an explosion onto the music scene over the past few years, Griz played a phenomenal set that got the crowd roaring.  I am biased, my two favorite performances this year had live saxophones in them.  Self-described Future Funk is ridiculously appropriate, combining electro-soul, funk and live saxophone is refreshing for those who miss the sax laden songs of the 80s, which apparently I do.  Griz is young, and extremely talented, but I do not think he has peeked yet.  He has come really far, really quickly, touring with big names, and even headlining on his own, but I predict the next couple years there will be major growth into a far more developed and multi-talented artist.  Big Gigantic was the highlight for me, but Griz is someone to watch.

Ill Gates & KJ Sawka are the backbone of bass. KJ Swaka is a member of both Pendulum and Destroid, also providing beats to a ridiculous amount of DJs, while Ill Gates makes production tools used by countless artists.  Ill Gates has collaborated with Bassnectar, Datsik, and more, and this shows in the body-vibrating Bass that exploded from their set.  Halfway through the set I stopped, and tried to separate myself from the music, and all I could feel was my internal organs buzzing.

Authenticity is the sound she strives for. Ill-esha pulls out turntables, vocal loopers, keytars, and more in her set to create a sound all her own.  Her initial foray into music was drum and bass, then into glitch-hop, but she strives to break out of being pinned down to any specific genre.

Scott Jackson was an unscheduled, high-energy suprise.  Either technical issues, or delay created a gap in performers and Jackson stepped up.  Jackson’s skills in beatboxing come from illness, being bed ridden he developed his skill.   “How many of you like Michael Jackson?” he yelled to the crowd before jumping into a medley of songs, followed by a ten minute solo, freestyle beatbox.  This is not an art I am intimately acquainted with, but the range in pitch, sound, a term I have no words for was astounding.  The speed in which he switched between singing and percussion sounds, and jumping from song to song was something I had only seen in YouTube videos, which has minimal impact compared to seeing it in real life.

I was born and raised in Victoria BC, and, in a tongue-in-cheek way, we have a love-hate relationship with Calgary.  This is where I set my holier-than-thou, hippy, west coast, surfer, tree-hugging, granola munching, yoga doing, fishing, snowboarding hat, and legitimately compliment Calgary on its ability to produce musicians. Subvert, from Calgary, has been on the scene almost 20 years, a founding member and lead designer of PK sound, as well as the Village stage director is all about “bass that works”.  Synths, bassline, strings, in glitch and drum and bass create a deep, dark, sexy sound that resonates from the toes to the head.

Fractal Forest.  In the age of technology, Shambhala wants a piece of it to remain mysterious and untouched by the ravages of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.  As a result, photography is banned in the Forest, thought that did not stop wide-eyed, enthusiastic dancers from sneaking a cell phone pic. Skratch Bastid worked the crowd with ease, but was followed by an unfortunately disappointing set by DJ Jazzy Jeff.  It came off as pop laden, top 40, and when the crowd did not react, he did not change.  I was at his performance in Vancouver last year for Quip, and he read the crowd and brought it to a riotous clamour, playing it like a skilled fiddler. Mix Master Mike faired better, but had lost a lot of the crowd from the previous performance. Neon Steve and Vinyl Ritchie had energetic crowds, while the The Funk Hunters drew a huge, effervescent, excited crowd.

Zed’s Dead.  My very first Shambhala, almost a decade ago, put me in a car with a stranger on the 12-hour (we took two days) drive from Victoria to Salmo.  That ride introduced me to Karl, who had a love for electronic music more than anyone I knew.  We became close friends, and after Shambhala, I would receive a phone call whenever Zed’s Dead was in town.  “What are you doing tonight? It doesn’t matter, Zed’s Dead is here, we’re going”. Karl introduced me to them, among many others. He passed away a few years ago, and I have a special place in my heart, and my calendar whenever I see that they are performing.  I really enjoyed this set, but I will be the first to admit I am entirely biased. I saw Zed’s Dead for Karl, and I have no regrets.

Pretty Lights was surprisingly aggressive, and a little too loud. I enjoyed the set but was expecting a little more laid back from their previous performances, as well as being one of the last headliners on Sunday night.

Shambhala is a triathlon for music lovers.  A hugely varied artist list, and music running from noon-11am in some cases, it takes a dedicated and energetic person to fully appreciate the festival as a whole. Bonobo played his set late Sunday night, and I was barely standing by the time I arrived.  Hailing from Brighton, UK, Simon Green has been doing this for over 10 years and it shows.  I moved around the crowd as much as I could, and the most common phrase overheard was “I love this song” throughout the entire set.  It was a bit more relaxed than previous sets, but fit in with the late night last day crowd.  The set ranged his entire discography, and despite the fatigue of almost 4 straight days of dancing, the crowd refused to let this amazing performance be wasted.

Welcome home is a mantra that fits with Shambhala so well that it is almost comical.  There was not a single person I encountered who did not share the family, community, sharing vibe that the festival puts forward.  Walking from the campsite to the stages, you encounter hundreds of people shouting “Happy Shambhala” “Shappy Hambala” “Welcome home” or just an outrageous, coarsing roar that starts on one side of the farm and ends on the other.  Flags, balloons, costumes, stilts, juggling, instruments and any other skill you can think of is prevalent.  This is truly one of the few places where, no matter who you are, what you do, how you dress, you will be accepted and acknowledged.

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Last Friday was one of those nights, while no one I mentioned my evening agenda to had much clue of who and what the show was about, random strangers at the venue seemed surprised at the turn out and awareness of the artist. Sorry dudes, knowing who Bonobo is does not make you an original, it just means you have good taste in music.

Green has been around for over a decade, his first album, Animal Magic, dropped way back in 2000 and was, as PopMatters puts it, “a lovely little exercise in chill music.” Since then Bonobo has released a multitude of EPs and 3 albums, including critically acclaimed The North Borders, which leaked a couple weeks early – causing a turmoil at the ever so careful Ninja Tune HQ. With each album, he visibly grew as an artist, producing more adventurous tracks, adding instruments and, on occasion, vocals. Green’s latest project is last year’s Flashlight EP, upbeat and lively, three tracks that left his fans yearning for more.

As with most artists signed to Ninja Tune, Bonobo is one of those shows you absolutely have to see live. Humble in nature, unlike the primates after which he takes his name, Green doesn’t talk much or try to entertain, in fact when there is a live band on stage, he’ll stay in the back, giving the instrumentalists the ownership of the stage. The humbleness, however, is not in any way an inhibition. Green has a soft, yet impactful stage presence that excites the audience from the front to the back.

Most recent Toronto show was no exception when The Hoxton opened it’s doors for a Bonobo DJ set for Focus Fridays. The showcase featured three local performers as openers: Bruce Trail, a live performance by The Kount and Sunclef who, though quite different in sound, came together as a solid first half of the evening.

Bruce Trail has fairly recently made an appearance on the Boiler Room for a RBMA Dovercourt Takeover. He played a chill, slightly jazzy set, making a smooth transition to Bonobo in the late hours. The Kount, led by instrumentalist Koal Harrison, appeared as a  surprisingly entertaining 4-piece band (guitar, drums, trumpet and saxophone) playing to a clearly passionate fan base who were shouting out song titles from the front lines. The standout opener was the first one  – Sunclef, likely more so to those of us who grew up in the 90s due to mixing in some of that decades hottest tracks like Fatboy Slim’s “Renegade Master,” Julio Bashmore’s “Battle For Middle You” and, of course, some Sade.

By the time Green came out the crowd got tight, on occasion and in the corners angry tight, so much so one could only wonder how the angry kids found their way into the Bonobo show, but I guess everyone gets turnt at their own speed.

Green played through the favorites across his repertoire as well as some of his genre favorites. Every time a familiar beat came on the crowd went wild. They didn’t have to wait too long for “Flashlight” nor was his set much different from what Green is famous for – a vibrant collection of melodically clean, chill tracks that blast through the speakers as a strong, dance worthy adventure.

More photos can be found here. 

photos by Samuel Engelking

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Flashlight only features three tracks, all with different wavelengths and slightly different moods. All capture Bonobo’s skilful use of atmospheric sound and haunting ambience, but in different ways. Perhaps these three tracks were chosen for the very fact that they are all unique in tempo, mood and sound complexity.

The title track is light, jolly, airy and has an upbeat vibe. A feel-good track, “Flashlight,” leaves you dancing in a field at dawn. One can almost describe this track as “spritely” and lighthearted, which is quite a departure from Bonobo’s recognisable “darkness.”

“Pelican,” the second track, sounds a bit more like Bonobo’s North Borders tracks – a bit deeper, mellower, and definitely sexier than the title track. Choppy beats layered with choppier female vocals give this progressive beat a loungey sound. Definitely a song that can make you feel sultry and seductive. One has to wonder, though, why he chose a word like “pelican” to describe this sexy beat.

“Return to Air” finishes off this too-short EP with a typical Bonobo rhythm – not too fast, not too slow and oozing with feminine influence. International sounds can be heard in this track – from light repetitive Latin drum beats to a deeper African bass, mixed with a modern atmospheric sound. The pace changes slightly throughout the song, keeping things interesting as Bonobo always does.

Listening to these three chosen tracks leaves you yearning for more. Bonobo definitely knows how to keep his fans intrigued; his next full-length release will most likely be his best ever yet. His sounds keep evolving into increasingly complex layered music, yet he still manages to retain a certain style to his impressive music.

Release date: December 2, 2014

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As great as the beats are, too many of the ‘buddha-bar’ generation were content to try and survive on beats alone. The harsh truth is that after a while, those beats blend together. You know what will never blend together in a forgettable mélange of music? Erykah Badu’s voice. She is a guest on First Fires’ second track, “Heaven for the Sinner”, and what starts as a slow build, culminates into a beautiful marriage of vocals and synth-drums. Again, the track by itself would be worth one listen, but the infusion of Baduism makes it worth ten.

Sandwiching that gem of a track is the opener, also featuring a talented lyricist, Grey Reverend. Despite his relative anonymity, (when compared to Ms. Badu, at least,) his work on the title track makes it the best of the three songs. What First Fires lacks in complicated track-layering, it more than makes up for in subtleties. This is the perfect example of how old dogs don’t learn new tricks – they just improve their old ones. A younger Bonobo might have overdubbed the vocal track with a dozen more sounds, and it would have taken away from the song. Instead, he let Grey Reverend have the spotlight, and the singer does not disappoint.

To end the EP, though, Bonobo takes a trip to the old-school with an up-tempo beat laced with old-blues vocal samples (think every song Moby ever made). After taking a backseat to the singers on the first two tracks, he finally gives himself a chance to flex his impressive beat-making muscles. “Know You” is a solid song, but in the same way that hundreds of lo-fi beats have been since the style made its presence known years ago. It isn’t ‘forgettable,’ so to speak, but it’s probably closer to that than it is to ‘memorable.’ The EP as a whole, though, is memorable, so Bonobo’s indulgence on the last track is forgivable. He’s been doing his thing for too long to just let others steal his spotlight.

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Bonobo, aka Simon Green, was never a big radio hit. He is one of those artists you keep close to heart, and when finding someone with a similar liking, you bond over it like fat kids in summer camp. You might not know many people who are a part of this joyous club, but they do exist, so much so that the scalpers are the ones looking for tickets.

Nearly three years after his last release, Bonobo came back this month with The North Borders, and so with it came the big boom. Last Thursday, Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall filled with the likes of Simon Green fans, and although they maybe came with high expectations, they likely left fulfilled and surprised.

The album was produced by Green in his New York studio but on stage, Green was joined by a full band building a deep, dimensional sound throughout the venue. Every song is a journey that starts up softly and grows richer into a full narrative piece. Every beat is properly in its place, and every instrument gets a spotlight in one way or another. Knowing when to quiet down and when to let the sound evolve into a mountain of emotion creates an unexpected cohesiveness.

There is also something genuinely humble about Bonobo’s performance. At one point, everyone, including Green, left the stage to give the drummer a well-deserved solo. And the saxophone player. And then, of course, the gentle vocals of Szjerdene.

Bonobo’s The North Borders may be just a stride forward for Simon Green, but for electronic music ,it is a leap towards timeless modern classical.

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The album builds upon previous work while still providing a unique addition to the genre. Initially intended for release on April 1, it was pushed forward after parts were leaked by a label volunteer.

The North Borders is a minimalist album. It elicits twitches, spasms, and jerks that move with the off-tempo beat. On songs like  “First Fire”, the beat is a series of clicks and finger snaps dissolving into a string section for the final denouement, and the vocals are monotone and emotional.

Although the album more heavily borrows from EDM, club, and dubstep, a variety of world instruments are effectively employed to prevent Bonobo from being another electronic music replica, interested in just the sweat of the audience rather than the swaying and the deep reasoning behind each sway.

The instrumental tracks provide their own fun. Some songs are built to allow the listeners’ imaginations to fill in the gaps. “Cirrus” is spacious enough that the listener begins to hear voices and stories, whispered ideas that are distant and almost comprehensible. There’s a story developing around the aromatic beats and thrilling strings, and there is space enough for it to be unique for each listener.

The instrumental tracks are building here, where all the doors of the apartments have been left open, the radios are loudly blaring, the food is sizzling, families are sitting at dinner tables, and televisions are describing the local news.

Where there are vocals, like in “Heaven for the Sinner” with Erykah Badu, they work to carve the song into a reflection of a jazz club. The impression of drums is both soft and powerful. The lights are dim, and a mood floats from the speakers.

The North Borders plays with instrumentation to create a comprehensive landscape of sound, sometimes chill, sometimes chilling.

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