If you consider other electro-folk bands like Caribou or Looper,
live instruments (drums, acoustic guitars) might give the music a more
organic feel, but the balance teeters heavily toward electronica. With
Bibio (AKA Stephen Wilkinson, a British sound-art student and music
producer), the opposite is true. Pure digital sounds are mostly absent.
Instead it’s the acoustic elements combined with other field recordings
that are sped up, pitch-altered and looped to create backbeats or
entire tracks. The result is a bizarre yet beautifully delicate
amalgamation of The Books, Devendra Banhart and Boards of Canada
recorded on a warped vinyl platter. Dave Hayden
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2009.