Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin – Instrumental Tourist

The first of a series of proposed collaborations scheduled for release on the Software label finds these two kindred spirits embracing ‘jazz-based improvisation’ using sounds derived from ‘the acoustic resonance of digitally-sourced 'Instruments of the World'.’ Whether or not that's a euphemism for 'getting smoked out and dicking around with keyboard presets,' it's a working method that has yielded some very fine results.

The overall vibe of serenely psychedelic melancholy will be familiar to fans of either artist and while a couple of the pair's experiments fall flat, the best work here (the exquisite, sensual modulations of Scene From a French Zoo; the yearning repetitions of Ritual for Consumption) really does hit the mark, pulling heavily from the history of kosmische, noise and ambient but never failing to bring through a bruised, human quality that is absolutely compelling. Instrumental Tourist will provide connoisseurs of resonant, emotional machine music with myriad psychic landscapes to explore.