CD Reviews

Fennesz

Endless Summer | Editions Mego

By MATTHEW GASTEIER | January 2, 2007

4.0 Stars

Originally released in 2001, this fuzzed-out masterpiece by the Vienna-based Christian Fennesz is finally back in print, with two bonus tracks, a snazzy new cover, and a sharper mix from Fennesz himself. Endless Summer was a turning point in experimental electronic music, the moment when melody and cacophony learned to love one another. Though the title is a nod to the Beach Boys, the album owes more to My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain, a lineage made evident by the fuzzy guitars and clicks and loops hovering above a distant pop landscape on “Shisheido.” But on tracks like “A Year in a Minute,” the ambient nature of the work persists, evoking a mood far more than a thought. But that’s exactly what makes Endless Summer so revolutionary: though it’s electronic, the music here is alive. It may be unsettling and initially inaccessible, perhaps, but it comes across as human, breathing, and evolving. Don’t expect anything as easy on the ears as the Postal Service, but given the chance, there’s a lot of pleasure to be found in this abstract work of art.

Related: Review: Fennesz - Black Sea, Billy Bragg, Lil Mama, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Music Reviews, More

| More

ARTICLES BY MATTHEW GASTEIER

UGK | September 18, 2007
Underground Kingz is not quite an instant classic, but it would be hard to deny that UGK have reclaimed their throne.

TALIB KWELI | August 20, 2007
Ear Drum doesn’t reach the highs of that far more ambitious and sprawling album, but it’s a welcome return to form.

SKILL RIDE | July 17, 2007
All it took was a Godzilla sample and a simple, forceful “Simon says get the fuck up” for Pharoahe Monch to leave his mark on hip-hop history.

THE HATE-LOVE-HATE CYCLE | June 18, 2007
The field is already packed with newcomers and veterans alike, all aiming to knock down my standards of good taste and respectability . . .