Tonka Beano by Kev Hopper

Originally released in February 9, 2013 on the now defunct Linear Obsessional Records, Tonka Beano is an album of minimal electronic music from Kev Hopper (Stump, Ticklish, Prescott) created entirely with self-designed virtual machines.

"Tonka Beano" is a delightful exploration of unique sounds, textures and rhythms - a bubbling, effervescent concoction where each track seems to tell a story- sometimes light, sometimes dark, but all within the recognisable sonic spaces that Hopper has made his own.
(Richard Sanderson)
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REVIEWS-


KEV HOPPER – TONKA BEANO (CDR by Linear Obsessional Recordings)
A former member of Stump and Ticklish, this Kev Hopper, who has new album on Richard Sanderson’s Linear Obsessional Recordings – another ex-member of Ticklish. These days he has a trio with Rhordri Marsen and Frank Byng under the name of Prescott. In his solo work he uses a lot of samplers and sampling sounds, here on ‘Tonka Beano’ restricted to using sounds from the virtual modular synthesizer Reaktor. Hopper created a great album, with a lot of different angles to his electronic sounds. It morphes into abstract soundscapes, but as easily it can be a piece of crazed dance music, such as in ‘Marzipanned’ or ‘Funny Little Thing 2′, or something along the lines of serious sixties avant-garde electronics. Playful music at work here, hopping all over the place but oddly enough it’s still a very strong album, with lots of interests, I should think. Pleasant and funny, but at the same time also serious and well crafted. This is one of those releases that completely takes you by surprise and you wonder: why just a CDR, why not a great LP release? And also: does the rest of his work sound any similar? All valid questions raised after this excellent release.
-Frabs De Waard "Vital"


Older readers may be thinking ‘Kev Hopper? Surely not the eccentric bass-player of wonky Peel favourites Stump?’ The answer is, yep, the very same. I’ve not been keeping tabs on Mr Hopper at all – generally with bands I listened to on the John Peel show, I assume they’ve long since gone into teaching – but it turns out he’s kept himself busy, collaborating with a variety of musicians, and forming the occasional experimental combo. Recently he’s been making music with Reaktor software again, and Tonka Beano collects together some of his results. Hopper’s bass playing, as I remember, was taut and loose at the same time, anchoring Stump’s tracks yet blessed with a flexibility and playfulness – a trait that continues in his electronic music making. So there’s a rigidity in the rhythms here but the music and percussion on top is pretty fluid which keeps things fresh. It doesn’t always work – “Indigestion 2012” samples bodily functions in a manner that’s still too recognisable to be pleasant listening – but on the whole, particularly when the percussion kicks in, Tonka Beano is a delight.
-JB "A Closer Listen"

Over the years I've been involved in three bands: Stump in the 80's, Ticklish in the late 90's and 2000's and Prescott since 2012.

In addition I have made over a dozen solo records; most of them available here.