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The WireDec 10, 2013Another nuance of Virgins is the pacing. With the exception of a few slightly predictable orchestral driftscapes, Hecker's editing instincts have rarely sounded this restless and razor-sharp. [Oct 2013, p.45]
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Q MagazineNov 22, 2013A record tremblingly alert to the darkness, it flickers like a candle in the gloom, a victory for the forces of good against all odds. [Dec 2013, p.107]
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Nov 15, 2013It marks a natural progression--a little more defined, a little less of a homogeneous whole, but still a sound world that's unmistakably Hecker's own.
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Oct 31, 2013Virgins is not a particularly pleasant listening experience, but it is undeniably emotionally powerful, and a worthy addition to his impressively unique catalogue.
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Oct 29, 2013What it does manage to do, however, is function as an engagingly visceral work of provocation, on balance interspersing his trademark beauty with enough challenging moments to reward repeated visits, even if listening to it never exactly feels like a pleasurable experience, and maybe that’s enough.
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Oct 24, 2013This album has all the presence that you should expect it to have.
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Oct 22, 2013Although never quite retreating from Hecker’s signature techniques, Virgins still finds angular ways to stun.
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Oct 21, 2013While the album is unmistakably Hecker’s vision, it’s the listener’s experience.
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MagnetOct 18, 2013All of it bears his precise touch, but the spectrum of moods he's able to conjure just got a lot wider. [No. 103, p.56]
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Oct 18, 2013Throughout Virgins, Hecker organizes things just a little bit off, pokes at it just enough to be unsettling, and then pushes things away just when they start to make sense. Music has so clearly affected him, and now he’s making sure it’s doing the same for you.
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Oct 16, 2013Its a testament to the fact that Tim Hecker is one of the best artists making music today, constantly pushing his sound to new heights while keep his signature style at the core of it all.
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Oct 15, 2013There's an exhilarating bleakness at the center of Virgins--the hollow at the heart of all things, nibbling inexorably away.
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Oct 15, 2013This is an intense, unsettling work from the Canadian musician and if it doesn't quite reach the heights of Ravedeath, it's mostly down to Virgins lacking the fluid album arc of the former and not because the tracks are any less powerful.
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Oct 15, 2013This is music that benefits from being heard loud and/or on headphones in the same way couches are best experienced by actually sitting down in them instead of just brushing your fingers against the upholstery as you leave the room.
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Oct 15, 2013Excavation is entirely capable of conjuring up all sorts of images in your mind while the music plays, but Virgins keeps you focused instead on what’s happening inside of it; for music with so few conventional entry points, Hecker has again managed to make his work structurally and viscerally gripping.
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Oct 15, 2013In the end, Virgins only adds to the artist's growing legacy; it's another triumph for Hecker that once again strikes a resounding chord that not many ambient records can.
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Oct 14, 2013Hecker's sound signature may still be instantly recognizable, but there is no denying that he has moved significantly farther down the path toward something else with Virgins.
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Oct 14, 2013He’s mastered this stylistic skittishness and you’ll do well to find much dispute about his talent.
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Oct 14, 2013Virgins is Tim Hecker at his most thought-provoking and enigmatic.
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Oct 14, 2013There is a kind of pure, cathartic rage in Virgins and it leaves moments of intense peace in its wake.
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MojoOct 11, 2013An engaging, rewarding whole [that] speaks volumes about the breadth of both of his imagination and compositional agility. [Nov 2013, p.86]
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Oct 11, 2013A daringly deconstructed soundtrack of the spheres.
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UncutOct 10, 2013While "Incense At Abu Ghraib" has a horror auteur's knack for intimidation, a shrill whistle barely masking the sound of feet on metal stairs. It's masterful, though it'll leave you feeling like a speck of gravel in self-destructing world. [Nov 2013, p.72]
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Oct 10, 2013Another essential release then, but a step towards theory-over-content that Hecker never really needed.
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Oct 10, 2013The result, unexpectedly, is his most ambitious record yet.
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Oct 10, 2013The layers of noise, which at first may seem intimidating, are so harmonically rich they immerse the listener as the sounds interact creating new and unexpectedly mellifluous sounds.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 56 out of 63
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Mixed: 3 out of 63
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Negative: 4 out of 63
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Oct 16, 2013
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Oct 16, 2013
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Oct 26, 2013