PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
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Forced to truly zone out
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
Forced to truly zone out
Tim Hecker
St John's at Hackney, London
4/5
Listening to the electronic music of composer Tim Hecker live is a loud and heavy duty affair, a rare experience of being forced to truly zone out, and connect to electro-body sensations.
Playing works from the albums Love Streams, on 4D Records, and Virgins, Hecker constructs a digital torrent of original sonic music, moving between harsh and harmonic sounds, meted out with astonishing velocity with the effect of some sections of the crowd going to ground to take it in.
All too easily described as ambient music, Hecker’s compositions go far beyond chill out and he is up to something far more shocking, revealing and emotionally more real than digital dial gazing, using third part samples and thinking that alpha waves are enough to get off on.
Live, the tracks Stigmata I and II, and Virginal II present a synergy of totemic sound, layered around unpredictable and delicate nuances arranged to give just enough of a semblance of dance and a touch of emotional melody before returning to the drama of dark matter phonics.
Hecker’s synthesised compositions fuse resonant, solid state electronics, and for the tracks Obsidian Counterpoint, and Music of the Air the impact is of alluring, rippling clusters of beat patterns inside thicker layers of stellar base tones, electric pylon white noise, and crushing hurricane sounds.
Redefining minimalism and hitting the mark of unbounded intensities is what Hecker does, and by controlling sound dialogues of Violet Monumental and Black Phase there are vast and deep layers of a sheering and dramatic nature verses metal sensations.
The resonance of Hecker’s compositions captures and holds mind and body in a sublime, altered state, emotional pulls and twists, tonal conflicts, with deafening shards of music as metal twisting, turbulence and tranquillity.
Touring: Next St Luke’s, Glasgow 15 May, Academy 3, Manchester 16 May
Review by Michal Boncza
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