Before I heard Endless Summer, I admit thinking that electronic music could not be quite as expressive as jazz or rock. As a non-electronic musician, it was hard to understand that sounds made by a computer could have artistic significance. How could ‘feel’ and ‘movement’ exist in a music where the artist’s touch was so physically limited? This was the album that changed my mind. I came to this realization that in the end, the physical freedom of the artist is not nearly as important as his mental freedom.
Just as its title suggests, Endless Summer feels like a reminiscence of summer. The album summons memories and feelings by being constantly warm and familiar. While this is by no means a novel concept, Endless Summer is undoubtedly more effective and unique than most other albums that attempt this. Just this last year, we saw an attempt in Ariel Pink’s Before Today, which ultimately resulted in nostalgic boredom.
Fennesz succeeds because he actually looks for the essence of a memory-inducing sound, examining actual sonic qualities rather than approximating music from the past. He finds that some surprisingly unusual sounds can have this effect on us. The album manages to be inviting while often being comprised of sounds that in another context might be considered uninviting. If you want to compare Fennesz with any traditional musician, you will not find someone with such an arsenal of sounds. He creates an intense, warm glow with his simple, hypnotic tones and textures. There are only a few recognizable sounds. We often hear a guitar. But it’s frequently twisted and distorted almost to the point of obscuring its origin. Fennesz ends up proving that a memory-invoking sound doesn’t necessarily have to be recognizable.
Unlike other ambient albums, Endless Summer is meant to be listened to as a rock album. While it bears some similarity in form to an ambient Eno record, it differs in that an ambient Eno record is ultimately a sonic study that entails a musical journey. You more or less understand it before you embark. Endless Summer, like a rock album, is ultimately a musical journey that entails a sonic study. You embark, are moved, and then try to sort out how that just happened.
