Ravedeath, 1972 by Tim Hecker

There's no joking around in the concept of this album. The first word of the title, 'Ravedeath' can go in many ways, but I like to think of it as a way of saying this album is a funeral for electronic music in general, not just rave. On the album cover you can clearly see a bunch of men tossing a piano off a building. There's tracks entitled "Hatred For Music", "Studio Suicide", and "No Drums". I'm seeing a very bleak image painted from this album, but nothing that's depressing, but more in terms of destruction.

Tim Hecker specializes in making ambient music that scrape out beautiful soundscapes. His previous album, 'An Imaginary Country' isn't as dark as this one, but I can still hear allot of the destruction I described on this too. He's easily up there with the best in latest drone artists like Stars Of The Lid, William Basinski, and Fennesz. In my opinion, this album itself counts as one of the most essential ambient albums of all times.

The album was recorded inside of a church, which can pretty much explain some of the influences in the music such as the first track, 'The Piano Drop' which uses a pipe organ. That glitchy sound from his album 'Harmony in Ultraviolet' is still alive in the track 'In The Fog', which progresses into a powerful clastrophobic bleak atmosphere, which is later cleared up by the bueatiful 'No Drums'. Of course, that darkness does come back in 'Hatred For Music'. 

After what seems like a lay-back year for music last year, I do believe 2011 will pull through to be a great year for music.  If you're a fan of electronic music or wanting explore ambient and drone, this is a must listen to for you.