Tim Hecker is not nearly as celebrated as he ought to be, though this notion presents quite a dilemma. His influence stretches far and wide – you hear him in everything from ambient-minded Boards of Canada and Fennesz to pop-oriented M83 (before they sucked it) and Manitoba, to artists that blend the two extremes like Broadcast and Pram. Hecker’s vision and innovation is remarkable, but many of his interpreters have, in some ways, released superior material to him. It parallels the auto industry in a sense – Hecker is the GM to BoC’s Toyota, ya know? That’s certainly a bummer. To this end, Hecker may have realized that some of his more ambient wandering might benefit from a little pruning. Thus, An Imaginary Country.
Out on Kranky on March 10, An Imaginary Country is one of Hecker’s more concise works. However, the sound doesn’t deviate too much – Panopticon-sized swells of warm electronic architecture and lots of spacious, slow-burning textures. “Utropics” ropes in a rather fluid, shoegazey sound a la the Goslings (though less evil). “Currents of Electrostasy” features the aquatic, pinging electronic static hums with an Atomic Age twist that make Ghost Box releases fascinating to listen to. “The Inner Shore” hones in on the subtle melodic beauty that made Hecker’s previous project Jetone so remarkable to the IDM crowd (minus the rhythm, of course). However, very little sticks out beyond these aforementioned movements.
Though Hecker’s recordings are always a mysterious embryonic journey, I think he’s overdue to take back his tradmark sound and expand it into new sonic territories. There’s no doubt how exciting it would be. But An Imaginary Country is all old-hat, save for a slight but possibly insincere sense of urgency. Boreds of Canada indeed.
Fagen-Becker Rating for Quality:
MP3 :::
Tim Hecker – Utropics
Tim Hecker – Currents of Electrostasy
