Endless Summer

Fennesz, Fenn O'berg | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 3, 2001)
• Label: Mego Austria
• ASIN: B00005M6CH
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,590 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Made in Hong Kong

2. Endless Summer

3. A Year in a Minute

4. Caecilia

5. Got to Move On

6. Shisheido

7. Before I Leave

8. Happy Audio

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the unfair review of a very obscure artist, October 18, 2001

By 

"donkeye" (all up in your face) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Endless Summer (Audio CD)

I don't know why I've decided to review this album, to be honest, other than the fact that I own it, and wasn't so much disappointed but want to make the point that it is not an album that needs or warrants the hype it has received in the elite underground crowds. Certainly, it is Fennesz's best album. Certainly it evokes worthy comparisons to Oval, Microstoria, and Vladislav Delay. There is nothing wrong with this album. Imagine Autechre expurgated of all its beats, and you might hear the plangent noises of Fennesz. Is it the godly apical laptop album? No. In some strange way, it is simply beautiful noise. You'll like it. If you've taken the time to search for Fennesz on Amazon, that means you know a little about what to expect. Many people will tell you he is a genius, this Fennesz. If he is, then he is a genius of a very particular sort. The kind that designs pleasant noise. Is that enough? Is that really so great? It makes for a good, occasional listen, but is it as close to the power of Boards of Canada? Is Fennesz a greater musical genius than Eye Yamatsuka? What I'm wondering is, is this powerbook music an example of the player piano, the man hovering over the keys simply following the program on the sheet?

I expect more. I expect to be baffled, frightened, sorrowed, and deeply moved. This is none of those things. It rests alongside the most domestic of Tortoise's experiments, a very delightful wallpaper for a gathering of your most elite, judgemental friends for a night of intelligence competitions.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars flashback or flashforward?, November 3, 2001

By 

lispli (MTL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Endless Summer (Audio CD)

Like most of the best electronic music today, this album is preoccupied with grit, graininess, distortion and the patina of age. What sets it apart is a peculiar warble and an aesthetic of fuzz that takes me back to the happy pink haze of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. Actually this is more of an orangey whiskey at the beach party kind of haze but you get the idea. And like Loveless the cover art of this album matches the feel perfectly.

But it's not all beach parties-- there is a wide range of emotion here, from the poignant deathbed nostalgia of A Year In A Minute to the fuzztone bowling balls tossed into a Martin Denny lagoon exotica of Caecilia. The only track that grates is Before I Leave which gets a bit monotonous.

This one's a keeper IMHO. All I can tell you is I keep listening to it, picturing new images and hearing more cool stuff every time. (You will need good headphones to get the most out of it.)

It's funny and ironic how in this day of perfect reproduction and theoretical eternal digital preservation, so many electronic musicians associate emotional depth and nostalgia with a deliberate decay and "distressing" like pre-antiqued furniture. Makes me wonder how the future will react to it...

L

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen to the samples, June 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Endless Summer (Audio CD)

Endless Summer is a good example why you should never trust written music reviews. It has all the ingredients for an intelligent-sounding review e.g. acoustic guitar meets computers, noise meets kitch and some subtle references to whatever. After the wave of praise-reviews talking about the above someone was bound to look through it all and be smart and say 'well it has all the right ingredients but its not really that good' or just plain 'it sucks'. The reason for this review-war is of course that the real qualities of this album (and all music) are not academic but abstract emotional personal stuff which cant be put into words. Personally i cant explain why i love this album.