Fennesz – Seven Stars

It’s time for me to catch up to my favorite releases from Touch. And what better way to kick it off then with a short four-track EP from Christian Fennesz one of the top experimental composers known for using his guitar as the source instrument in laptop aided electronic music. Anyone familiar with his work will instantly recognize the delicate attention to detail, even when the sound is submerged in slight distortion, some reverb and a little bit of flanger. Seven Stars is Fennesz’s first solo release since Black Sea (Touch, 2008). The tracks incorporate the usual electric guitars, bass, and synths to paint thick layers of drony textures, and for the first time in his discography a drum kit, played by Steven Hess (Member of Locrian). “I wanted to make a record that has a certain lightness about it and at the same time explore new territory using drums on one track,” says this Vienna based sound artist. Besides his solo work, there’s also his celebrated collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto – their latest, appearing on Touch as a double disk, titled Flumina. Both, this EP and the Fennesz + Sakamoto release have appeared on Headphone Commute’s Best of 2011, so it’s about time that they got properly mentioned on here. There’s also a neat little USB flash drive release by Fennesz and Jon Wozencroft, titled Liquid Music which you can pick up from touchshop.org. Fennesz never disappoints!