Search - Tim Hecker :: Imaginary Country

For a gently glittering snowglobe, wherever I may find you..

Brandon Whitfeld | nyc | 03/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lush, yawning expansiveness has been a sort of sonic trademark of Hecker's. I was a fan of the dense dreaminess conjured up in his last, "Harmonies in Ultraviolet" and I think Hecker plays on the same themes here, on this meticulous follow-up, while slowly pushing himself slightly further down the slope. Fitting analogy there too, I think, cause icy meridians, quiet purple snowfalls, dark wintry nights, and colossal crunching glaciers are some of the unintended imagery on the record. Hecker creates soundscapes that somehow sound both quiet and cold. The music is meditative, melodic, lonely, surprisingly deep, and occasionally winsome. As a whole, the record is astoundingly affecting.



I think the opening track "100 Years Ago" is unabashedly cloying, and bookended by the honking finale "200 Years Ago" an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise pristine creation. But as the album gently buzzes and rollicks into its stunner climax tracks--"Paragon Point" to "Her Black Horizon" to "Currents of Electrostasy"--one is truly transported. Eyes close, breath goes shallow, and one can only listen and feel.



Electronic music in the current moment still seems to me to be a liquid, difficult genre to pinpoint, understand, and master. There are deft and different approaches: from the Icelandic mumblings of Mum to the static retro shoegaze of M83 to the underground and scratchy groove of high end dubstep acts like Burial. But Hecker seems to me a master of his game; he's the only one still standing in the gauzy shadows without a brand, without a gimmick. He's content to turn the knobs, and paint a picture. You're with him all the way. And in that there is innocence, and in that as well, at times, transcendence."

Gargantuan

Emlyn Addison | Providence, RI | 07/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sober and deliberate, Hecker's expansive, diffusive textures achieve a gorgeously dense "wall of sound" effect that devotees of Klaus Schulze will recognize at once.



Hecker's drones produce a sense of perpetual harmonic instability within a musical environment that is both gargantuan and weightless. Highly evocative and impressive in its depth; a funeral pyre for an ancient sound.



Followers of Marsen Jules, William Basinski and Robert Henke take note."

Treking through your imaginary country

Boka | 03/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I fell in love of Tim Heckers Harmony in Ultraviolet. It was something I have been looking for yet I didn't even know I was looking for until I heard it. when I bought an imaginary country I assumed it was going to be the same. And it is but also so much more. It took a couple of listens but yeah it's there. Something more and familure. Borderlands is my favorite. Pure bliss. I wish I had the vocabulary to explain how much I love that song. If you liked Harmony in Ultraviolet then buy this album. You won't regret it. Highly recommend to ambiant music fan."