Fennesz

Less melodic than 2001's spectacular Endless Summer, but just as captivating, Field Recordings is a collection of material produced by Christian Fennesz and previously released on compilations, film soundtracks and even a series of tracks called Instrument, which happens to be the demo tracks that got Fennesz signed to the Mego label. The material on this album is diverse and not all of it is the processed pop tunes via electronic glitch with guitar that brought the producer his acclaim, some of these tunes are also atmospheric drone with elusive musical qualities. Two tracks that fall into the processed pop category are "Namewithnohorse," which is easily identifiable as "Horse with No Name," by America, and the more ambiguous yet melodic "Codeine." Other tracks, like "Betrieb," "Menthol," "Surf" and "Stairs," are glorious drone tracks of processed instruments, such as orchestral strings with a melody lost in a fog of white noise somewhere in there. It is as if the ghosts of songs have been released of their earthly confines and the listener is left with the spirit of the song. Once again, Fennesz has assembled another superb cathartic recording with help from the fine people from the superb Touch label.