When Austrian electronic musician Christian Fennesz released these records at the turn of the millennium the effect on electronica was revolutionary and spread into other areas of music most obviously folk and indie, largely responsible for spawning the folktronica and glitch genre (of which I proudly own no records, not to mention the Ghost Box/Hypnagogic axis). The innovation of Fennesz was to digitally deconstruct the analogue sounds of strummed guitar and pop melodies, especially the melodic, summertime haze of The Beach Boys, and 60's pop. This deconstruction with it's MBV like hidden melodies, white noise and digital glitch expands upon the work of MBV, Branca, and Sonic Youth as well as acknowledging, but retreating from the increasingly complex techno of Aphex and Autechre (Autechre's Confeld on Warp in 1999 is possibly the most complex techno LP ever and has to be heard to be not believed!).
Plays came first and apparently mirrors the construction and pitch of the so called cover versions, Don't Talk Put Your Head On My Shoulder and Paint It Black, they conjure half remembered memories of summers gone.
Endless Summer is not only the name of a Beach Boys comp, but is also a documentary of a film following the surfing exploits of some 60's beach bums, which strangely I used to watch as a kid inbetween reruns of Lassie and Scooby Doo. The cover of endless summer feature stills from that very film.
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