Anoyo (studio album) by Tim Hecker

Atmospheric and very cinematic. Hard to listen to in places but overall a good record

For twenty years now, the Canadian Tim Hecker has been interacting with sound material through his albums, starting mostly with a concept, an image. After his very successful album "Konoyo", Tim Hecker shows here a clearer and less tortured facet. The album "Anoyo" having been recorded during the same Japanese sessions as "Konoyo", it relies on the same bases as the latter. We are here again dealing with the reinterpretation of a traditional Japanese style, the gagaku, combined with drone and ambient experiments by Tim Hecker. The two records echo each other. What's really good about "Konoyo" and "Anoyo" is that you can listen to them as a whole, without stopping, and it's really beautiful. Where other ambient artists explore classical music, Tim Hecker highlights traditional music, less known, but just as lyrical and fascinating.

7/10

Best track: "That world"

From Anti 05/11/2019 04:10

This album sounds so mind-bending. An improvement from Konoyo, imo. I can't even explain how it's better because it's unquestionably a companion album. Maybe a more interesting sequencing in the track listing? The album starts with pretty concrete electroacoustic songs in the first half, but as you progress into the second half shit the metaphysics of the 3rd dimension starts to bend and twist and all of a sudden you have ascended into a higher-tiered dimension. Which one, idk. But I'm glad Tim Hecker still has the capability to make otherworldly, no, other-dimensionally engaging albums.

Definitely going to revisit Konoyo. Maybe I'll appreciate it more after listening to this.