Jon Hopkins

Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal QC, August 2

Photo: Eva Blue

BY Daryl KeatingPublished Aug 3, 2014

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Jon Hopkins is one of the most talented producers around today, and his live set was about as detailed as it gets. Every blip and flurry was filtered, phased, delayed and reverberated into oblivion. In stark contrast to Four Tet, Hopkins jolted around the stage with every button push and knob twist to the point where it looked like he may have been connected to the motherboard with an HDMI cable.

He opened with some sub-sonic pummelling that couldn't even be described as dubstep; it was more like future-squelch. Then, possibly too early, he unleashed that beast of beasts, "Open Eye Signal." As the track creaked and evolved it must have kicked in about four times, each time more pounding than the last. At its zenith, someone turned on a water hose and sprayed the sweaty crowd in a move that was nothing short of majestic.

The multi-faceted Hopkins could have called upon any number of components at this point: he could've melted into serene ambience or even rolled a piano on stage. Instead, he entered the oily realm of dark mechanical techno. At times, the music sounded like a horde of machines eating each other. Apart from a brief jaunt into "We Disappear," the end of the set was unforgiving and menacing, but of such high calibre that even the most shadowy elements turned to gold.

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