Christian Fennesz
Christian Fennesz (born December 25, 1962) is an Austrian electronic musician, often credited on albums simply as Fennesz. A key figure in the ascent of IDM and electronica in the 1990s, Fennesz uses guitar and notebook computers to make multilayered compositions that blend melody and conventional musical instruments with harsh, irregular glitch-influenced sounds and washes of white noise. He lives and works in Vienna, Austria and Paris, France.
Christian Fennesz (born December 25, 1962) is an Austrian electronic musician, often credited on albums simply as Fennesz. A key figure in the ascent of IDM and electronica in the 1990s, Fennesz uses guitar and notebook computers to make multilayered compositions that blend melody and conventional musical instruments with harsh, irregular glitch-influenced sounds and washes of white noise. He lives and works in Vienna, Austria and Paris, France.
Hotel paral.lel
*2022 stock* "Re-mastered at Piethopraxis in Köln, July 2007. "Hotel Paral.lel", originally released in September 1997 by Mego, was Christian Fennesz's debut solo album. Following up from the EP "Instrument", it was an investigation into the sonic possibilties residing in guitar based digital music, recorded just before mobile computing devices became the norm. A far more darker and experimental work than what was to follow. Freeform noise, sliced techno beats and subtle ambient textures create …
Endless summer
*In process of stocking* Endless Summer, originally released in 2001 by Mego, was a breakthrough album for Christian Fennesz. The album which brought his name and music towards the first steps of mainstream recognition. Following on from the more experimental Hotel Paral.lell and the Beach Boys homaged Plays single Endless Summer brought the guitars more to the front, the electronics shimmered more, and the melodies shined more brightly. It went on to be a classic of its time, topping many end o…
Hotel Paral.lel (2LP)
Hotel Paral.lel, originally released by Mego in 1997, marks the full-length debut release from Austrian Christian Fennesz. The album followed the twitching drone as found on the 1995 EP Instrument, also included in this deluxe double-LP reissue. Once launched, Hotel Paral.lel was to instigate a sublime exploration of a wide variety of forms, from formal abstraction to shimmering drone around to ground zero glitch pop. Recorded just before mobile computing devices became omnipresent it was an inv…
Agora
Agora is Christian Fennesz's first solo album since Mahler Remix and Bécs. Fennesz writes: "It's a simple story. I had temporarily lost a proper studio workspace and had to move all my gear back to a small bedroom in my flat where I recorded this album. It was all done on headphones, which was rather a frustrating situation at first but later on it felt like back in the day when I produced my first records in the 1990s. In the end it was inspiring. I used very minimal equipment; I didn't even ha…
Venice
Special 10th anniversary edition & first time available on vinyl. Gatefold double LP release -- 14 tracks. Artwork and photography by Jon Wozencroft. Featuring David Sylvian (vocals) and Burkhard Stangl (guitar). Venice, the fourth studio album by Christian Fennesz, finds electronic music at a crossroads between its early status as digital subculture, and the feeling that there has to be something more, an emotional quality that rises above noise and moves towards melody and rapture. It was…
In Four Parts (Tribute To John Cage)
Equipped with a modular synthesizer, a guitar and electronics Patrick Pulsinger and Christian Fennesz approach the master of the treatment of silence, John Cage. The piece on this album, which was recorded live at Wiener Konzerthaus, was inspired by the underlying attitude of Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts. Upon invitation by the WIEN MODERN festival the two legendary electronic music protagonists tackled the composer’s early string quartet, took it apart and adapted it for two players, alw…
Aun – The Beginning And The End Of All Things
This CD is the soundtrack to the film AUN, directed by Edgar Honetschlger. With stills from the film in the full colour 28 page booklet, the artwork is designed by Philip Marshall. Intention : 'AUN Ð the beginning and the end of all things' tells the story of mankind's quest for the future, his desire to create the tomorrow, his fear of and loathing for the apocalypse. It spins the Faustian theme twice and lays bare open the inexhaustible Judea/Christian believe in progress, which by the…
Till The Old World's Blown Up And A New One Is Created
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, br…
Flumina
Flumina is the third collaboration between legendary composers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christian Fennesz. Guitar, computer [laptop] by Christian Fennesz; piano, computer [laptop] by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft. Mastered by Denis Blackham. Recorded at Amann Studios, Vienna and at KA+B Studios, NY and Japan. Mixed at BA+B Studios, NY. Quiet, restful ambient piano and effected guitar drone. Minimal and masterful." -Touch
Afternoon Tea
Who would have thought a relaxed sunny afternoon, newfound friendships and some spur-of-the-moment would have resulted in what's been described as 'one of the most compelling documents of both free improvisation and electronica' (All Music Guide) It's the people involved in 'Afternoon Tea' - originally released in 2000 on German label Ritornell and now available on vinyl for the first time with a new master, bonus tracks and newly discovered live recordings - that ensured it as more than a happy…
Knoxville
Documents the collaboration between CHRISTIAN FENNESZ, DAVID DANIELL & TONY BUCK for the 2009 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN. Minimalist drum passages scatter over the top of textured layers of guitar & subsumed melodic sequences, eventually giving way to warm beds of evolving, tactile drones. Sonic rain showers roll into full-blown thunderstorms of effected guitar & pounding drums only to yield a field of shattered electronic & percussive debris
Szampler
Limited to just 500 copies and already sold out at source, this latest edition from the Tapeworm cassette label is likely to be the most feverishly sought after to date. One of experimental electronic music's biggest names, Christian Fennesz has collected his library of samples (dating between 1989 and 1996) made for his old Ensoniq EPS-16 Plus and ASR-10 samplers. It probably goes without saying, but this is an amazing hour or so of music to trawl through. Any long-term fans of Fennesz's music …
June
12" one-sided clear vinyl with an etching by Savage Pencil. Table of the Elements continues to celebrate its 15th anniversary with the ninth installment in its Guitar Series Vols. 3 & 4. It’s a 12xLP romp of deviant fretnoise by some of experimental music’s most prominent players, including Christian. Simply put, Christian Fennesz is a pioneer. As much as any artist, he is responsible for establishing the laptop computer as both a compositional tool and concert instrument. Subsuming electro-acou…
plus forty seven degrees 56\' 37\" minus sixteen degrees 51\' 08
This is Christian Fennesz' 2nd solo full album after the highly acclaimed 'Hotel Paral.lel' (Mego 16). He also released 'fenneszPLAYS', a 3" CD originally issued by Mego but now on Jim O'Rourke's new label, Moikai. Fennesz has also made various contributions to compilation CDs, including the awesome 'Surf' on 'DECAY' (Ash International 3.9) and is a member of MIMEO, fixed line up orchestra alongside Keith Rowe, Kaffe Matthews, Jerome Noetinger, Phil Durrant, Peter Rehberg, Thomas Lehn, Rafael To…
Amoroso
Charles Matthews played the grand organ in York Minster, during Spire Live on January 20, 2007, alongside Fennesz and Philip Jeck. This release is an homage to Arvo Pärt and the school of minimalism, specifically "mystic minimalism" or "sacred minimalism." He is considered a pioneer of this style, along with contemporaries such as Henryk Górecki and John Tavener.
transition
7" vinyl only -- no legal downloads of these tracks are available. These three tracks are based on 8 different guitar recordings made at Amann Studios, Vienna, between 2005-2007. The acoustic guitar was recorded with an AKG C12 microphone. Other sounds were made using a Fender Stratocaster and a Vox AC15 amp. The 7" is part of the Touch Sevens 7" vinyl-only series, which began with Oceanus Pacificus by Chris Watson (TS 002EP).Track Listing:A1. On A Desolate Shore (5:14)B1. A Shadow Passes By (3…
Cendre
This is the highly anticipated full-length collaborative release by Christian Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto, following the 19-minute CD EP overture, Sala Santa Cecilia (a completely separate release which is not included here). This release features a massive duet between worldwide laptop guru Fennesz (guitar/laptop) and Japanese electronic music legend Sakamoto (piano/laptop) -- a continuing collaboration between two much-lauded composers. Every once in a great while, a collaboration comes along…
Sala Santa Cecilia
Every once in a great while, a collaboration comes along which hints at a brighter future, a collision of giants that indicates a convergence of method and music. This is one such event. Sala Santa Cecilia documents the meeting of worldwide laptop guru Fennesz and Japanese electronic music legend Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Auditorium Parco della Musica for the Romaeuropa Festival in Rome, November 2004. This is a unique and complete 19-minute piece which marks the recording debut of this new collab…
Field recordings 1995:2002
Field Recordings brings together a range of material Christian Fennesz has contributed to compilations, special projects and film soundtracks between the years 1995 and 2002. It also includes his debut 12" for Mego, the awesome Instrument remastered. Contains his remix of Stephan Mathieu & Ekkehard Ehlers, tracks from the Clicks&Cuts 2 comp, the Ash Int'l compilations KREV X and Decay, excerpts of his soundtrack to the movie Blue Moon, and one exclusive new track
Fennesz plays
This is seen by many as the "turning point" between early Fennesz electronic abstract works such as the Instrument 12" and Hotel Paral.lel CD, and the more guitar-based works such as Endless Summer and Venice. The two tracks, "Paint It Black" and "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)," were initially released as cover versions of songs by The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys, respectively. Since then, via the relevant mechanical and publishing rights, the world has ruled that these tracks …