Jul 11 2008
Tim Hecker - Atlas
- Artist: Tim Hecker
- Album: Atlas
- Label: Audraglint
- Release: 2007
- Links: Official Site
Electronic artist Tim Hecker has been around since 1996, but he didn’t begin to make a serious impact on the scene until 2001 when he began issuing formal releases under his own name. In 2006, Hecker released his Kranky Records debut Harmony In Ultraviolet, an album that may be his finest to date. Hecker has kept busy in 2007 by issuing a couple stopgap releases. His excellent 2003 effort, Radio Amor, was also reissued this year by Alien 8 after falling out of print. One of those stopgap releases is Atlas, a limited vinyl EP that contains two tracks (”Atlas One,” “Atlas Two”) that each eclipse the ten minute mark. Much like Norberg (also recommended), another 2007 EP by Hecker, Atlas comes off as a glorious counterpart to Harmony In Ultraviolet.
As I slide the needle onto my copy of Atlas, which was released by Audraglint Records in Portland, I am greeted by several seconds of silence. 
The record then begins abruptly, as if I have walked into a Hecker live performance while he was right in the middle of a song. To the uninitiated, Hecker’s music is at first abrasive and impenetrable. In fact, I didn’t fully warm up to his work until the latter part this year. However, once you manage to find your way into Hecker’s cocoon of sound, the environment that you will encounter contains some of the most delicate chaos you’ll ever have the pleasure of hearing.
“Atlas Two” is just as much of a gem as its predecessor on side one. Sheets of feedback blend in and out of the fold while Hecker stirs up another genius layer of noise. I am surprised that more critics don’t mention the influence that the textures of My Bloody Valentine have clearly had on Hecker. Most reviewers trot out bland comparisons to modern electronic artists when discussing his work, when in fact, Hecker dwarfs most of them. The list of artists in the electronic field making music as challenging as Hecker is extremely narrow. Stars Of The Lid and (at times) Eluvium are the only names that come to mind. Hecker is reportedly working on a full length follow-up to Harmony, but until then, Atlas is a more than sufficient appetizer.
(12/31/07)