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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you have time on your hands and no particular place to go then
you might do a lot worse than spend a little time in the company of
Tim Hecker and his new album 'Dropped Pianos' whose title belies its
essentially gentle nature. Mr Hecker is a Canadian composer of electronic
music and this collection of nine pieces, each with the prefix 'Sketch',
conjures conjures dream-vistas from the simplest thematic elements but
which carry within them a wide range of textural and emotional variation.
The piano is the main instrument we hear but Mr Hecker's machines transform,
manipulate and enhance the tentative and elusive melodic material into richly
suggestive outlines which impel us to colour-in the spaces, transforming each
'Sketch' into a full-blown landscape. Although not intentionally programmatic
in nature it is almost impossible to listen to this beautiful music without
our minds-eye being alert to the accompanying images rising out of our psyche's
shadowy depths. It is inevitable that what percolates to the surface will be
different for each of us. Our host is much more of a facillitator than a director.
Sometimes the magical ambience is disturbed by darker forces (as in the crackling
bass undertow of 'Sketch 9') but the dominant mood of the album is one of calm,
peaceful oblivion. The Satie-like 'Sketch 7', in particular, is simply sublime.
Highly Recommended.
you might do a lot worse than spend a little time in the company of
Tim Hecker and his new album 'Dropped Pianos' whose title belies its
essentially gentle nature. Mr Hecker is a Canadian composer of electronic
music and this collection of nine pieces, each with the prefix 'Sketch',
conjures conjures dream-vistas from the simplest thematic elements but
which carry within them a wide range of textural and emotional variation.
The piano is the main instrument we hear but Mr Hecker's machines transform,
manipulate and enhance the tentative and elusive melodic material into richly
suggestive outlines which impel us to colour-in the spaces, transforming each
'Sketch' into a full-blown landscape. Although not intentionally programmatic
in nature it is almost impossible to listen to this beautiful music without
our minds-eye being alert to the accompanying images rising out of our psyche's
shadowy depths. It is inevitable that what percolates to the surface will be
different for each of us. Our host is much more of a facillitator than a director.
Sometimes the magical ambience is disturbed by darker forces (as in the crackling
bass undertow of 'Sketch 9') but the dominant mood of the album is one of calm,
peaceful oblivion. The Satie-like 'Sketch 7', in particular, is simply sublime.
Highly Recommended.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
The prequel
16 Oct 2011
Format:Vinyl|Amazon Verified Purchase
Following right behind Ravedeath 1972 released just a few months ago, Tim Hecker now lovingly gives us Dropped Pianos. This EP is essentially a prequel, forming a bedrock from which Ravedeath 1972's grandiosity springs forth by taking a hard look at the cutting room floor. For those who found themselves smitten by the somber mood trailing throughout the last half of Ravedeath, Dropped Pianos will give and give again gratuitously to that effect.
Even those not completely turned on by Hecker's music may find something to love here as the EP is a far enough departure from the man's work thus far to warrant comparisons to classical composers. Sticking mostly to just one instrument with the synthesizers being almost totally absent, the EP's nine untitled "sketches" tow a fine line between dignity and despair. At times there seems to be tension building into a supposed crescendo that often falls through without proper closure. This is usually due to a sudden track break since, in true outtake fashion, nearly all the pieces are isolated from one another lest the listener be tempted to believe these songs are anything more than snippets that have already been implemented into something greater.
As mentioned earlier, Dropped Pianos may be hot off the press but it's no follow-up - proceeding thoughtfully in the wake of a masterpiece often takes time and lots of it. However after hearing this EP listeners would do well to cue up Ravedeath 1972 immediately afterward because once the bleached out bass of opening track "The Piano Drop" hits, it's going to happen harder than ever before bearing with it some insight into just how far the piano has fallen as well as the state of mind occupied by the perpetrator.
Even those not completely turned on by Hecker's music may find something to love here as the EP is a far enough departure from the man's work thus far to warrant comparisons to classical composers. Sticking mostly to just one instrument with the synthesizers being almost totally absent, the EP's nine untitled "sketches" tow a fine line between dignity and despair. At times there seems to be tension building into a supposed crescendo that often falls through without proper closure. This is usually due to a sudden track break since, in true outtake fashion, nearly all the pieces are isolated from one another lest the listener be tempted to believe these songs are anything more than snippets that have already been implemented into something greater.
As mentioned earlier, Dropped Pianos may be hot off the press but it's no follow-up - proceeding thoughtfully in the wake of a masterpiece often takes time and lots of it. However after hearing this EP listeners would do well to cue up Ravedeath 1972 immediately afterward because once the bleached out bass of opening track "The Piano Drop" hits, it's going to happen harder than ever before bearing with it some insight into just how far the piano has fallen as well as the state of mind occupied by the perpetrator.
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