Tim Hecker @ Stereo
Björk intermission music is gradually silenced by what sounds like a long electric guitar note. With only accidental light remaining, the aural takes absolute priority and sound is given presence. The set by Tim Hecker that follows can be separated into around eight sections, roughly. Without conventional rhythm or recognisable melody, the structure and relationship between the sounds is less prescriptive.
Between each of the identifiable movements is a slackening, though not outright separation. Its parts are distinct from one another, though certain elements recur throughout the set. Huge and dragging, the entire arrangement might resolve into a single high pitch that begins to pulse into something like a beat, provisional until remembering its own arrhythmia.
The sounds are substantial and distinct enough in their long suspension and their encounters with one another are drawn out. There is thoughtful composition, though feeling more like the relations of elements in a still image than the variety of a musical composition. It's generous in the way that the slow speed of the change in the set is paced to allow a full and luxurious appreciation of each specific moment.
Yet while this slow pace might make it easier to perceive what's happenig at any time, the slow movements and changes make it difficult to trace the genealogy of a specific sound as it goes through several developments. What begins as clear, single held note may then bend into new elbows and ankles to become almost rhythmic or melodic. Similarly frustrating any dully simple experience, the immersive texture of the whole performance frustrates an easy perception of the arrangement as a whole. Each part acts almost a complete distraction from what came before, as a dominating sensory experience. No surprise the house lights come too harsh before the audience exits, hushed.
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