Anoyo
Traditional Japanese gagaku court music meets digital decay. Recorded in a Tokyo temple, this is a sparse, hauntingly beautiful exercise in negative space.
Traditional Japanese gagaku court music meets digital decay. Recorded in a Tokyo temple, this is a sparse, hauntingly beautiful exercise in negative space.
Quiet consolidation
Wooden flutes hover and bend over a cold bed of digital static. Recorded in a Tokyo temple, these sparse, echoing pieces leave massive silences that feel as heavy as the music itself.
Warmly received as a subdued, minimalist counterpart to its predecessor, the album was widely praised for its captivating blend of ancient Japanese gagaku instrumentation and modern electronic textures. While some reviewers felt these sparser compositions were slightly less focused than his previous work, most found the record's quieter, more atmospheric perspective to be deeply rewarding.
“The uchimono drum, the hichiriki and ryuteki flutes, and the 17-piped mouth organ called the sho are not often heard outside Japan, the music having only been opened up to the public in the past century. But while Konoyo used these singular sounds like a chisel, Anoyo paints with wide brushstrokes”Read review
“The follow-up to last year’s Konoyo—recorded, like its predecessor, with a Japanese gagaku ensemble—functions as a counterbalance to that album: a kind of photo negative, more subdued but no less overwhelming”Read review
“Guides us through a meditative journey into the darkly textured, sparse orchestral soundscapes”Read review
“The combination of sounds is still captivating, especially recommended for anyone who feels to this day that new age music was underrated”Read review
“Remains a master of his craft”Read review
“On Anoyo, Tim Hecker stretches out his heady winning streak for another 32 striking and captivating minutes”Read review
“Compared to the astonishing Konoyo, Anoyo does feel a bit like less focused variations on the same ideas, but as it stands, it’s still an intriguing, otherworldly blend of ancient instrumentation and technological exploration”Read review
“With his second record featuring a gagaku ensemble, famed experimental artist Tim Hecker produces a very different facade that shines through a beautifully minimal perspective”Read review
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