When approaching any collaboration, it’s difficult to avoid evaluating it in terms of the independent work of the contributing parties. When the collaboration is as prestigious as that of Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin’s Instrumental Tourist, then ignoring the heritage is pretty much impossible. Nonetheless, the real test of an LP like this is whether it stands as a decent piece of work in its own right (celebrated names notwithstanding).
Luckily, Instrumental Tourist is good. It stands by itself as a fantastic piece of headphones-on sonic experimentalism which transitions from euphoric ambience to paroxysms of noise without ever sounding forced.
Now, having established that Instrumental Tourist can hold its own, I can feel a little bit more comfortable dragging Hecker and Lopatin’s previous work into the picture for comparison. Those familiar with their solo output will immediately be able to pick out some familiar textures and tropes – in fact, it’s fairly easy to guess at where the lines between the contributions of Hecker and Lopatin might be. There’s plenty of blasts of apocalyptic static reminiscent of Lopatin’s Oneohtrix Point Never (think ‘Nil Admirari’ from 2010’s Returnal), and Ravedeath 1972-esque swathes of choral bliss. In fact, it’s everything you might have expected from a collaboration between these two. With one slight exception: it’s missing some of the depth present in their respective solo work. I’d hazard a guess that this is probably due to the jazz-improv approach that the two took in the studio, with very little preparation. This is not to say that it’s a bad method, but it does mean that some of the meticulous detail found in say, Replica, or Ravedeath is lacking. It’s not a fatal flaw, but is perhaps one of the reasons why I find Instrumental Tourist a less immersive experience than either of the aforementioned albums. Nonetheless, it’s definitely worth a listen.
Stream the album in full here, and get it in CD, double vinyl and digital from Mexican Summer.