Virgins, by Tim Hecker

Virgins

by Tim Hecker

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alicedreadfuls Tim Hecker is one of those once-in-a-blue-moon musicians that rarely fails at intriguing me with his sound style. Virgins is no exception, being a cathartic, yet hellish, experience that bends what it means to be a drone/ambient/noise record, but yet it's nowhere near as avantgarde as it could be. It's a strange beast that gets some taking use to, but is a great pal worthwhile in the end! Favorite track: Black Refraction.

Kyotofu The substance of this album is incomparable. The grain, the texture, the envelope and the volume of it all are crushingly unique. It explores some of the most intriguing, transcendental, soul-bending and overall unforgettable parts of musical dimensions you could only ever imagine of discovering. This was a revelation and every time i relive that album, it stays as indescribably monumental as it was when i first heard it.

-- my Album of the year 2013. Favorite track: Radiance.

m0zrat it's tim's world Favorite track: Live Room.

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1.	Prism 02:53	buy track
2.	Virginal I 06:16	buy track
3.	Radiance 03:22	buy track
4.	Live Room 07:01	buy track
5.	Live Room Out 02:37	buy track
6.	Virginal II 05:23	buy track
7.	Black Refraction 03:33	buy track
8.	Incense at Abu Ghraib 01:53	buy track
9.	Amps, Drugs, Harmonium 03:03	buy track
10.	Stimata I 02:18	buy track
11.	Stigmata II 03:56	buy track
12.	Stab Variation 06:32	buy track

about

Virgins was recorded during three periods in 2012, mostly in Reykjavik, Montreal and Seattle, using ensembles in live performance. The sound palette of this work is wider, almost 'percussive' and tighter sounding than previous works. While this album remains committed to a painterly form of musical abstraction, it is also a record of restrained composition recorded live primarily in intimate studio rooms. This record employs woodwinds, piano and synthesizers towards an effort at doing what digital music does not do naturally—making music that is out of time, out of tune and out of phase.

This follow-up to his Juno-awarded Ravedeath, 1972 album exchanges gristled distortion and cavernous sound in favour of a close, airy, more defined palette. At times it points to the theological aspirations of early minimalist music. But it is not 'fake church music' for a secular age, rather something like an attempt at the sound of frankincense in slow-motion, or of a pulsing, flickering fluorescence in the grotto. Some pieces go off the rails before forming into anything, others eschew crescendo compositional structures or bombastic density while going sideways instead.

It points to the ongoing development of Hecker's work. It suggests illusory memories of drug- hazed jams or communal music performance that may have never been performed or been heard. These are mp3s that give confusing accounts either of sound's glowing physicality or of its prismatic evasiveness. It is an offering of music into the void, a gift of digital filler between distractions. Yet hopefully it also stands as a document of the enduring faith in the narcotic, enigmatic function of music as long-form expression.

credits

released October 14, 2013

Mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson and Tim Hecker. Additional assistance by Randall Dunn and Ben Frost. Mastered by Mandy Parnell at Black Saloon Studios in London, UK.

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about

Tim Hecker Los Angeles, Chile

Few in the field of explorative ambient music have remained as questing and unclassifiable as Canadian composer Tim Hecker. Across his 15-year career he has moved through shades of reflective electronic noise, experiential sound design, and modern composition with a deft and distinguished touch. ... more

shows

Oct 13

TPO

Bologna, Italy
Oct 13

Teatro Kismet

Bari, Italy
Oct 25

Niebo

Warsaw, Poland
Nov 09

Public Records

New York (NYC), NY
Nov 10

Pioneer Works

Brooklyn, NY
Nov 11

The Ground Miami

Miami, FL
Nov 12

Terminal West

Atlanta, GA
Nov 14

Tulips

Fort Worth, TX
Nov 16

The Chapel

San Francisco, CA
Nov 18

Lodge Room

Highland Park, CA

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