5. FenneszEndless Summer
AC: I heard this a lot later than when it came out, when I was around 19. I picked it because it completely rearranged my brain about what experimental music could be. It demonstrated that you could make experimental music that was very accessible. You don’t have to compromise on the sound or the vision, but you can still make it very approachable to a lot of people who wouldn’t consider themselves fans of experimental or ambient music. I find that it’s important to always have something to hook onto, but it doesn’t have to be a big chorus. Just something that stands out. Jamie is someone who’s brilliant at writing very hooky music in a very unobvious way.
The other reason I chose Endless Summer is because it’s a really good example of someone using a guitar and pushing it to the extreme. It’s something that I’ve always really rated about his music, that he relies so heavily just on a guitar. Some people have said with the Persher stuff that [the guitars] sound like synths, and I have the same thing with Fennesz, where I can’t work it out. I think he’s just using a guitar in this record but processing it to fuck.
