Live in Japan

by François CoutureFennesz's Live in Japan presents a single 43-minute set recorded, well, live in Japan -- at Shibuya Nest, on February 9, 2003, to be precise. The record label claims it is "the greatest laptop live show in music history," which smacks of tasteless exaggeration, but one must admit that it is a very powerful set. An extension of the material found on the critically acclaimed Endless Summer, Live in Japan consists of a brilliantly balanced arrangement of dreamy acoustic guitar motifs, melancholy organ chords, and gritty digital noise. Endless Summer spawned many an imitator, but this album proves that Fennesz remained the best purveyor of disintegrating laptop pop. The set unfolds like a suite of guitar themes emerging one by one from the rolling waves of glitchy textures. It calls for the same kind of emotional involvement from the listener as a Godspeed You Black Emperor! live show: you get sucked inside the music and get to roll along with the ebb and flow as the (musical) elements toy with your emotions. There is a cut at 36 minutes, marking the end of the main set and the beginning of the encore. The applause has been edited out -- a good idea since it allows one to stay focused on the music -- but a different track index would have been nice, especially since the music takes a different path, introducing a slow melody on vibraphone that evokes mainstream tropicalia. It gets bounced around, echoed, and repeated following a structure of verse and chorus as growling noise menaces to eat it alive. Sad noise exotica or weeping beauty?