RAVEDEATH, 1972

Tim Hecker's Ravedeath, 1972 is one of the coolest releases this year in terms of originality and quality of the music.

It contains some of the most beautiful ambiance ever recorded (a feat which Mr. Hecker flirted with several years earlier with Harmony In Ultraviolet but didn't quite accomplish) and this fact strikes the listener (or at least me, personally) from the first listen.

It's not rare for an ambient album to really impress me but this one has a certain quality lurking deep within the depths of it's wall of sound that separates it from other albums, a certain voluminous kind of quality that gives the illusion that the ambiance is deeper than our realm of thought.

For that aspect of the music alone, this album is enjoyable for even the most casual listener. Many non-ambient fans will find something in it they had not heard in ones they had tried previously and it may lead to renewed interest in the music. I, certainly, go into an ambient binge every single time I put this album on.

Basically, what the listener gets here is interesting music. Interesting music that gives the listener an inquisitive state of mind that does not come with other records. Although there have been much better ambient records, this one definitely remains unique.

7/10

"Ravedeath,1972" is a perfect soundtrack to dystopia.

Tim Hecker is an ambient musician that has been around for while, and I just have never heard of him, until "Ravedeath,1972" came out.

Basically Hecker's music is a mix between ambient, drone, and even a little bit of noise music, although these genre aren't really mixed up together like they were forming a sort of pie, in fact these moments are carefully alternated. Mostly, the album is made of atmospheric synth sounds, but piano and organ are very frequent as well, especially in the multi part songs. The musician certainly owns a lot to electronic musicians like Brian Eno, Klaus Schulze, and many others.

The album has a very impressive structure: twelve songs, all of them have a perfect flow from one another, creating one epic fifty minute piece of music, which seems to be divided by twelve just for comfort. The concept of the album is very dark, because of the post-apocalyptic tones the songs have. There are some tracks here divided into 2 (Hatred Of Music), or even 3 parts (In The Fog, In The Air), but honestly I find that many parts of these movements can be boring and not really that evocative as they wanted to be. But the single songs, like the ethereal "The Piano Drop" or "No Drums", as well as some creepier, more tense parts like "Studio Suicide" and "Analog Paralysis, 1978".

An album that was praised by many during this year, and I can definitely see why. But I can't help having a few doubts about it, even though it's still a very enjoyable listen all the way through.

I suppose, you could be, as a "new-comer", be foretold some basics. You, if you have the disposition, are going to be sent to a distant and so close devastated planet. Maybe called "earth" (if that is your choice)... You are going to be guided into a space where even sound is distorted by the ruined forces of human machinery and the continous decline of this place aural nature. BUT also my friend, you will witness the ephemeral beauties, all this ravage has left.... As yellow flowers buried under the snow white ashes of fire. Also, feel prepared for the inclement conditions of the sonic weather. Which normally are heavy-thundering rains of "white noise" storms. Ahh!..... but the beauty you will testify, will bring back your trust for humans and even maybe, love!...."Ravedeath" is a daring sonic effort.... a constructed/de-constructed battle of elements; which are as disturbing as being caught in a storm naked, in a "post-man/nature" environment... But the immortal frailties of human creations and conceptions, left over.. are still worth the visit!!! *****5 "daring way-ahead, un-pretentious, DARK, musical/non-musical, electronic/acoustic, masterpiece" PA stars! ............................You have been forewarned.

A slow, ambient drone piece which, as you might expect from the title, feels infused with the spirit of ambient pioneers of the early 1970s. In particular, after the music fades in like a transmission received from a weakly-broadcasting radio station, the album seems to point towards the same pure, deep realms of space that Tangerine Dream first mapped on Zeit, with a very similar sense of faint warmth to it. As is often the case with music in this mode, the distinctions between tracks are more theoretical than actual, sudden transitions not really being the name of the game within this ambient landscape.

Canadian Tim Hecker is another long-time techno and electronica composer and performer who has been rather prolific with eight album releases and nine EPs over the past 16 years. Ravedeath 1972 is interesting for the the way Tim and engineer-and-sometimes-pianist Ben Frost have processed the sounds taken from an Icelandic church organ. No song stands out as amazing or incredible (and quite a few are emotionally stagnant and forgettable) but the sound engineering is memorable.

Five star songs: 10. "In the Air (parts I, II, & III)" (12:21) (10/10); 5. "No Drums" (3:24) (9/10); 6. "Hatred of Music I" (6:13) (9/10); 7. "Hatred of Music II" (4:22) (9/10); 8. "Analog Paralysis, 1978" (3:52) (9/10), and; 9. "Studio Suicide, 1980" (3:25) (9/10).

Four star songs: 1. "The Piano Drop" (2:58) (8/10); 2. "In the Fog I" (4:52) (8/10); 3. "In the Fog II" (6:01) (8/10), and; 4. "In the Fog III" (5:01) (8/10).

A solid four stars; a very good album well worth recommending to others.