Album Review: Tim Hecker - Virgins

Tim Hecker
Virgins
Rating: Woof Daddy

Canadian ambient/drone artist Tim Hecker's 2011 release Ravedeath, 1972 was a game changer for me. I had listened to a lot of minimalist ambient and drone work before but never felt any sort of connection with the music. It was pretty at times, annoying at others, but always kept me at arms length. Tim Hecker, on the other hand, provided such a visceral impact with his compositions, breathing life and fire into each piece. The intensity of some of his work on Ravedeath, 1972 was so palpable it was almost emotionally overwhelming. To me, that seminal record was his masterpiece, and I hesitated to even begin listening to his latest work Virgins, as I feared any loss in quality might somehow lessen the impact of Ravedeath, 1972. It appears I needn't have worried as, if anything, that work spawned a more focused and energized artist, with Virgins offering up some of his most beautiful and haunting work. While it lacks the utter shock of the new that Ravedeath, 1972 provided, Virgins is a more streamlined affair, with many of the tracks hovering around the 3-4 minute mark, and only a few tracks going over 5 minutes. It is a dense and heady work though, yet never feels oppressive or too overly challenging. How Hecker is able to keep all these multiple layers of sound in the air without seeming jumbled is nothing short of amazing.

While the main focus on Ravedeath was piano and organ drones, Virgins opens Hecker's palate up somewhat, incorporating more acoustic instruments and woodwinds, which add a more human element to what once could be considered frosty and abstract. Hecker also involved a more live setup this go around rather than creating and manipulating his drones on computers after the fact. This process makes the pieces feel more structural and whole; there is meat on the bones now. Opener "Prism" immediately makes this known, with its cascade of synthesizers and what sounds like a church bell imploding and exploding at the same time. It has been noted in many reviews where pieces like his almost have a horror movie soundtrack style quality to them, and in case of tracks like "Prism" I would say they are not too far off the mark.



There is bold strength at play throughout the bulk of the record, with Hecker showing a firm hand in the direction and purpose of these pieces. "Virginal" is a masterstroke of build and release, with the forceful and almost harsh piano work leavened with a rush of woodwinds and horns.



"Live Room" adds background noise and found percussion to haunting effect in this Exorcist-style exploration, with dense drones of keyboards emerging from the waters.



"Stigmata I" trades blasts of competing drones back and forth in an almost endless fight to the death, and retreats back into almost nothingness on its companion piece "Stigmata II," only to lead to the intense closing salvo of "Stab Variation" where these drones take on the approximation of a sonic tidal wave.



Which is not to say that all of Virgins is some cacophonous dirge of synthetic drones, while there are some harsher, more brutal moments on this record, there are infinitely more moments of pure beauty here. "Black Refraction" is so gorgeous it almost makes me believe in the divine.



"Live Room Out" takes the basis of its predecessor and turns it on its head, removing the spectral haunting, replacing it with wandering drones of woodwinds that ache with deep meaning and beauty.



It is almost impossible to truly explain how moving and emotional this record is without someone actually listening to it and experiencing it for themselves firsthand. Virgins shows Tim Hecker at the height of his powers, being able to evoke so many moods and feelings with mere details. His work here is so concrete and textural you cam almost feel it with your bare hands. While it will likely not topple my admiration for Ravedeath, 1972, Virgins definitely holds its own against that masterpiece, and will likely figure very high in my best of list for 2013. My mandate to all my readers is to get this record as quickly as you can. It is that important.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.