Harmony in Ultraviolet

In a year where much critical attention focused on rough-edged, dark electronic excursions from the underground, Tim Hecker’s "Virgins" proved a startling and beautifully persuasive anomaly. The album showed the influence of collaborative work with Daniel Lopatin on 2012’s "Instrumental Tourist" in its lucidity of sound quality, with Hecker allowing a previously degraded acoustic presence to take the fore in an album dominated by plaintive pianos, sharp brass, and warm harmoniums.