By Scott Samson
Since this is my first article for Entertain the Geeky I want to start off with a little bit about me. I consume far too much media. Whether it's music or television or comics or movies or audiobooks or podcasts or Twitch streams or YouTube videos from my favorite channels or news or... well... Like I said, far too much. And when I approached the guys behind EtG I did so knowing that I wouldn't be able to restrain the variety of topics that I wanted to talk about down to one single realm of discussion. I knew that it would have to be able to touch on all the different kinds of things that I stumble across in this vast media landscape that we all wander through. So, don't think of this as a place to come to for one specific kind of column, think about this as a travelogue through the aural, visual, textual, technological world that we all share.
Since I consume as much media as I do I often find myself in the need for something that is going to slow things down a touch, something that will give me time to think rather than push me through my day faster and faster. And what we're going to talk about today is just that perfect kind of pace to bring a slow day up or help bring a busy day down.
Electronic musician Jon Hopkins has been in the music industry back in 1997 and has since released a healthy body of work. His latest release came out on May 4th and it's titled Singularity. Which is kind of a perfect name for a record that seems to have it's own gravitational pull. It pulses and throbs at times and yet relies on the breathy quiet between the beats at times to create a nearly perfect record both for speakers as well as headphones. It's a great record for putting your nose to the grindstone to in order to get some stuff done or to throw on the headphones for a walk around the neighborhood. It's both perfect for sharing and for shoe-gazing. And spare few ambient techno records can really claim that.
Right around the record's halfway point, during the track “Feel First Life” you get to what I think is kind of the thesis of the album. That the natural next step after pulse pounding energy, which the 10 and ½ minute long “Everything Connected” certainly is, must be thoughtful contemplation. That perhaps the best possible reaction to a chaotic world is to just slow down for a moment and catch your breath. And the track after that “C O S M” shows that even the thoughtful individual can, when necessary, keep pace with a chaotic world.
All in all I think that the record is kind of the perfect Spring driving around at night with the windows rolled down record, the perfect walking through crowded convention floors when you want to be alone record, the perfect needing to quickly navigate from one terminal to another at the airport record. And if you like it I would also highly recommend the debut album from Floating Points “Elaenia”, Ólafur Arnalds third record “For Now I Am Winter”, the second album from A Winged Victory for the Sullen “Atomos”, the third album from Moderat “III”, or the truly phenomenal (and my favorite record from 2017) ninth album from Elvuium “Shuffle Drones”.
Alright, this has been fun. Let's do this again soon. Who knows what I'll bring you next time?
Check out the album here: http://smarturl.it/SingularityJH