Review Summary: Tim Hecker's unmistakable textural and harmonic fingerprint shows clearly on this beat-oriented set of two Jetone 12'' records released in 2006 by Apnea Records. A bit more immediate than the other Jetone albums, it features prettier loops and more euphor
Tim Hecker's been inhabiting his own idiosyncratic sound world as a solo artist (using the Jetone moniker as well as his own name) for more than a decade now. It's a world of disembodied static hovering and moving in wisps across the aural field, a world of extreme but not sadistic distortion, a world where instruments, sounds, and songs bleed into each other but are never formless.
Most ambient musicians stand out only by virtue of the novelty of the textures they wrap their sounds in, not their harmonic creativity. For these generic producers, if you were to strip away whatever ear-tickling filters/delay/reverb swaddles the notes, you'd find some unexciting and dime-a-dozen musical tropes.
Hecker is one of the few ambient/sound artists that has his own harmonic fingerprint - his chords and melodies (such as they are) are unpredictable but still instantly recognizable as his own In short, he stands out in a pretty crowded field by being about more than just texture, by having his own harmonic language, and by a unique sense of aural space.
The album Sundown, released under the Jetone alias, is a set of two 12'' records, with four tracks each. The first record is all original and previously unreleased (as far as I know) Jetone material, and the second features remixes of all four original tracks. I'm not sure where these tracks came from; the album was released in 2006 on Apnea Records, but is distributed via Kompakt.
Sundown is a Jetone album, so you know from the get-go that it's going to be beat-based, unlike releases under his own name. Within the first few seconds of the first song, it's clear that this double 12'' is going to be on par with both of the two Jetone LPs.
I've always thought Jetone sounds like someone just dropped a fat 4/4 beat onto lost Tim Hecker songs, and this album confirms my feeling. The ambience that hangs on the 4/4 skeleton on Sundown strongly resembles the haze of Hecker's solo releases, but is tighter. Instead of stretching out for minutes without repeats, there it comes in shorter, prettier loops that conform to the pulse of the 4/4 kick.
It's also a bit catchier than Hecker's solo work as Hecker (and even the other Jetone releases)- more discernable chord progressions, some of them almost classic pop chord progressions, designed for emotional impact. All four songs are extremely solid and worthy additions to the catalog, but the first two tracks take the cake for me. Euphoric progressions, made opaque beneath the gauze of the usual Hecker sludge of radio static and crinkling filters, and rubbery bass work together to make these two tracks among the most immediately likable and listenable Hecker songs.
Of course that instant likability also means that Sundown's a bit fluffy compared to Hecker solo and the Jetone LPs. But it's not mindless by any stretch, and it's aural candy that you don't have to feel guilty about.
The second side doesn't differ much from the formula of Side A: 4/4 beats, usually thick kick drums but occasionally other aquatic-dubby percussion, hovering minor chords, and a persistent haze of static and other lonely effects overlaying the whole thing.
Not a classic by any means, but an entirely enjoyable and engrossing collection of tracks for those who can't get enough of Hecker's haunted sound-world.
The remixes don't fare as well, in my opinion. Most don't offer any new ideas or rework the tracks in such a way that makes you rethink the whole gestalt, and a couple just add some abrasive effects over the original and call it good. But I'm satisfied by remixes about 8% of the time.
