Although the title might initially convey innocence, Virgins conceptually hovers around the seductive nature of evil that coexists with the purity of goodness. Hecker achieves this careful duality by pairing disparate elements, such as a penetrating drone interrupting a delicate set of piano chords.
As much as a ton of work goes into his records, both sonically and conceptually, it never stops Tim Hecker records from being tremendously exciting and enjoyable, and from feeling like Hecker is enjoying himself. That’s not to say Virgins isn’t a serious, complex, often challenging work; it’s all of those things.
Virgins highlights the acute focus Tim Hecker brings to his work, both though the carefully constructed textural waves that keep the listener continually guessing what is to come as well as through the rich and intimate live recording that keeps the listener engrossed throughout.
It convulses with a sense of limitless possibility; it rolls up everything Hecker has done before this and, as is his wont, pulverizes it into a fine mash. What's new is the thing he molds from the dampened ashes.
In the end, Virgins only adds to the artist's growing legacy; it's another triumph for Hecker that once again strikes a resounding chord that not many ambient records can.
When before we had anonymous landscapes and lonely rides through unknown dystopias, we now have an identity, purpose and meaning to the bleak and emotional sounds, and it's really quite astonishing.
Hecker’s music has always been eerie, but never this forceful. Some sections of Virgins feel like soundtracks for horror-movie climaxes when the camera fixes on a sickening image and refuses to turn away, fascinated and trapped at the same time.
That Hecker manages to layer such full, independent sounds over and across each other without ever losing the emotional heart of what he's building is evidence of his increasingly unique understanding of texture and mood.
An engaging, rewarding whole ... speaks volumes about the breadth of both of his imagination and compositional agility.
Virgins is not a particularly pleasant listening experience, but it is undeniably emotionally powerful, and a worthy addition to his impressively unique catalogue.
Virgins is concise, cogent and considerably less clouded in hypnotic fuzz than Hecker’s previous efforts, as if the Canadian has finally made friends with the edit function.
The layers of noise, which at first may seem intimidating, are so harmonically rich they immerse the listener as the sounds interact creating new and unexpectedly mellifluous sounds.
This volatility is Virgins’ most intriguing feature; where on previous albums you would expect Hecker’s songs to soar, now they teem with internal energy. The result, unexpectedly, is his most ambitious record yet.
Throughout Virgins, Hecker organizes things just a little bit off, pokes at it just enough to be unsettling, and then pushes things away just when they start to make sense. Music has so clearly affected him, and now he’s making sure it’s doing the same for you.
‘Virgins’ is Hecker in less-noisy-than-usual mode, and the album’s opening and closing tracks – ‘Prism’ and ‘Stab Variation’ – sound so out-of-body and celestial it’s like a trip to church after four days without sleep.
Hecker's sound signature may still be instantly recognizable, but there is no denying that he has moved significantly farther down the path toward something else with Virgins.
Another essential release then, but a step towards theory-over-content that Hecker never really needed.
This is an intense, unsettling work from the Canadian musician and if it doesn't quite reach the heights of Ravedeath, it's mostly down to Virgins lacking the fluid album arc of the former and not because the tracks are any less powerful.
It marks a natural progression—a little more defined, a little less of a homogeneous whole, but still a sound world that’s unmistakably Hecker’s own.
What it does manage to do ... is function as an engagingly visceral work of provocation, on balance interspersing his trademark beauty with enough challenging moments to reward repeated visits, even if listening to it never exactly feels like a pleasurable experience, and maybe that’s enough.
Where By the Throat hinted at primal violence and tortured ghosts, Virgins lacks the sonic and emotional range to be evocative or transformative at all.
An ethereally bleak journey, that most definitely scares the bros.
I've been familiar with Tim Hecker's name for a long time, but this is my official introduction to his discography. I heard some sections on this album randomly a few months ago and I was really intrigued, but since then I sort of forgot about it. Until yesterday, when I experienced one of the most immersive ambient experiences I've ever had.
This is the 9th studio album from the legendary composer and multi-instrumentalist ... read more
A haunting masterpiece that drags you into a sharp void of dread!
Virgins is the 7th album from Canadian electronic musician Tim Hecker, released in October 2013. It was recorded throughout 2012 across Reykjavik, Montreal & Seattle.
Tim Hecker is easily one of my favourite ambient / electronic musicians ever at this point, delivering so much bleak emotional soundscapes without the use of any lyrics to convey such reactions from me. With his other works, I've either felt empty or on the ... read more
Much, much better than Harmony in Ultraviolet, more daring, more chill, just a truly beautiful and a bit bizarre experience, one of the most consistent ambient albums i have ever heard.
original score 92. this has grown on me. this music sounds like it is folding. it captures the feeling of playing an instrument alone late at night.
1 | Prism 2:53 | 92 |
2 | Virginal I 6:16 | 92 |
3 | Radiance 3:22 | 88 |
4 | Live Room 7:01 | 93 |
5 | Live Room Out 2:37 | 87 |
6 | Virginal II 5:23 | 92 |
7 | Black Refraction 3:33 | 92 |
8 | Incense at Abu Ghraib 1:53 | 85 |
9 | Amps, Drugs, Harmonium 3:03 | 89 |
10 | Stigmata I 2:18 | 87 |
11 | Stigmata II 3:56 | 86 |
12 | Stab Variation 6:30 | 93 |
#1 | / | The Needle Drop |
#3 | / | Bleep |
#5 | / | The Wire |
#6 | / | Cokemachineglow |
#6 | / | Spin |
#7 | / | XLR8R |
#11 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
#14 | / | PopMatters |
#15 | / | A.V. Club |
#22 | / | Crack Magazine |