Field Recordings 1995-2002

he title of this collection and the beautiful photographs chosen by Jon Wozencroft for the packaging hint at something bucolic and down to earth, framing this electronic and rather abstract music in a paradoxical setting. After all, art is often born out of contrasts. Field Recordings 1995-2002 culls rare EPs and compilation tracks by one of experimental electronica's prominent names, Fennesz. Served like a platter of hors d'oeuvres to new fans waiting for a follow-up to Endless Summer, it has its highs and lows. Comp contributions often become occasions to try something different. Fennesz makes no exception. Not quite as defined as his album cuts, the tracks here chronicle the sidesteps that led him from Hotel Paral.lel to Endless Summer. The album opens with "Good Man," a new piece completed for this collection. Very dense and made of alternating sections of noise-drenched melodies, quiet drones, and harsh noise, it will raise anyone's hopes as to the quality of his next album. This is followed by the entirety of his EP Instrument, first released on 12" vinyl in the early days of the label Mego. Then listeners find a number of tracks that appeared on compilations released by Ash International and Mille Plateaux, remixes for Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu, plus two cuts from the Blue Moon soundtrack -- many of these are labeled "new version" to attract early fans, but in some cases the differences remain very subtle. "Good Man," "Surf," the Instrument material, and the polluted guitar ballad "Codeine" provide a handful of highlights that make this disc worthwhile, but newcomers should start with Fennesz's "real" albums. ~ François Couture|