Underground, Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery.
The considerable buzz surrounding Jon Hopkins’ forthcoming albumImmunity, due out early next month, will only grow louder following the release of leadoff single ‘Open Eye Signal,’ a cut which confirms that Hopkins is veering more towards the nightclub dancefoor than he has previously. The single evokes the Border Community label, and includes remixes from Luke Abbott and Lord of the Isles, who have both reworked the driving eight-minute original, which will surely hit the spot for those with a penchant for analogue synths or the output of people like James Holden and Clark. Anyone who attended the inaugural Vivid Festival in ’09 will remember Hopkins performing alongside Underworld’s Karl Hyde and Eno himself at the festival finale at the Opera House, partaking in a memorable improvisational piano duet with Chris Abrahams of The Necks that evoked the early Obscure Records Michael Nyman release Decay Music. In addition to releasing three solo LPs,Hopkins has also released collaborative albums with Brian Eno and King Creosote, and remixed and been remixed by Four Tet and Nathan Fake; but from all reports Immunity will be his masterpiece. Not that I’m getting overexcited or setting up readers for disappointment of course…
Berghain resident Marcel Fengler will release his debut album, Fokus, in July on the Ostgut Ton imprint. Fengler has held down a residency at the notorious clubbing hotpot for almost a decade, and has been releasing EPs on its in-house label and Mote-Evolver since ’07. Fengler was also responsible for the fifth entry into the Berghain mix series, a compilation that received suitable (and discerning) praise on this page when it dropped a few years back. Fengler has informed online rags that while Fokus will trade in house and techno sounds, there will be, “many new approaches that were not necessarily expected.” As for the delay in finally releasing an album, Fengler remarked that, “it has just taken a while for me to sort out what I wanted to express with an album and how it should feel.” We’ll leave that there, since old Fengler really isn’t an engaging interviewee, but while I may dismiss his words, you should dismiss his sounds at your own peril!
The 4our crew will bid farewell to one of their lynchpins Trinity in suitable fashion, with an inner city warehouse party on Saturday June 1. One of Sydney’s most respected DJs, Trinity has been pushing beats in Sydney’s underground scene for over a decade, and is now heading over to Berlin for the European summer. While her DJing prowess is a well-known fact that anyone who has attended her Loose Kaboose parties will attest to, Trinity has also established herself as an internationally-renowned producer in recent times, with her productions being picked up by Sasse’s Moodmusic label and remixed by the Australia-bound Frenchman, Alexkid. Accordingly, Trinity will be showcasing both sides of her sonic personality at this party, playing a DJ set and a live set. Residents Kate Doherty and Magda Bytnerowicz will also be representing, and with dancers free to BYO this is shaping up as quite a farewell.
To end, one for the heads: previous Deep Impressions headliner Sasu Ripatti, who makes music under the mantles of Vladislav Delay and Luomo, has teamed with Mark Fell for the latest addition to the Sensate Focus catalogue, entitled 1.66666. Like the other records in the series, the tracks are unnamed save for being labeled ‘X’ and ‘Y, but unlike the more obvious house influence of previous records in the series, this is a decidedly more stuttering and experimental affair. Fell’s rhythms form a fascinating counterpoint to Ripatt’s distinct low-end frequencies, which evoke his recent Vladislav Delay album Kuopio, to create a product you’ll be able to purchase either digitally or on vinyl in late June.
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through [email protected]
