Uitgebracht
February 2014
- It's easy to see why Jon Hopkins' Immunity received so much critical acclaim, including a Mercury Music Prize nomination, a rarity for a techno album. It's beautifully written and produced, packed with swooning melodies and suffused with a glowing light and warmth that bring to mind GAS and Brian Eno, with whom Hopkins has worked in the past. But Immunity packs a surprising punch, too. The ten-minute "Collider" was a highlight. Over a loping beat, synths steadily intensify and voices bloom from little sighs into powerful melodies, Hopkins tempering all the widescreen beauty with a fierce beat and crunchy glitch.
In the hands of Objekt, Pangaea and Karenn, "Collider" grows heavier and bleaker. Karenn's version is a wonderful onslaught of gigantic kicks, rushing basslines and very little else. By stripping away most of the track's rich textures, Blawan and Pariah also undo the subtlety that gives the track so much of its staying power, but their brutal brand of peak-time techno is hard to fault. Objekt's remix is the most successful of the three. Using the original's opening five seconds of analogue glitch as a jumping-off point, TJ Hertz flattens its gorgeous melodic swell into a sinister ooze, and makes lush electronics dense and prickly. Pangaea's remix is as club-ready as Karenn's, yet as heavy on the glitch and squelch as Objekt's, with urgent percussion and rough, scraping synths that transform the ecstasy of the original into something cold and sinister.
TracklistA Collider - Pangaea Remix
B1 Collider - Karenn Remix
B2 Collider - Objekt Remix