15.05.12: "The rebirth of cool"
m=minimal is pleased to release a masterpiece of the early 21st century on vinyl.
"Till the old world's blown up and a new one is created" is an outstanding work of reductionism and minimalism. Martin Brandlmyar ( Radian / Trapist / Kapitalband 1 ), Werner Dafeldecker ( Polwechsel, David Sylvian, Autistic Daughters) and Christian Fennesz ( Touch / Mego / Thrill Jockey ) on this record created a new kind of Cool Jazz coupled with a big portion of New York School ( Cage, Feldman, Brown und Wolff).
It’s hard to describe the music with words. This work reveals his secrets only after listening to it a couple of times. It grows with each time you listen to it.
In this work, silence and noise are never used as an end in itself. As equal parameters they stand in the composition that also has space for some tonal "flowers". Our recommended listening time is – round about midnight.
The cd version is available on mosz.
21.04.12: "Genesis"
A track by Fennesz Sakamoto has been used for an unofficial Mac ad - see it here.
19.04.12: A track from AUN
Christian Fennesz's 15-song soundtrack to the film AUN, directed by Edgar Honetschläger, is scheduled to be released on 28th May 2012 [Ash International # Ash 9.5]. As a taster, we offer you "Hikari", the final track from the album, for free download.
Download "Hikari" [zipped mp3]
12.04.12: Fenn O'Berg "In Hell" LP
Superb collection of Fenn O'Berg jams from their 2010 Japan tour, in which they forged further west for some wild sets in Beppu and Omuta. While maintaining the sophistication of the In Stereo sessions and tour, these recordings hark back to some classic 20th Century Fenn O'Berg fare, complete with the odd cheeky samples.
Performed by Chrsitian Fennesz, Jim O'Rourke and Peter Rehberg at the following locations:
20 Nov 2010, Oita, Oitaweb.tv Beppu Tower Hall
19 Nov 2010, Hiroshima, Club Quatro
21 Nov 2010, Fukuoka, Omuta Fuji
24 Nov 2010, Kyoto, Club Metro
22 Nov 2010, Nagoya, Club Quatro
Assembled by Jim O'Rourke at Steamroom Tokyo, 2011
Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, 2012
Photograph by Shunichiro Okada
11.03.12: RGB01 - fennesz wozencroft "Liquid Music"
Touch.30 USB flash drive + title card in velvet string bag
Flash drive contents: .mov + text & images (2GB) - 32:30
Tracklist:
1. Liquid Music
Jon Wozencroft writes:
"Liquid Music was made in 2001, in conjunction with the music Christian Fennesz was developing during that fertile period when the future was still a good idea. The first version – this is it – was premiered during the Touch tour of 2001, the time of Fennesz’s Endless Summer and the steady movement towards Venice.
The footage for Liquid Music originates from Prague, Paxos, Crete, Cephalonia, Messinia, London and one short clip from Monterey Bay. It was filmed on Hi–8 and mini–DV between 1995 and 2001. The main idea was to film everything through the lens, with no post production other than the compilation of many years work into a coherent whole. Fennesz’s music, and its ascendent quality, made that a pleasure. The optical quality is on the cusp between analogue and digital resolution. In many respects it’s an exchange of values as much as working methods.
I feel it’s one of the best works we did in the last 10 years. The Brighton concert, where the audio comes from, was a key moment on the Touch 2001 tour. The PA was Loud. Everything worked. The film, as on all nights, was played in parallel, it is not sync’d in the conventional sense. Every time is was shown it was different. On this night, the second night of the tour, the audience was shocked in a way that shock rarely happens these days.
This very same year, industry experts got together in California to set the MPEG compression codes for DVD mastering. MPEG4 algorithms basically sample 3 frames out of the PAL 25 frames-per-second standard, and interpolate, which is OK if you’re trying to get a drama onto a DVD, but hopeless if the film involves very fast movement and transitions. Liquid Music is in some respects a laptop response to the celluloid flicker film from the 1960s – Paul Sharits, Tony Conrad, Stan Brakage – Peter Kubelka’s Arnulf Rainer. We tried everything Soho facilities houses had to offer but there was no way the film was going to master accurately onto the DVD format.
The movement of water is a difficult thing to film, and to sonify. For years the only way Liquid Music could be shown was either as a live projection or a dedicated screening – these have taken place at Tate Modern, the BFI, Austria, Hungary, Germany... Ten years later, the satisfactory outcome is to see what it looks like on an iPad or an iPhone, and then to imagine it on the big screen."
Thanks are due to: David Metcalfe, Kamal Ackarie, Steve Connolly, Andrew Lagowski, Philip Marshall and Denis Blackham.
See also: Callum Coats, Living Energies – An Exposition of Concepts Related to the Theories of Viktor Schauberger, Gateway, Dublin 1996.
Buy fennesz wozencroft "Liquid Music" [USB Stick] in the TouchShop
02.03.12: Fennesz remixes Apparat
Fennesz has remixed Apparat's forthcoming Mute 12", "Candil De La Calle" - to be released on 26th March. Prefix Magazine say: "...when Fennesz adds his trademark swashes of distortion and feedback, the song turns into something that reminds me of the now-defunct Depreciation Guild minus the chiptune elements. In other words: this is really, really well executed."
Stream the remix at www.prefixmag.com
Release details at www.mute.com
06.01.12: Fennesz on Touch Radio
6.01.12 - On Invisible Pause - 48:13 - 192 kbps
Photo: Mats Bäcker
On Invisible Pause, choreographed by Christopher Arouni, is part of Skanes Dansteater's performance HAZE, November 4th 2011 in Malmö's Skanesdansteater. Mixed by Christopher Arouni, Christian Fennesz & Anders Myhrman.
Subscribe to the TouchPod podcast of TouchRadio via the iTunes Music Store
Play Fennesz "On Invisible Pause" at www.touchradio.org.uk
05.12.11: fluid radio interview
You can read an interview with Pascal Savy from fluid radio here
04.12.11: fennesz sakamoto "flumina"
DCD
Photography + cover design: Jon Wozencroft
Mastered by Fernando Aponte
Track listing:
CDOne
12 tracks
01: 0318
02: 0319
03: 0320
04: 0322
05: 0324
06: 0325
07: 0327
08: 0328
09: 0330
10: 0401
11: 0402
12: 0404
CDTwo
12 tracks
01: 0405
02: 0407
03: 0409
04: 0411
05: 0415
06: 0417
07: 0419
08: 0423
09: 0424
10: 0425
11: 0428
12: 0429
The 24 pieces of 'flumina' are based on piano compositions/improvisations which Ryuichi Sakamoto had recorded whilst touring in Japan. On that tour Ryuichi played a piano piece in a different key at the beginning of every show, always having a 'fennesz sakomoto' project in mind. After 24 shows he had 24 tracks in 24 different keys, covering all 24 tonal steps of the western tonal system. Sakamoto sent the tracks over to Christian Fennesz and he worked on them using electronics, guitars and synths. They met in New York then and mixed the album together with Fernando Aponte at KAB Studios.
This is their 3rd collaboration released on Touch, after the live recording of 'Sala Santa Cecilia' [Touch # Tone 22, 2005] and 'Cendre [Touch # Tone 32, 2007].
Buy fennesz sakamoto "flumina" in the TouchShop
24.10.11: World Premiere of Christophe Arouni dance piece "On Invisible Pause" at Skanes Dansteater, Malmo
Christian Fennesz is playing live on the 4th of November at Skanes Dansteater for the dance piece "On Invisible Pause" by Christophe Arouni. An abstract story inspired by presence and the art of communicating without being seen. Fennesz has written original music for the piece.
Click here for the Fennesz news archive.
