Tim Hecker: "Castrati Stack"

The visual, tactile, and information-heavy music of Tim Hecker can summon dramatic descriptions, down to the seconds. This comes, in part, from how Hecker himself refers to his production technique as “sculpting”—taking large swaths of recordings and sound waves, and chiseling away at them, creating austere and abstract experiences. “Castrati Stack,” Hecker’s first new piece in three years, is vanishingly subtle yet cavernous. Here, it’s as if he’s moved from the simple sculpting of sounds to the gigantic realm of earth-moving land art.

Partially inspired by the “liturgical aesthetics of Yeezus” and Hecker’s recent obsession with 15th century choral scores, “Castrati Stack” is a perfect testing ground for Hecker’s new approach to vocal treatments. Working with an expert array of voices via the Icelandic Choir Ensemble, he warped their chants into a complex soup of digital programming and processes.

The choir holds onto one sustained note for the duration of “Castrati Stack,” which is radically modulated and pitch-shifted—a vocal uncanny valley. There’s a fine line between the sheer physicality of the choir’s grandiose singing and the near overwhelming sea of drones, and Hecker maintains it. The conversation between the analog and computerized elements of the song is dizzying. As muted organ keys close out “Castratic Stack,” the notes throttle me back to hiding behind the pews in church, as priests belted out fire and brimstone lines.

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