Jon Hopkins: Asleep Versions (180g, Free MP3) Vinyl 12"

Jon Hopkins seems to have always had an ear for detail. The Brian Eno protege and collaborator's Immunity was deep and intricate, no sound unprocessed as the songs seemed to fill every inch of space. Asleep Versions takes four of the standout tracks from that album and reimagines them as stretched out ambient pieces. This allows new elements to shine on the surface of the music. King Creosote's Scottish vibrato is pushed to the front of "Immunity," taking the song in a completely different direction. "Open Eye Signal (Asleep Version)" is led by 7 minutes of glacial pads before the piano is allowed a single note. The songs fit together as a single piece of music and it seems that is the only way to really take it all in. Somehow it feels as if the material is particularly informed by where is was recorded. Hopkins decamped to Mosfellsbaer, Iceland on the outskirts of Reykjavik to work on Asleep Versions and the album seems steeped in that country's icy winters.

• 180 gram pressing
• includes free download
• music label: Domino 2014

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 11/2014

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