Hecq - Night Falls

It's good, yes. But it's not *that* good. There are tracks that are very accessible; there are some tracks that need time to grow and a couple of listens - and there are tracks that are just plain awkward - because they're cheesy, sob stuff, and for me, those are tracks #2 and #12. Ouch, it simply hurts to end up with "I am you" after the atmospheric "Above".

It is not very comprehensible how an artist that can craft tracks like the opener of the album (where that first choiresque "sigh" fills me with joy and delight) or track #7 "Come Home" can combine these together - it makes me think "what the Hecq?!" (pun intended). Tracks #2 and #12 stand out negatively so much that they destroy a good part of the consistent appearance of the album for me (this is especially pitiful for track #2 because the opener is so nice).

Released in mid-2008 on Hymen Records (sublabel of Ant Zen), Night Falls is a brilliantly composed piece of work that has no boundaries.

People like to talk about how to think out the box and how this concept relates to music (et al) and specifically albums that have stood the test of time, who have a place in the coveted musical hall of fame. With Night Falls, there is no box to think out of. It is a roving, boundless, and deserted landscape painted with hues of dark blues and grays further characterized by an aurally nomadic experience: going from one place to another, the destination unknown.

There is a huge, huge sense of isolationism that I’ve really grown to appreciate pretty highly. It is precisely this multi-dimensional sense of isolationism that few albums in the genre have attained to a degree that you can’t help but notice. This is a phenomenally monumental work that asks that you simply exhale and consume the cinematic elements that are so concentrated within – chock full of bitter cold ripples of musical elements (specifically, orchestral) signal a retreat to a safe place that only has one inhabitant: you.

The album art hints at this a bit, and obviously, the record’s title as well; the former of which is deceptively simple: the record’s artwork is just a black cover with informational text. But inside is a journey from the hyperactive, schizophrenic world to one that sinks to low levels of escapism in comfortable resignation. Almost like falling backwards into your sofa couch after a particularly long day.

This is why I feel that Night Falls is one of the best albums ever written. Sit back, put on some good headphones, and listen to this all the way through.

Hecq's latest voyage "Night Falls" inhabits mostly (and perhaps strangely) Cinematic Dark Ambient territory. "Night Falls" is full of minimal yet placid atmospheres, nice orchestral elements and very sparse rhythmic elements. While the album is fairly well done and enjoyable to listen to, I don't find that it is fully able to stand on it's own, especially with the very boring packaging. Most of the songs are overly minimal and don't stand up so well when compared with other great epic dark ambient releases. This would have been an excellent bonus disc for a 2cd release, but as it is, I find myself feeling a bit cheated at having paid 15$.

As I turn my attention from ethereal to dark ambient, it is only appropriate that I cover the latest album from one of my all time favorite artists, Hecq. Last year, I already hailed Ben Lukas Boysen's double disk release, titled 0000, as one of the Best of 2007 albums. It perfectly aligned along my favorite elements of grandiose orchestral sound and punctuated IDM beats. Upon my first listen of Hecq's fifth album, I anxiously await the glitchy breaks that are so prominent in Hecq's previous albums. Alas they never come. And with this proclamation, Boysen creates a new sound in which he instantly excels. Appropriately titled, Night Falls, Boysen drops the rhythmic structure altogether, and produces one of the most inspiring, lush, atmospheric and hauntingly dark pieces I have heard to date. There is a continuous cinematic tension of something hiding right beneath the shadow of a thinly layered sonic veil. Night Falls is an album that stops you dead in your tracks to really listen. What is that brooding sound, and does it have a name? I will not hide the fact, that with each swell of dynamic wave, the emotion within me rises as well, and I fight back the tears at the tip of each crescendo. With outstanding production and masterful control of individual frequencies, Hecq propels his sound techniques from a mere post-industrial IDM producer to a contemporary neo-classical composer. Hymen should be proud. Reminiscent of Murcof, Lusine Icl, Kattoo, Nebulo and Subheim.