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Flumina

by fennesz sakamoto

supported by
proud
proud thumbnail
proud It's a bit hard to explain. :D Favorite track: 0411.
YuX Phasey
YuX Phasey thumbnail
YuX Phasey this takes me places cold and warm. very good. Favorite track: 0320.
cyril prudor
cyril prudor thumbnail
cyril prudor Sincere evocations of a gothic Satie/Sakamoto - big lights big shadows - torn from the sky and put back to the ground by the inexhaustible richness of colours and subtlety in Fennesz's sound relief orchestra.
More the scent of the earth than sunlight, sure, the sky is veiled and the sailor curses the sea, but the bewitchment of the depths keeps me coming back to it again and again. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this magical osmosis of two sons of the stars.

Chapeau bas, messieurs. Favorite track: 0319.
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1.
0318 04:27
2.
0319 05:39
3.
0320 04:42
4.
0322 05:34
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0324 06:48
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0325 04:20
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0327 05:29
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0328 05:29
9.
0330 04:44
10.
0401 04:55
11.
0402 06:15
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0404 04:34
13.
0405 04:50
14.
0407 04:37
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0409 04:52
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0411 05:22
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0415 05:13
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0417 03:44
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0419 04:59
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0423 05:17
21.
0424 04:27
22.
0425 06:56
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0428 04:54
24.
0429 05:58

about

The 24 pieces of ‘flumina’ are based on piano compositions/ improvisations which Ryuichi Sakamoto had recorded whilst touring in Japan. On that tour Ryuichi played a piano piece in a different key at the beginning of every show, always having a ‘fennesz sakamoto’ project in mind. After 24 shows he had 24 tracks in 24 different keys, covering all 24 tonal steps of the western tonal system. Sakamoto sent the tracks over to Christian Fennesz and he worked on them using electronics, guitars and synths. They met in New York then and mixed the album together with Fernando Aponte at The Studio, NY.

This is their 3rd collaboration released on Touch, after the live recording of ‘Sala Santa Cecilia’ [Touch # Tone 22, 2005] and ‘Cendre [Touch # Tone 32, 2007].

credits

released November 29, 2011

Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft
Mastered by Denis Blackham

Recorded at Amann Studios, Vienna and at KA+B Studios, NY and Japan.
Mixed at The Studio, NY.

Blurt (USA)

9 stars

Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christian Fennesz are the twin pillars of advanced music composition in the 21st century. And the concept of these two coming together in collaboration is akin to a dream tag team union of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Philip Glass.

But the fact of the matter is that unlike those aforementioned titans of experimental classical, Sakamoto and Fennesz have worked together on and off since the 1990s, drawn to one another’s abilities and affinities for melding modern classical composition with the electronic sounds of techno, microhouse, synthpop, new wave, hip-hop and IDM. Yet while the two men have performed concerts in tandem for nearly 20 years, their recorded output up until now has been as sporadic as their sonic methodology, boasting only a 2005 live EP called Sala Santa Cecilia and a 2007 studio effort entitled Cendre.
However, the Fen-Sak duo make up for their studio sparsity in spades with the release of their epic third set, an expansive two-disc set entitled Flumina rooted in two dozen improvisations for solo piano recorded by Sakamoto while on tour in his native Japan. During these 24 dates, he played each piece in a different key until he wound up covering all 24 steps of the Western Tonal Spectrum, which encompasses an equal temperament of 12 major keys and 12 minor keys.

After the tour wrapped, the former chief proponent of the pioneering late ‘70s electronic rock band Yellow Magic Orchestra processed the pieces he recorded through his computer and sent the tracks to his old friend Fennesz, who in turn extrapolated upon these piano improvisations by augmenting them through the utilization of treated guitar drones, laptop science and an arsenal of synths. The pair then met up in New York, where they worked together on mixing the double LP with the help of fellow composer and engineer Fernando Aponte at KAB Studio.

What they ended up with nothing short of a masterpiece of electro-acoustic ambience that builds upon Sakamoto’s conceptual spin on the Western Tonal Spectrum with a plaintive sense of futuristic calm tailor made for late nights in the office and quiet mornings of meditation.

Flumina is an arresting and beautiful work as deep and open as the body of water that graces its cover art.

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Fennesz Vienna, Austria

Fennesz uses guitar and computer to create shimmering, swirling electronic sound of enormous range and complex musicality. His lush and luminant compositions are anything but sterile computer experiments. They resemble sensitive, telescopic recordings of rainforest insect life or natural atmospheric occurrences, an inherent naturalism permeating each piece. ... more

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