Tim Hecker
Harmony in Ultraviolet
Kranky

Seeing as I spend a large proportion of my waking hours sat in front of a computer, I'm taking an increasing interest in music that, (a) sounds decent on crappy PowerBook speakers seeing as I'm too broke to buy any good plug-in ones, or (b) I can listen to on headphones at a low level without it distracting me too much from editing. (I'm an editor, working from home. Yes, you can stop yawning now.)

After extensive testing, I can safely say that Tim Hecker's Harmony in Ultraviolet fails on both counts. Some of the frequencies are so intense, and the sound of the record is so dense and rich, that there's no way it's ever going to sound any good over my PowerBook speakers. They just sound like they're broken. Not good. I'm no audiophile, but when speakers do that popping thing it really sets my teeth on edge.

When listened to on headphones, HiU becomes totally immersive. Not distracting as such, it just makes me want to do nothing other than just lie there, taking it all in. There are definite shades of Fennesz, which is a very good thing, but Hecker has his own way with radio static, surges of drone, and keyboard textures that makes him quite the genius at this kind of thing, and I reckon this album sounds pretty bloody great all the way through, which I don't think I can quite say about Fennesz. Bit of a Keith Fullerton Whitman vibe somewhere in the mix too, which is also great.

I imagine that now, enamoured with this album, especially if I play it loud on my decent stereo when alone, I'll be tempted to go out and buy Tim Hecker's other albums, which will probably just be variations on this one, but not nearly so good.

Copyright © 2007 Tim Clarke