Talk about coming out of left field. Hats off if you’d heard of Bibio before this year, I know I certainly hadn’t. Despite having been around for five years now, Stephen Wilkinson has snuck onto my “Favorite Albums of 2009” list without any forewarning. Ambivalence Avenue sounds like nothing else this year, and while that’s not inherently a good thing, in this case it definitely is. Wilkinson, hailing from West Midlands, England has crafted one of the most sonically diverse and fascinating albums of the year, which is even more impressive considering it’s his second LP out in ’09.

This being my introduction to Bibio, the apparent left turn he has taken with Ambivalence Avenue after February’s Vignetting the Compost isn’t shocking. If you’re familiar with his previous work then this new album should come as even more of a surprise. Still, even with fresh ears, Avenue is startling in its originality and uniqueness. It’s fun to approach an album like this with no prior knowledge of the artist and thus no hang ups or expectations.

There’s so much going on here that it’s tough to touch on it all in one review, but know this, Ambivalence Avenue is bursting with sounds and ideas. It’s got folky parts, Beatleseque pop moments, hip-hop tracks thrown in for good measure and plenty of electronic manipulation. Seriously, “Fire Ant” with its vocal samples and head-nodding beat is one of the best hip-hop tracks of the year. It’s a stunning song both for it awesome mix of voice samples and instruments, but also for the fact that it’s bookended by songs like “All The Flowers” and “Haikuesque (When She Laughs)”

The latter is perhaps the album’s best example of Bibio in heartfelt pop mode. His voice takes center stage for the most part, and carries the beautiful melody. It’s a gorgeous and tender track that provides a nice counterpoint to “harder” moments on tracks like “Sugarette” and “Fire Ant.” Elsewhere “Dwrcan” manages to somewhat meld the two, with a hip-hop track that takes some organic sounding elements and twists them into a poppy melody with a bouncing beat, while still managing to squeeze in some airy pastoral movements. The song feels like a collage Bibio cobbled together from whatever sounds he could get his hands on, and it comes out sounding awesome.

There’s so much diversity here that you could have told me that Ambivalence Avenue was a compilation of various artists and I would have believed you. Yet, Bibio keeps the album from feeling disjointed, or like merely a collection of twelve songs. It’s quite a feat making songs this different flow together, and I’m not entirely sure how he does it, but it works. Ambivalence Avenue feels like one whole organic piece of art. It goes through phases, and I’d venture to say that each one is more or less a resounding success. “Jealous of Roses” has a disco groove for crying out loud, and it’s awesome, seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.

It’s the diversity that keeps your attention, and it’s the fantastic songwriting that rewards it. I’m aware that “interesting” doesn’t always translate to “good” but trust me, in this case it most certainly does. Bibio has crafted a wholly unique and mesmerizing album that sounds as fresh as anything out right now. It’s impossible to talk about everything going on here and even harder to describe all of it in a way that makes sense as the record is simply chock full of different ideas, all you need to know is that you have to hear Ambivalence Avenue to believe it.