Jon Hopkins:
Immunity:
Domino:
Out Now:
9/10
Whilst bland tedious electronic outfits continue to amaze all by topping the album charts (Daft Punk excepted, although their album wasn't a sterling effort, truth be told), artists like Nils Frahm, Fennesz and a sizeable chunk of German imprint Bureau B are making a few digital waves of their own without so much of a hint of fanfare or pompous vocalists. Jon Hopkins is another wielder of the synth whose anonymity has remained intact and sales have bottomed out. Frankly, it's a testament to his character that he didn't chuck his hand in years ago, such was the indifference received for his earlier work.
Sure, of late he's been a busy chap with Brian Eno and Leo Abrahams (on the pivotal Small Craft in a Milk Sea album), plus lucrative soundtrack work, a super album with songwriter Kenny Anderson (he and King Creosote knocked out the gorgeous Diamond Mine in 2012) and a growing interest in hypnosis. But rather than relying solely on laptop technology for creating and constructing Immunity, Hopkins has used all manner of inanimate objects to decorate his eight masterpieces, driving home the fact that analogue is best sometimes.
From the opening sound of a key being turned in a door-lock (his own studio) to the creaks, rattles, bangs and knockings of cruet sets, fireworks (he's based near the Olympic Stadium) and vehicles reversing (no really), Hopkins has elevated Immunity from machine to man-made with the deftest of touches. Perhaps his most familiar recent collaboration with King Creosote has rubbed off on him, in particular on the title-track. Here he's joined by his Diamond Mine partner for what is possibly the most beautiful track on the album. Think Talk Talk circa Spirit of Eden, think Eno, think Frahm, think Sakamoto, all nestling in a bed of gentle understated piano-powered rhythms and oscillations. Perfect.
As well as the more elegaic work contained on this double-vinyl opus, there are speaker-threatening rumbles courtesy of the recent single Open Eye Signal, the epic Collider and the opener We Disappear, but it's the most restrained music that binds this masterly hybrid of electronica and found-sound together most successfully. Cliched as this sounds, Immunity is a genuine contender for album of the year.
Immunity:
Domino:
Out Now:
9/10
Sure, of late he's been a busy chap with Brian Eno and Leo Abrahams (on the pivotal Small Craft in a Milk Sea album), plus lucrative soundtrack work, a super album with songwriter Kenny Anderson (he and King Creosote knocked out the gorgeous Diamond Mine in 2012) and a growing interest in hypnosis. But rather than relying solely on laptop technology for creating and constructing Immunity, Hopkins has used all manner of inanimate objects to decorate his eight masterpieces, driving home the fact that analogue is best sometimes.
From the opening sound of a key being turned in a door-lock (his own studio) to the creaks, rattles, bangs and knockings of cruet sets, fireworks (he's based near the Olympic Stadium) and vehicles reversing (no really), Hopkins has elevated Immunity from machine to man-made with the deftest of touches. Perhaps his most familiar recent collaboration with King Creosote has rubbed off on him, in particular on the title-track. Here he's joined by his Diamond Mine partner for what is possibly the most beautiful track on the album. Think Talk Talk circa Spirit of Eden, think Eno, think Frahm, think Sakamoto, all nestling in a bed of gentle understated piano-powered rhythms and oscillations. Perfect.
As well as the more elegaic work contained on this double-vinyl opus, there are speaker-threatening rumbles courtesy of the recent single Open Eye Signal, the epic Collider and the opener We Disappear, but it's the most restrained music that binds this masterly hybrid of electronica and found-sound together most successfully. Cliched as this sounds, Immunity is a genuine contender for album of the year.