Bibio

It's been a mere four months since West Midlands, England laptopist Stephen Wilkinson (aka Bibio) released his third LP, Vignetting the Compost, which in retrospect plays like an album dump-off of old (albeit original) ideas. Once considered a Boards of Canada clone, complete with scratched film strip sounds and musty guitar lines, Ambivalence Avenue incorporates sampled vocals, elastic beats and start-stop rhythms into a gratifying and adventurous set of compositions. Wilkinson's new direction on the urgent "Fire Ant" and the stuttering "Sugarette" allows the listener to connect with his music in a completely different manner, as the cherubic hopscotch of "Haikuesque (When She Laughs)" and bubbly bump of "S'vive" do much to further his forays into organically modified pop. With Ambivalence Avenue, Bibio finally joins the ranks of heroes Boards of Canada, unveiling one of the best electronic albums of the year in the process.