Konoyo is the ninth studio album by Canadian electronic music musician Tim Hecker, released on September 28, 2018 on Kranky and Sunblind Music. A majority of the album was made from Hecker's visits to Japan, where he worked with a gagaku ensemble, Tokyo Gakuso, in Jiunzan Mandala-Temple Kanzouin on the outskirts of Tokyo.[2]

Konoyo
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 28, 2018
Studio
Various
  • Studio Atlio
  • Jiunzan Mandala-Temple Kanzouin, Tokyo
  • Sunblind Studios
Genre
Length59:06
LabelKranky
ProducerTim Hecker
Tim Hecker chronology
Love Streams
(2016)
Konoyo
(2018)
Anoyo
(2019)
Singles from Konoyo
  1. "This Life"
    Released: July 31, 2018
  2. "Keyed Out"
    Released: September 12, 2018

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[3]
Metacritic82/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [5]
Drowned in Sound8/10[6]
Exclaim!9/10[7]
The Guardian     [8]
Mojo     [9]
Pitchfork8.5/10[10]
PopMatters9/10[11]
Resident Advisor4.2/5[12]
Rolling Stone     [13]
Uncut7/10[14]

Konoyo received critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 82, based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[4]

Accolades

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Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Crack Magazine Top 50 Albums of 2018
26
Gaffa Top 30 Albums of 2018
13
The 405 Top 50 Albums of 2018
6
PopMatters Top 70 Albums of 2018
28
PopMatters Top 20 Avant-Garde and Experimental Albums of 2018
4
Sputnikmusic Top 50 Albums of 2018
7
Tiny Mix Tapes Top 50 Albums of 2018
21

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Tim Hecker

No.TitleLength
1."This Life"8:42
2."In Death Valley"5:36
3."Is a Rose Petal of the Dying Crimson Light"3:27
4."Keyed Out"9:46
5."In Mother Earth Phase"10:26
6."A Sodium Codec Haze"5:46
7."Across to Anoyo"15:26
Total length:59:06

Notes

  • All tracks are stylized in sentence case, except for "In Death Valley" and "Across to Anoyo". For example, "This Life" is stylized as "This life".

Personnel

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  • Mariel Roberts – cello
  • Tim Hecker – computer, electric guitar, synth, writer, producer
  • Kara-Lis Coverdale – keyboards
  • Yoshiyuki Izaki - percussion (uchimono)
  • Takuya Koketsu - woodwind (ryuteki)
  • Motonori Miura - woodwind (hichiriki)
  • Fumiya Otonashi - shō
  • Jake Viator - transfer
  • Akihiro Iizuka – engineer
  • Ben Frost – engineer
  • Toshihiko Kasai – engineer
  • Teo Schifferli – design, layout
  • Tobias Spichtig – artwork, photography

References

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  1. ^ Carr, Paul (December 7, 2018). "The 25 Best Electronic Albums of 2018". PopMatters. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  2. ^ "Tim Hecker returns to Kranky for new album, Konoyo". Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  3. ^ "Konoyo by Tim Hecker reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Konoyo by Tim Hecker Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  5. ^ Simpson, Paul. "Konoyo – Tim Hecker". AllMusic. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  6. ^ Bland, Benjamin (October 1, 2018). "Album Review: Tim Hecker – Konoyo". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  7. ^ Hayes, Bryon (September 25, 2018). "Tim Hecker: Konoyo". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  8. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (September 28, 2018). "Tim Hecker: Konoyo review – Japanese forms abstracted by ambient dystopias". The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  9. ^ Chick, Stevie (December 2018). "Tim Hecker: Konoyo". Mojo (301): 93.
  10. ^ Haver-Currin, Grayson (September 28, 2018). "Tim Hecker: Konoyo". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  11. ^ Stasis, Spyros (September 24, 2018). "Tim Hecker Explores the Negative Space with 'Konoyo'". PopMatters. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  12. ^ Beta, Andy (September 26, 2018). "Tim Hecker – Konoyo". Resident Advisor. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  13. ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (September 28, 2018). "Review: Tim Hecker's 'Konoyo' Turns Japanese Woodwinds Into Powerful Ambient". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  14. ^ Robinson, John (November 2018). "Tim Hecker: Konoyo". Uncut (258): 30.
  15. ^ "The Top 50 Albums of 2018". Crackmagazine.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  16. ^ "Redaktionens Val" [Editors' Choice]. Gaffa. Århus: Gaffa A/S. December 2018. p. 38. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  17. ^ "The 405's Top 50 Albums of 2018". Thefourohfive.com. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  18. ^ "The 70 Best Albums of 2018". PopMatters.com. December 20, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  19. ^ Harrison, Noah; Fitzgerald, Colin (December 17, 2018). "The 20 Best Avant-Garde and Experimental Albums of 2018". PopMatters.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  20. ^ Spencer, Trey (December 19, 2018). "Staff's Top 50 Albums of 2018". Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  21. ^ "Favorite 50 Music Releases of 2018". Tinymixtapes.com. December 17, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2019.