Fennesz – Field Recordings 1995:2002

Though most of these tracks have appeared elsewhere, you can never really have enough Fennesz. The alternating hiss and emptiness of "Good Man" shows how well he can craft sound. The four tracks that start with "Instrument 1" are much more aggressive in their denseness, though moments of grace find their way onto "Instrument 2" and a chorus-like effect onto "Instrument 4." His remix of Ekkehard Ehler's "Betrieb" also mines the angelic side, but "Menthol" returns to refracted and filtered melodies, sounding, at times, like an underwater disco. The brief "Ivend00" opts for pure ambiance, only for "Namewithnohorse" to sound like leaky rock music by comparison. His remix of "Codeine" for Stepahn Mathieu & Ekkehard Ehlers edges into post-rock territory, though his sonic stamp still remains. Go out into this field and lie down for a good listen.

surf is one of the coolest (where cool is a humble substitute for words as aweinspiring, beautiful, asskicking) tracks i´ve heard in this genre. And generally field recordings is my favourite fennesz-release. hIghly recommended. listening-music to be played loud.

After his tremendous album "Endless Summer", it was hard to believe that Fennesz could even get better, but he did. The special thing is that this release is not a new album, but a great collection of disparately released songs (mostly from compilations) and his first 12" for Mego, "Instrument".