Fennesz’s setting changes key as well and the mood becomes tremulous and uncertain. Sakamoto’s piano briefly merges and disappears into the mixture before clearly delineated upper notes appear like sudden stars in a night-sky, followed by reassuring chords suggestive of a comforting hand on the shoulder.īy the fourth piece, ''trace'', Sakamoto’s melodic approach is familiar, which makes his decision to sketch unresolved patterns all the more unsettling. The texture of ''aware'' is grittier, as if gravel were being ground to dust in an iron cylinder. Sakamoto drops brief, pendant chords that fall into opaque depths like pebbles into a blue ocean. As such, cendre (all text is studiously rendered in lower-case) is a very different work from the duo’s first release, the 19 minute Sala Santa Cecilia (2005), on which it was nearly impossible to tell which performer contributed which sounds.įirst piece, ''oto'', is ushered in on a gulf stream current. It’s essentially a marriage of delicate acoustic piano played by Sakamoto and ambient textures courtesy of Fennesz. This first, full-length recording by Christian Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto is a hauntingly beautiful piece of work. It’s accessible, genuine and melodic enough to appeal to people who don’t read Wire magazine…and it deserves your attention. Look at it this way: Fennesz loves the Beach Boys and Sakamoto was in Yellow Magic Orchestra. Indeed, it’s a testament to the extent of Fennesz’s digital manipulation that his guitar sounds nothing like a guitar – more like the oppressive skyline of a smog fuelled city or a relentlessly glitching piece of archaic computer software- until the track Glow commences and traces of cut’n’paste guitar melody intertwine with Sakamoto’s melancholic piano mediations.ĭon’t let my ramblings put you off. It then melts into Trace, a track which epitomizes Cendre’s darker, disconcerting but no less soulful side wherein discordant piano lines weave minor key patterns over near industrial, ultra-treated guitar noise. Such saccharine excursions into sound design reach a high point with the gorgeous Haru. These moments, these obscure but oddly everyday and mundane moments, are when Cendre works best, filling your void with beauty the way Sakamoto’s piano fills up the ample spaces created by Fennesz’s guitar textures. Or that moment when your mind disconnects from your body before falling asleep, the brain still racing with thoughts, assimilating the music but your body is still, unable to respond physically. When you return from a hard day at work – that twilight period between popping your collar/getting on with your evening and reflecting on the shit you’ve had to put up with from The Man. I’ve been listening continuously for the past two weeks and each time prompts a new feeling within me, a different shade of wistful romance which typifies the music. It’s hard to articulate just how near transcendental Cendre is, especially its first half. Yet they perfectly compliment each other and conspire to produce music which is (paradoxically) at once intimate and awe-inspiring. The process of collaboration between these two artists was, by all accounts, a long distance one. What Cendre does, in essence, is marry the heavily processed guitar soundscapes of Fennesz with the minimal, Satie styled, piano improvisations of Sakamoto. This is their second collaboration and a work of sublime beauty it is. Lawrence amongst many other musical endeavors. Sakamoto was one third of J-Pop synth trio, Yellow Magic Orchestra and scored the soundtrack to Merry Christmas Mr. When his Mego released Endless Summer album dropped at the turn of the new millennium, all hailed the way in which his digitally refracted pop warmth bathed in the perpetual sun of Brian Wilson-esque melody. The former is esteemed star of Austrian electronica. Some history then? Not that it’ll impact upon your enjoyment of this music but the names might suddenly appear more familiar if I tell you about the two gentlemen involved, Christian Fennesz and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The second collaboration between these two celebrated artists, Cendre sounds – even within it’s stripped down sonic palette – like the world is existing, living, breathing amidst its wordless sonic poetry. In a time wherein petty tight trousers, the Kooks and I-Pods hold sway, this is real rebel music. Cendre was one of the 2007 Albums of the Year in Kulturflash (UK)
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