Prompted by its surprise appearance in a very vivid dream, I gave another listen to
Endless Summer by
Christian Fennesz, considered one of the masterpieces of the glitch genre. As I usually am when something inexplicable compels me to listen to something, I was blown away. The album is subtle genius: it combines fuzzy glitch electronics with acoustic guitar strumming to create something that is both artificial and yet deeply human. The result is an awe-inspiring soundscape of pure nostalgia, for what I can't quite place. All I know is that this music perfectly expresses the same feeling of bittersweet hopelessness that settles in when something reminds me of times past. I don't know how
Fennesz captures the feeling of good things coming to an end (hence the title) so well, but it's really beautiful.
Another intriguing album I revisited toward the end of my winter break was
Kelley Polar's
I Need You To Hold On When The Sky Is Falling. When I first listened, I was surprised by 1) the fact that
Kelley Polar is actually a man named
Michael Kelley and 2) the sparseness of what I thought was going to be a lush album of layered electronics. Having been compared to
Junior Boys, it deserved another chance to really sink in, so I gave it one to no disappointment. The songs, like those of Fennesz described above, are bittersweet in that they have dance synths and club beats but also evoke melancholic feelings of emptiness and isolation. Despite the colors of the album cover, the album is actually quite dark and a bit disturbing, especially the track
"Chrysanthemum." But the music is still really affecting throughout, just not in the way I initially expected.
