Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country

TIM HECKER - AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY (KRANKY)

One of the most consistent ambient artists of the decade, Canadian-born and based Tim Hecker has liaised with shoegazerrific label Kranky before, notably with 2006’s “Harmony in Ultraviolet” and this latest release promises more of the same. Hecker’s greatest work is 2003’s “Radio Amor”, and to be honest he has failed to hit those quite memorable heights since, but last year’s intriguing collaboration with Aidan Baker on Alien8 hinted at a new darker edge. This new album utilises Hecker’s preferred method of blanketing the listener with a steady sheen of tones and stretched out melodies, incorporating elements of noise and static, underpinned this time with some more prominent basslines.

What made Hecker’s most valued work so distinct was his ear for an excellent individual melody. Here, “An Imaginary Country” starts off with 3 tracks that fail to really engage beyond an initial flurry of sound and noise. “Sea of Pulses” hints at something otherwordly, but it feels like he’s treading water in the all-too-easy to hide world of ambient noise. After the short interlude of “Pond Life”, there’s brooding ambiguity in “Borderlands” and the mournful tones of “A stop at the Chord Cascades” promise something, but ultimately there’s little to latch onto and ride along with the journey Hecker is taking us on. It’s not until we’re over halfway through the album that his ability to conjure up something quite magical emerges, with the album’s best track “Paragon Point”, which lazily slithers through the speakers like something the Velvet Underground might have created on an offday, static and feedback emboldening the gorgeous melodies. “Currents of Electrostasy” is wonderfully psychedelic, a startling contrast to the sharpness of before with the sounds almost soft and dampened in their feel. He returns to a panorama of shoegazing ambience with “Where Shadows” and “200 years Ago” which brings the album to a close.

Ultimately I feel that Hecker, whilst no doubt a talent of some potential, has again failed to take his sound forward with this album. The narcotic pleasure of 2 of the tracks later on hint at a much more emotive aspect to his work that was a joy to listen to, but all too often he hides behind a wall of noise and easily conjured ambience that 6 years on from Radio Amor, shows little sign of mutation or growth. “An Imaginary Country” lacks a much needed warm touch.

Toby Frith