Black Sands: World Environment Day Edition

A repress of the critically-acclaimed Black Sands – Bonobo aka Simon Green’s celebrated breakthrough record – on Eco Mix double vinyl. Influenced by the divergent, bass-driven strands of the UK electronic music scene at that time, Green artfully fitted those evolving sounds into his own wider vision. The record’s lasting importance stems from the depth that he found in those combinations, rattling two-step rhythms and heavy pressure sub-bass twinned with carefully crafted songwriting and lush, brightly-realised instrumentation. It’s a record that’s both timeless and wonderfully of its time. From ‘Kiara’, which weds cinematic, string-laden composition with chopped up vocals and luminous synth arpeggios, to ‘Eyesdown’, where subterranean swells of bass meet Andreya Triana’s warm, peerless vocals, the album is effortlessly multi-faceted. Listening back a decade later, it still sounds just as beguiling, emotive and transportive as it did the first time around. “Using repurposed material offers sound parity with virgin vinyl, and yet it is currently habitually underutilised despite the efforts of sustainability focussed pressing plants. Ninja Tune is committed to utilising the surplus PVC from pressed vinyl records across its back catalogue – often referred to as ‘eco mix’ – in pursuit of more sustainable vinyl production. The marbled, random multi-coloured effect vinyl can easily support the demand for new and recycled black vinyl. With artists such as Bonobo, Ninja Tune is committed to making eco vinyl the industry standard,” says Sean Preston, Head of Production, Ninja Tune. In an effort to set a new and more sustainable precedent for catalogues to be repressed on reclaimed vinyl rather than the standard black or other coloured variants, all records in the recycled vinyl campaign have also been manufactured at pressing plants that have shown commitments to sustainability, by participating in the Music Climate Pact and the Vinyl Alliance Sustainable Supplier Programme. Launched in 2021, the Music Climate Pact united record labels to harness the power of the music industry towards inspiring transformational change on the climate crisis. Signatories to the pact commit to take individual and collective action to measure and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. One of the priority workstreams has focussed upon quantifying opportunities to reduce the impact of vinyl records- launching a sustainable supplier programme with the Vinyl Alliance in 2025. For fans of Jon Hopkins, Four Tet, Caribou, DJ Koze, Burial, Little Dragon.