Post by Zapp Brannigan on Mar 18, 2011 0:04:03 GMT -5
www.lifessweetbreath.com/reviews/albums/44-ravedeath-1972.html
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
[Kranky, 2011]
86%
While not as recognizable on the world stage as his other Montreal counterparts, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Arcade Fire, Tim Hecker still encapsulates the dark and morose sound that the former bands are famous for. With the use of various keyboard instruments like the pipe organ, piano, and synthesizer, Hecker in Ravedeath, 1972 creates a noisy and ambient, yet peaceful and droning, sound of what could be the sounds of the dark and dreary streets of Montreal in the beginning of a fall night.
Ravedeath, 1972 was mostly inspired by what Hecker describes as "digital garbage". Hecker was drawn to the sounds of mountains of CDs and DVDs being crushed and destroyed by bulldozers in a video from Kazakhstan. The sounds on the new album do give the feel of regular electronic compositions that have been stretched, beaten, shaken, fragmented and everything in between. The opening piece, "The Piano Drop," showcases the simple use of a few synthesizer notes transformed into a jagged, droning and frenetic sound that grabs the listener right off the bat.
The next piece, which is the three part composition, "In The Fog", highlights Hecker's use of a church organ and piano in creating a 16-minute epic that would fill an abandoned and condemned church. The pipe organ drones sway back and forth in-between the sparse piano playing, complementing the sound of Hecker's feedback from the guitar.
The next track, "No Drums" starts off with the sound of an old car humming in the streets. Sounds that sound very reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's album F♯ A♯ ∞. "No Drums" is one of the few purely ambient tracks on the album, letting this listener rest their ears for just a moment or two.
The two-part, ten-minute composition, "Hatred of Music," is a building drone that moves towards a climax that never does come, and as gradually as it was built up, it quiets down to a soft ambient/drone interspersed with more organ drones and guitar feedback that takes up the rest of the composition.
The remaining 17 minutes of the album comprise of the track, "Studio Suicide," and the three-part composition, "In The Air". All four compositions give the album a very fluid and cohesive ending with sparse piano playing with a slow and ominous ambient drone in the foreground. And as quickly and loudly Ravedeath, 1972 started, it slowly and quietly ends, allowing the listener to slowly and quietly drift into sleep and dream.
-Jordan Leman, March 18, 2011
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
[Kranky, 2011]
86%
While not as recognizable on the world stage as his other Montreal counterparts, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Arcade Fire, Tim Hecker still encapsulates the dark and morose sound that the former bands are famous for. With the use of various keyboard instruments like the pipe organ, piano, and synthesizer, Hecker in Ravedeath, 1972 creates a noisy and ambient, yet peaceful and droning, sound of what could be the sounds of the dark and dreary streets of Montreal in the beginning of a fall night.
Ravedeath, 1972 was mostly inspired by what Hecker describes as "digital garbage". Hecker was drawn to the sounds of mountains of CDs and DVDs being crushed and destroyed by bulldozers in a video from Kazakhstan. The sounds on the new album do give the feel of regular electronic compositions that have been stretched, beaten, shaken, fragmented and everything in between. The opening piece, "The Piano Drop," showcases the simple use of a few synthesizer notes transformed into a jagged, droning and frenetic sound that grabs the listener right off the bat.
The next piece, which is the three part composition, "In The Fog", highlights Hecker's use of a church organ and piano in creating a 16-minute epic that would fill an abandoned and condemned church. The pipe organ drones sway back and forth in-between the sparse piano playing, complementing the sound of Hecker's feedback from the guitar.
The next track, "No Drums" starts off with the sound of an old car humming in the streets. Sounds that sound very reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's album F♯ A♯ ∞. "No Drums" is one of the few purely ambient tracks on the album, letting this listener rest their ears for just a moment or two.
The two-part, ten-minute composition, "Hatred of Music," is a building drone that moves towards a climax that never does come, and as gradually as it was built up, it quiets down to a soft ambient/drone interspersed with more organ drones and guitar feedback that takes up the rest of the composition.
The remaining 17 minutes of the album comprise of the track, "Studio Suicide," and the three-part composition, "In The Air". All four compositions give the album a very fluid and cohesive ending with sparse piano playing with a slow and ominous ambient drone in the foreground. And as quickly and loudly Ravedeath, 1972 started, it slowly and quietly ends, allowing the listener to slowly and quietly drift into sleep and dream.
-Jordan Leman, March 18, 2011