Jon Hopkins - Remixes

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  • Four Tet, Nathan Fake and Jon Hopkins could, rather tenuously, be called bedfellows, with a few remixes for each other already on the table. But while the phrase usually has risqué connotations, these three are more likely to be found under the covers with a torch, playing with toys. Four Tet's colourful mobiles of bells and glockenspiels, Nathan Fake's open-hearted synthesizers and Jon Hopkins' beautiful harmonic ambience are a combination that makes sense. Also making sense is the assignment of tracks here: the original of "Vessels" contains the type of piano line that would have Hebden licking his lips in glee (and is duly used as the backbone for his remix), whereas "Wire" is joyful and exultant, and used by Fake in his idiosyncratic sequencer-edit manner. A skippy, twig-like two step beat gives a fairly straightforward rhythmic basis to the Four Tet remix in a way that will be familiar to those following his recent trend towards danceability. A just-shorter-than-a-bar burble loops through the piece, misaligning and realigning proggily. Violas float around, and a complex, bubbling soup is created from the lovely piano line, xylophones and other softly undulating harmonies. Fuzzy beats come in near the end, quietly aggressive—the whole thing is beautiful, more accessible and less eccentric than much of Everything Ecstatic—but crucially, it's never cheesy. Nathan Fake's remix is far too brash to be seen as relaxing armchair techno, and probably too experimental for most clubs. I like it. It's challenging. A dark purple, aqueous synth blooms rapidly and repeatedly, as offbeat kicks charge their way through. The confusing, heady mix stutters, inverts and morphs several times, pulverizing the listener in an immersive, white hot barrage. Progressive emo-trance, perhaps? Whatever the hell you call it, it's full of both feeling and open-mindedness, two things that all music should have.
  • Tracklist
      01. Vessel (Four Tet Remix) 02. Wire (Nathan Fake Remix)
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