Jon Hopkins 'RITUAL' in spatial audio - listening sessions in the dark @ Lobe Studio, 713 E Hastings St, Vancouver - 26, 27, 28 & 30 August 2024

This is a (seated / laying down) album listening session in the dark, not a live performance of any kind. You will hear the spatial audio mixes of these tracks played on an immersive sound system.

The kinetic counterpart to Jon’s most recent release, the celebrated innerspace odyssey 'Music For Psychedelic Therapy', the new work is a single track, 41-minute ceremonial epic, built from cavernous subs, hypnotic drumming and transcendent melodic interplay. Tense, immersive and ultimately triumphant, it is a culmination of themes explored throughout his 22-year career.
 
“I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m composing. I don’t know where it’s coming from, or where it’s going. I just know when it’s finished,” says Jon. “What is clear is that this one had the structure of a Ritual. I know what that Ritual is for me, but it will be something different for you. All I know is it felt like a tool, even a machine, for opening portals within your inner world, for unlocking things that are hidden and buried. It doesn’t feel like an album, therefore, more a process to go through, something that works on you.”
 
Lovingly constructed from many hundreds of constituent parts from a cast of trusted collaborators, Jon describes his role as akin to “building a temple”, with every brick and detail carefully fashioned and coloured in service to the whole.

Founded in Vancouver, in 2020, Lobe is the first dedicated spatial sound studio in North America to work with a permanently integrated 4DSOUND system.

An array of speakers across the ceiling and under the floor, in conjunction with custom-designed vibroacoustic floor panels, suspend the listener in an immersive and haptic listening experience. 4DSOUND technology allows sound to ebb and flow, forming sonic environments holographically and with imperceivable sources.

Strathcona Spatial Sound Society, the non-profit which operates Lobe, focuses on research, projects, and practices related to immersive listening and the health of listeners in relation with their environment. Lobe is located on the traditional lands of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Please do not talk or sing at our events or use your phone.

You do not need to print this order confirmation out. Your name will be on our guestlist on the night. Make sure you know which session time you have booked for. Tickets are not refundable.

Album Duration: 45 minutes

Venue address: Lobe, 713 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1R3, Canada