Streets Like Amen

Tim Hecker “Virginal I”

Tim Hecker’s new record steps away from the rotting, melting treated sounds of his most recent works in favor of exceptionally eerie live instrumentation. “Virginal I” reminds me a lot of Steve Reich – the piano performance seems to collapses over itself as parts fall out of phase, and synthesizers overtake the foreground of the piece. It’s disorienting, but also quite beautiful.

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The Range “Loftmane”

The Range remind me of a lot of late ’90s IDM – clearly indebted to dance music and hip-hop, but built to rework elements of that music for solitary, introverted experiences. “Loftmane” feels particularly insular: It’s like getting lost in some mental groove, and everything feels safe and warm. It has the pensive quality of the slower tracks on DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing…, but it’s all filtered through the more abstracted electronic glitches of, say, Autechre or Aphex Twin.

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