Radio Amor

Ambient/experimental. Staticky, tense ambient music. This is actually one of Tim Hecker’s earliest albums, dating back to 2003. It feels like a precursor to Ravedeath 1972--less polished and frankly less beautiful, but the same kind of aesthetic. It’s less intense than Tim’s later work, and much less dissonant. If you like restrained staticky drony stuff, then there is a lot on this album to love.

Try 1, 2, 8. If you want something quiet, 10 is nice.

1. “Song of the Highwire Shrimper” (7:24): Agitated piano over tumultuous static background.
2. “(They Call Me) Jimmy” (4:52): Tense quivering sound.
3. “Spectral” (8:09): A bit quieter and more unstructured than previous tracks, particularly in the second half.
4. “I’m Transmitting Tonight” (5:16): Staticky rumbling. Piano adds a bit of melody.
5. “7000 Miles” (5:43): Hissing, muttering, like perturbations in the atmosphere.
6. “Shipyard of La Ceiba” (1:56): Bouncier, with lots of jagged synth.
7. “Careless Whispers” (5:11): Low frequencies struggling to escape from beneath a layer of static. Feels quite watery.
8. “The Star Compass” (4:49): Crackly high notes which remind me of stars.
9. “Azure Azure” (10:34): Gritty and staticky in the beginning, before mellowing out into a tense drone.
10. “Trade Winds, White Heat” (4:24): Very calm. Light articulated piano with hissing in the background.