Fennesz: Becs Vinyl LP

When Fennesz’s Endless Summer dropped in 2001 he helped to usher in a new era of electronic music. It was a time for people who were not necessarily “in to” electronic music to get into it. Endless Summer was talked about by many, its pretty, abstract electronics acting as a gateway to the wider world of synthetic sounds. Christian Fennesz has released a lot of music in the intervening years, much of it collaborations. His two proper solo full lengths, 2004’s Venice and 2008’s Black Sea, featured his heavily processed guitar coupled with shoe-gaze chords and quaking drones. However, they took his sound in a darker direction and lacked the immediacy of Endless Summer. For Becs he’s returned to Mego and the sound of his breakthrough album. There’s plenty of warmth as his guitars fold in on themselves. Drones build up to be accompanied by swirling melodies and just the slightest hint of percussion. This is beautiful music even though it may be nothing new for Fennesz. Perhaps there’s a hint of nostalgia for Endless Summer, but perhaps it was endless for a reason.

• music label: Editions Mego 2014

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 05/2014