FENNESZ
Venice (Touch)
Reviewed by Sherman Wick

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Venice is the latest by Austrian guitarist and electronic musician, Christian Fennesz. He explores his obsessions with atmospheric textures ranging from ambience to noise on this record, while also including a few creative firsts on collaborations.

Layered textures of heavily processed guitar, synthesizer and other electronic manipulations are included on his first full-length record in three years. "Chateau Rouge" combines synthesizer washes and a lightly strummed guitar and slight electronic pulse and then builds to a distorted middle section before returning to the somber yet lilting melody. A cinematic song-it would fit in well with his excellent European film score work. Guitarist Burkhard Stangl collaborates and adds additional sonic energy to "Circassian," which covers the same musical territory sound-wise as My Bloody Valentine did on Loveless. It's a cool tune to hear-guitars clanging along to an electronic maelstrom of distortion. Stangl also adds his guitar strumming on the atmospheric song "Laguna." For the first time, there are vocals on a Fennesz record-as the electronic musician co-wrote a song, "Transit," with David Sylvain, formerly of prog-rock band Japan. Here, he contributes deadpan lyrics as electronic sounds swirl in the background. The record ends with the overly experimental "The Stone of Impertinence," which features multiple layered and heavily processed ambient distortion. Is the last track a harbinger of things to come? We'll have to wait until his next record to find out.

© 2005 - Sherman Wick