Late Night Tales welcomes Jon Hopkins with a beautiful and hypnotic sequence of songs, instrumentals and cinematic electronics.
Requiem for a dreamstate. It’s possibly somewhere between heaven, hell and high water, down the Thames Delta towards Eden. It may involve techno and a distorted state or simply mates sat listening to music together, drifting on the open sea of their minds. This is Jon Hopkins’ world, not so much joining the dots as colouring the whole damn picture in.
After releasing his debut album 'Opalescent' at the rookie age of 21 in 1999, he’s gone on to work with Brian Eno, David Holmes, the Mercury nominated King Creosote collaboration 'Diamond Mine' and on three Coldplay albums. His soundtrack work includes scores for Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, How I Live Now, the BBC Zane Lowe rescore of Drive and 2010 film Monsters; nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score. He released the breakthrough album 'Immunity' in 2013, which was also nominated for the Mercury Prize.
The story arc with which Hopkins succeeded on 'Immunity' makes its appearance on Late Night Tales too with a perfectly sculpted excursion on this widescreen mix. Opening with the unreleased 'Sleepers Beat Theme' by composer Ben Lukas Boysen, ghostly pianos skip elegantly hither and thither, among rising strings, as on Darkstar’s ‘Hold Me Down’. Nils Frahm is here, his sonic palette perfect for the job, while labelmate A Winged Victory For The Sullen contribute ‘Requiem For The Static King Part I’. Sigur Ros offshoot Jónsi & Alex’s heroic ‘Daniell In The Sea’ sends us forth towards the Baltic with tears streaming.
Beats occasionally appear, as on the Grace Jones-sampling ‘Yr Love’ by Holy Other or the pair of Black Country acts Bibio and Letherette, whose ‘After Dawn’ is almost spry in comparison to the minor key symphonies on display here. The perfect contrast to this comes from Alela Diane’s wistful ‘Lady Divine’ or even Four Tet’s mesmerising ‘Gillie Amma I Love You’, with its enchanting kids’ choir. Exclusive to this release, Jon Hopkins provides a startlingly vulnerable new piano version of Yeasayer’s ‘I Remember’.
Poet and fellow Brian Eno collaborator (their joint album 'Drums Between The Bells' was released by Warp in 2011) Rick Holland narrates the exclusive spoken word closer 'I Remember', underpinned with new music by Hopkins.
«Putting this album together was a unique opportunity for me to present music that I have been listening to for years, free from the constraints of a club setting or from trying to stick to one genre. I chose tracks not just because they have been important to me but because of how they sit together, putting as much thought into the transitions and overall narrative as I did into the track choices. I mixed by key and by texture more than anything else, using original sound design, pivot notes, and often recording new synth or piano parts to link things together in a way that flows as naturally as possible. I hope you enjoy it.»
— Jon Hopkins, December 2014
Опубликовано: 19 окт. 2013 г.Track 4/8, from Gravity (Ad Noiseam adn168).
The title of this track is perfectly chosen, as its mood suggests me the absence of my relatives and my home with the quick rhythm of the song, the pitch alternation of the notes and the huge reverberation.
I kinda felt this when I left my native region and my kins several years ago, after family issues. You miss them, you miss your homeland and feel lost in a new unknown territory. The worst is that you think about home and relatives all the time, and it takes a long moment to fade out. It's obsessing, you always wonder if you made the right choice and if you'll regret it eventually.
I can feel that while listening to You'll Miss Us One Day.
The quick rhythm represents for me the perpetual thought of the past, of what I knew and won't see so soon. A dormant seed deeply planted in your mind.
The different pitches picture the change of mood, going from melancholy, doubt and regret to hope, opportunities and resurgence.
The reverberation translates a loss of landmarks, mixed feelings about your former and your new home. You are physically present in a new location but a part of your spirit is still there in the past.
Finally, the break from 2:27 to 2:33, slowly fading out into the next song, marks the compromise between all your thoughts. You can't forget what made you, who raised you, where you grew up, but you have to live looking forward to the future and build new things on your foundations, no matter what happened, what happens, and will happen. And after all, what prevents yourself from going home every so often ?
More than seven years after I settled down 500 kilometers from my homeland, I found friends and work, love where I live and what I do, and go back sometimes where I come from, not obsessed anymore about the past. But what I still miss are my mountains and the sound of the bells that rang each hour in my village's church.
Enjoy folks, and if you feel like it, I'd like you to share your sensations too, here in the comments section or on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/adda.ambient
If you liked this track/album, here are some useful links to support the artist and the label :
This video is uploaded only in a promotional purpose, as I do not own any rights on this music. All rights reserved to Ben Lukas Boysen and Ad Noiseam.
If you (artist, label or viewer) have any inquiry, just email me at a2damusic@gmail.com
Дата загрузки: 4 мар. 2011 г.Album: Remembranza
Label: Leaf
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP
Country: UK
Released: 03 Oct 2005
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical, Ambient
Опубликовано: 13 февр. 2014 г.Track 12/12, from Night Falls (Hymen Records ¥767).
Bliss. How could you feel something different ?
The dot of light has enlarged and looks like a magma of purity, glowing at you. The door to your destiny, somewhere else in the universe.
The strings orchestration takes a dramatic mood, slowly building up and leading to the imminent climax of the track, and most probably of the whole album.
You let your body be attracted towards the light, giving yourself to the gravity and hanging legs, arms and head down. Just a moment to go.
Glitchy sounds happening left and right, up and down, forward and backward at random times picture the static electricity increasing in the air. Potential differences create electric arcs all around you, just like it is charging the sphere of light in front of you. The percussions appear at 3:25, simulating explosions after some areas couldn't sustain the amount of energy emerging from everywhere.
You feel your mind reaching the transcendence you waited for so long, being in accord with time and space.
Choirs, strings, percussions, bass lines, each element is in harmony to finally resonate with the luminous passage to the other world and open the path you need. But the closer you get to the gates, the slower you move, just like you tried to cross the horizon of events near a black hole. But you won't stop. Not now. " Are you worth to get past these boundaries? ", asked the Giants? Yes, you know it now.
The ultimate seconds merge all the sounds before the epic final explosion of the gong, your goal. One try, 6:54… Two tries, 7:01… The third is the good one at 7:08, and propels you to an other dimension, where noone else can get.
Black out. But not silence. Distant male choirs, a cold breath of wind and what sounds like a ringing phone fill at a low volume the rest of the track, until we close the book of this incredible mind trip that is Night Falls.
Enjoy folks, and if you feel like it, I'd like you to share your sensations too, here in the comments section or on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/adda.ambient
If you liked this track/album, here are some useful links to support the artist and the label :
This video is uploaded only in a promotional purpose, as I do not own any rights on this music. All rights reserved to Ben Lukas Boysen aka Hecq and Hymen Records.
If you (artist, label or viewer) have any inquiry, just email me at a2damusic@gmail.com