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Recording:
  Opalescent  
 
Artist:
  Jon Hopkins  
 
Label:
 

Just Music

 
 
Release Date:
 

21.November.2005, originally released in 2001

 
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

This album was originally released in 2001, and has recently been re-released for your listening pleasure. People always tell me that electronica seems dated almost immediately, but this record still sounds pretty fresh to me. This is an album of thudding beats, lush guitars, and beautiful synths.

I have previously reviewed Hopkins' latest EP, and that is pretty much a continuation of what you are going to find here. However, on this full-length, i find that his ideas are better developed. Well, more fully developed at least. Specifically, on that EP, i enjoyed the tune Song One, with its addition of drum samples to Hopkins' ambient electronica. Well, this is an entire album of that sort of thing, and if you liked that tune, i wager that you will find much to enjoy here.

Standout tracks include Lost In Thought, which features a happy keyboard riff over a nice loping beat. This tune is sort of the midway point between early Aphex Twin and DJ Shadow, which is a pretty good combination. Then there is Inner Peace (it's an introspective album, at least titularly), which adds a light guitar bit to the keys and beats. This adds in a slight M83 or Lemon Jelly sort of feel to the tune, and again it is good head bopping music to just sit and listen to.

I guess that Brits would classify this as "downtempo", and i confess that i don't see how Mr. Hopkins would fill a dancefloor. Still, this is a really nice album, and fans of Boards of Canada, Casino vs. Japan, Biosphere, and similar artists would do well to check it out.

 
         
 
Related Links:
  Just Music, an online label.
Evilsponge review of EP1, by Jon Hopkins.
 
         

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