Bibio - Phantom Brickworks (LP II)

Label: Warp Records – WARPLP369
Format: x2 Vinyl LP
Country: UK
Released: November 22, 2024
Genre: Electronic
Style: Experimental, Ambient, Dark Ambient

#7 BEST ALBUMS OF 2024

Debuting in 2017, 'Phantom Brickworks' first caught our attention thanks to Bibio's hauntingly beautiful delayed piano chords and reverb drenched pads, soundtracking a sepia tinged view of once busy places, now devoid of human activity. For those that have not experienced 'Phantom Brickworks', it sounds like a dilapidated medley of Aphex Twin’s 'Selected Ambient Works II' and the ballroom ethos of The Caretaker.

Bibio now presents his sequel, a 10-track LP, mastered by Guy Davie and vinyl cut by Hendrik Pauler. "The new record draws attention to new sites - some are intriguing, vast scars on the natural landscape, others survive only in local memories, historic clips and photographs. A few remain submerged from ordinary sights, while some exist purely as legends and stories."

Much like the previous album, Bibio provides a soundtrack for a forgotten Britain. Despite the isles being relatively compact, there are little pockets of forgotten architecture and abandoned infrastructure, once pivotal linchpins of the community that fell between the cracks, existing in the peripheral vision between urban sprawl and new build housing estates.

To celebrate the release of Phantom Brickworks (LP II), Tom Durston took the opportunity to interview Bibio in an attempt to unearth the haunting soundscapes and mindset of the project.

• READ FEATURE

A1. Dinorwic
A2. Dorothea’s Bed
B1. Phantom Brickworks VI
B2. Suram
B3. Llyn Peris
C1. Phantom Brickworks VII
C2. Tegid’s Court
D1. Brograve
D2. Spider Bridge
D3. Sychder MCMLXXXIX