Bonobo
Black Sands
(Ninja Tune)

Downtempo/nu-jazz guru Simon Green, otherwise known as London’s-own Bonobo, returns with his fourth release Black Sands, on the famed Ninja Tune label. Though Black Sands blends live instrumentation, nu-jazz, and a variety of other genres  (neo soul and hip hop) to make a nicely complex album, Bonobo’s featured vocalist and apparent muse, fellow Londoner Andreya Triana, makes the project ever-more lovely on smooth tracks such as “Eyesdown,” “Stay The Same,” and lead single “The Keeper.” Named after the hyper-sexual bonobo monkeys, this mult-instrumentalist is highly recommended as the soundtrack for hot summer nights, especially the tracks “All In Forms” and “Kong.”