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Fennesz, "Bécs"
For reasons that are not immediately apparent to me, Bécs is being billed as the conceptual follow-up to 2001's landmark Endless Summer.  To me, it just sounds like another characteristically likable Fennesz album with a couple of better-than-usual pieces, though it is certainly much brighter in tone than either Venice or Black Sea.  In any case, this is a fine (and welcome) return by one of experimental music's most distinctive voices, but it is not any kind of seismic event.  It is very hard to be revolutionary more than once, I guess.
If there is a nod to the sun-dappled radiance of Endless Summer, it comes with the opening "Static Kings," which offers up a lazy melody and some strummed acoustic guitars, though they are warped and churned fairly aggressively by Christian's laptoppery.  Unexpectedly, however, "Static" also features a bold new innovation: an actual band…of sorts, anyway, as Fennesz is joined by bassist Werner Dafeldecker and drummer Martin Brandlmayr.Their contributions are fairly subtle and last only for the one song, but Christian is uncharacteristically joined by other musicians twice more before the album runs its course.
He is solo again for the second piece, "The Liar," which brutally erases all traces of any kind of summery vibe.  Consisting primarily of gnarled, buzzing swells that gradually grow in power below an obscured haze of melody, "The Liar" instantly makes itself known as one of Bécs’ clear highlights.  The other clear highlight follows immediately after in the album's 10-minute centerpiece "Liminality," which balances melancholy drones with a surprisingly simple, beautiful, and unprocessed guitar melody.The playing and the melody are themselves straightforward, yet the production is decidedly not, as Christian works some very impressive magic with texture, attack, and dynamics.  The overall effect gradually becomes that of a lovely guitar motif struggling in vain to be heard though an escalating squall of static.  It is not quite a perfect piece, but it is intermittently damn close, falling just shy of being a masterpiece.
After that, however, Christian’s inspiration seems to wane a bit, as the remaining four pieces do not quite offer anything new, just more variations on the established themes or single ideas explored without significant development.  "Palles Athene," for example, is a lengthy bit of brooding, spacey ambient that just drifts along ominously for six minutes, while the title piece evolves from jarring, quavering single notes into yet another roaring torrent of static that conceals a poignant melody.  It is admittedly almost as great as "Liminality," but its impact is dulled a bit by the fact that Christian has already pulled this particular rabbit from his hat once before.
Bécs winds down with "Sav," a grainy, rattling, and crackling soundscape duet with guest Cédric Stevens on modular synth, and the brief "Paroles," a pleasant acoustic guitar-driven reprise of "Static Kings."  Both pieces are likable in their own ways, but neither quite catches fire, though I do like the sputtering and unpredictable electronics that gradually invade "Paroles."  The vibrant textures that Fennesz and Stevens lay down for "Sav" are very impressive too, but the melodic component seems to have been little more than an afterthought, so the promising foundation remains only that.
All of that basically adds up to yet another solid, enjoyable Fennesz album.  It may even be a great album, but it is impossible for me to tell without completely fresh ears, as I have been listening to Christian for 15 years now and I am too desensitized to his aesthetic to be appropriately dazzled anymore.  For the uninitiated, however, Bécs is probably an excellent place to start (as is Endless Summer, of course).  As for those who are already converted, Bécs will not disappoint.  It probably will not rekindle an intense passion either, but it certainly adds at least a few more gems to Christian's already-teetering heap.
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