Tim Hecker

The ouvre of Canadian sound artist Tim Hecker includes some of the most canonical releases in contemporary experimental music. Once described as more bone-chilling than Cannibal Corpse at their most bloodthirsty (PopMatters), his work makes extensive use of extreme loudness levels, space, layering and sustained tones to create overwhelming, emotional soundscapes that aim to evoke a primal, religious sublime. A recurring theme of his work is the advent of technology and its effect on transcendental experiences in human life, which Hecker has also written on in his doctoral thesis on modernist-era advances on loud sound; the sonic embodiment of these ideas is the pipe organ, still the loudest instrument invented and a recurring element of Hecker's harrowing work. His discography, aside from key solo albums like Ravedeath, 1972 (2011) and Virgins (2013), includes collaborations with Daniel Lopatin, Ben Frost and Arca and releases for Mille Plateaux, 4AD, Room40 and 4AD; he's also scored several films and made a number of sound installations.