Bonobo

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Bonobo is the artist alias of Simon Green, an English musician, producer and DJ who was born in 1976 and now lives in Los Angeles. He made his debut in 1999 on a compilation from the label Tru Thoughts and took his name from the great ape. Bigger labels made offers, but he stayed with Tru Thoughts, where his first album, Animal Magic, was released in 2000. It received mixed reviews but built up a cult following. In 2001 he signed to Ninja Tune, the label of Coldcut.

Music and breakthrough

Dial 'M' for Monkey followed in 2003 and Days to Come in 2006, on which singers such as Bajka provided an organic sound. Black Sands, from 2010, showed that he had grown from samples to real instruments. According to one review, the track Kiara combines eastern strings with chopped-up beats. Later came The North Borders in 2013, Migration in 2017 and Fragments in 2022.

Influence

Bonobo began with a trip-hop sound and later also explored jazz and world music. His electronic sound makes much use of live instruments and is recreated on stage by a full band. That places him among the producers who made electronic music sound warm and handmade, on the borderland of downtempo, jazz and world music.

Listening

• 
  Kiara · Bonobo, 2010
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 2000Animal Magic
• 2003Dial ‘M’ for Monkey
• 2006Days to Come
• 2010Black Sands
• 2013The North Borders
• 2017Migration
• 2022Fragments
• 2025Lazarus (Adult Swim Original Series Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
• 2026Distance in Static

See also

• Dial ‘M’ for Monkey
• Downtempo, lounge and chill-out