Everytime data is produced around covid-19 I start getting this little beat in my head. Because often this data comes from the 'Johns Hopkins health research centre' and is the most reliable one from around the world. But that is not why I am triggered by it. It is because all this reminds me of Jon Hopkins, the DJ, and a damn fine one!
Jon Hopkins made my Summer of 2019 with his 'Immunity' album which is kind of weird because the album is already from 2013, but only last year it caught my full attention. Some time you have that. Never mind the delay, just enjoy to the fullest while you new vibe pops in. So yes, this #technoweekend tribute (especially for
for always getting and bringing the inspiration)
2019 was a year with a loooooot a being all over the place for me, but I also managed to catch a lot of techno settings in the Summer. One of the steady preformers would always be Jon Hopkins. Do you know the 'Dekmantel' festival in Holland next to Schiphol airport. The sun was starting to go down and mister Hopkins was on stage and I was siked and pumped to hear some faster songs. But he stayed in the vibe of the sunset playing very mellow tunes and skipping the uptempo songs like 'Open Eye Signal'. It suited the setting actually playing mellow, but sometimes you just want uptempo beats
Youtube isn't really the place ofcourse for catching the best quality for your tunes (but this is just for getting a teaser). Best quality would be found on Tidal is you really want the best, and then listening with in ear plugs hearing all the effects going from left to right in this song. That is how you should listen this song. When I hear this I think about driving through the snowy Alps for the Vorarlberger land in Austria, because that is where I heard this first, and I will always continue to think back to that when I hear this song.
Later on in the Summer I saw Jon Hopkins again on Zurich Open Air, which was one of the first Swiss music festivals I went to, and on that behalf Swiss people are so different than Dutch people. So I was curious to see how the vibe would be, but I was positively surprised actually. The crowd was younger, and the quality of how the speakers were adjusted in the tent were terrible..but the fun was just as good.
A more uptempo set was played than in Amsterdam, and that is a cool thing. I like it when not always the same sets are done, but when the setting is taken in it with the choice of songs. It was in the middle of the night and in a tent and not outdoors in sunset so this set was much darker. I heard the beats of 'Collider' kicking in and everything was good. This song just makes you go in overdrive
The funny thing is that an official video of this song is actually released, which to me does not help. Music videos feel from the past and also...the song is so dark and layered that you can choose what to lay your focus on that you can fully let your imagination drift away on it, seeing the setting that you want to see. With a music video...you get the setting thrown in your lap. But that might not be the one you want to see. But it is what the artist wants to tell you. Hmmmm. Take a look for yourself.!