Bonobo - Black Sands Remixed

Cold, tired and desperate for something to lighten the mood one particularly grim Friday, we chanced upon this remix CD the other week and I think everyone enjoyed its warm, melodic charm. First of all I ain't heard 'Black Sands' itself  so I'm not going to compare the two records, save to say this stands up on its own as an excellent record. It starts well with Lapalux contributing a languid hazy piece of electronica whilst Banks uses reverbed vocals and squiggly electronics to create something somewhere between dubstep and your more chilled out type dance music. Its hard to pick out highlights as (rarely for a remix comp) the thing flows beautifully and it's a delight all the way through but I particularly like Floating Points' version of 'Eyesdown', hinting at early Air but then bringing in soulful female vocals. Oh for the sun and a late summer evening on the balcony (if I had one) with a cold beer and this pumping out. Plenty of laid back grooves to enjoy from the likes of Machine Drum, Mark Pritchard, Mike Slott, Falty DL, etc, etc.