Fenster — Emocean (September 4, 2015)
♠ Berlin based Jonathan Jarzyna, JJ Weihl, Lucas Ufo, and Will Samson make up dream–pop outfit Fenster. This release is the culmination of a crowd–funded project to make a film. EMOCEAN is a debut experimental sci–fi music film, written, directed, edited, co–produced, starring and co–shot by the band and accompanied by a full motion picture soundtrack by the band. The film itself begins as a documentary about the band struggling to finish their third record when they accidentally get transported into an alternate dimension. In this surreal and disorienting landscape, nothing is what it seems… This OST on Morr Music is a beautifully drawn excursion into reverb–addled psych, Toro Y Moi pop–shapes, and sweetly lysergic arrangements to send you into deep reverie.
Location: Berlin, Wisconsin
Album release: September 4, 2015
Record Label: Morr Music
Duration: 44:54
Tracks:
01. Emocean 4:11
02. Mental Blues 2:25
03. Samson’s Theme 3:29
04. Eyeland 4:23
05. Les Fleurs 3:39
06. Memories 5:33
07. Upside Dawn 1:22
08. Off The Cahin 5:14
09. Phantasia 3:57
10. Laer Si Live 4:11
11. Lettuce Sea 6:35
Credits:
♠ Ori Behr Flute
♠ Francesco Donadello Mastering
♠ E.T. Engineer, Mixing
♠ Fenster Arranger, Composer, Engineer
♠ Julia Guther Sleeve Design
♠ Jonathan Jarzyna Composer
♠ Jaime McGill Clarinet (Bass)
♠ Fred “Brian” Monestier Mixing
♠ Will Samson Composer
♠ Lucas Ufo Composer
♠ JJ Weihl Composer
•• Fenster’s Emocean is the soundtrack to an adventure sci–fi film created by and starring the band. The music is a swirling cosmos of richly varied post–psychedelia, transcending the boundaries of reality and traditional pop–records to join the ranks of other genre bending Music Films like Daft Punk’s “Interstella 5555” or Prince Rama’s “Never Forever”.
•• With Emocean, the band utilizes their classic approach to non–traditional percussion and instrumentation, but this time ventures deeper into new territory with funky bass lines (Off The Cahin) complimented by additional instruments like bass clarinet (Memories), flute (Phantasia) and modular synthesizers (Samson’s Theme). Emocean is a nuanced and surprising departure from their first two albums. The approach to this record was a more holistic exercise in “collective songwriting” and was resulted from a series of feverish jam sessions. The sounds evoke a broad spectrum of parallel universes — from soothing surfy tidal cliffs to analog synth dungeons, interstellar purple–funk disco–techs, wobbly organ’s in houses of worship, acid blues parades and delicate maiden’s picking daisies on the moon (Les Fleurs). The most danceable track is definitely Off the Cahin, and Memories is a sun soaked summer jam.
Bandcamp: https://fenster.bandcamp.com/album/emocean-2
AllMusic Review by Timothy Monger; Score: ****
•• Defying easy categorization, Berlin–based pop experimentalists Fenster follow up their lovely 2014 LP, The Pink Caves, with an otherworldly science fiction soundtrack to their first film, Emocean. Initially intended to be a faux documentary about the making of their third album, the film then depicts the band being beamed into an alternate dimension where they suddenly become devoid of feelings. According to Fenster, the mostly instrumental soundtrack was conceived and recorded prior to making the film, and its celestial world of spacy synths and Krautrock grooves informed the film’s bizarre premise. Only three albums into their young career and Fenster have shown a tendency to evolve substantially with each release, with Emocean undoubtedly being their most ambitious project to date. Citing a myriad of influences from prog acts like King Crimson and Pink Floyd to Can, Devo, and 1970’s Turkish disco, these ten tracks are neatly composed, though not necessarily song–based, reflecting the band’s more exploratory side. The warm, dreamy “Memories” is one of the album’s rare vocal tracks and its easy rhythms feel almost tropical, pairing watery soft–rock guitar tones with an unexpected and quite charming clarinet solo. The music is beautifully captured, occasionally resembling the Flaming Lips’ spaced–out surrealism, but without iciness of some of their more cerebral late–era works. The bulk of the tracks seem synth–generated but blended with plenty of live instrumentation. They are, at times, quirky and humorous like the off–key cosmic blues riffing on “Mental Blues” or the wacky, plodding, bleep–festooned lounge of “Eyeland.” Other times, there’s an ethereal beauty to the music as on the sunny “Les Fleurs” or the majestic title track, which could be the love theme from a John Carpenter film. Having jumped head–first down this strange new rabbit hole, it will be interesting to see where Fenster will go next. •• http://www.allmusic.com/
Website: http://fensterfensterfenster.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emoceanthemovie
_____________________________________________________________
♠ Berlin based Jonathan Jarzyna, JJ Weihl, Lucas Ufo, and Will Samson make up dream–pop outfit Fenster. This release is the culmination of a crowd–funded project to make a film. EMOCEAN is a debut experimental sci–fi music film, written, directed, edited, co–produced, starring and co–shot by the band and accompanied by a full motion picture soundtrack by the band. The film itself begins as a documentary about the band struggling to finish their third record when they accidentally get transported into an alternate dimension. In this surreal and disorienting landscape, nothing is what it seems… This OST on Morr Music is a beautifully drawn excursion into reverb–addled psych, Toro Y Moi pop–shapes, and sweetly lysergic arrangements to send you into deep reverie.
Location: Berlin, Wisconsin
Album release: September 4, 2015
Record Label: Morr Music
Duration: 44:54
Tracks:
01. Emocean 4:11
02. Mental Blues 2:25
03. Samson’s Theme 3:29
04. Eyeland 4:23
05. Les Fleurs 3:39
06. Memories 5:33
07. Upside Dawn 1:22
08. Off The Cahin 5:14
09. Phantasia 3:57
10. Laer Si Live 4:11
11. Lettuce Sea 6:35
Credits:
♠ Ori Behr Flute
♠ Francesco Donadello Mastering
♠ E.T. Engineer, Mixing
♠ Fenster Arranger, Composer, Engineer
♠ Julia Guther Sleeve Design
♠ Jonathan Jarzyna Composer
♠ Jaime McGill Clarinet (Bass)
♠ Fred “Brian” Monestier Mixing
♠ Will Samson Composer
♠ Lucas Ufo Composer
♠ JJ Weihl Composer
•• Fenster’s Emocean is the soundtrack to an adventure sci–fi film created by and starring the band. The music is a swirling cosmos of richly varied post–psychedelia, transcending the boundaries of reality and traditional pop–records to join the ranks of other genre bending Music Films like Daft Punk’s “Interstella 5555” or Prince Rama’s “Never Forever”.
•• With Emocean, the band utilizes their classic approach to non–traditional percussion and instrumentation, but this time ventures deeper into new territory with funky bass lines (Off The Cahin) complimented by additional instruments like bass clarinet (Memories), flute (Phantasia) and modular synthesizers (Samson’s Theme). Emocean is a nuanced and surprising departure from their first two albums. The approach to this record was a more holistic exercise in “collective songwriting” and was resulted from a series of feverish jam sessions. The sounds evoke a broad spectrum of parallel universes — from soothing surfy tidal cliffs to analog synth dungeons, interstellar purple–funk disco–techs, wobbly organ’s in houses of worship, acid blues parades and delicate maiden’s picking daisies on the moon (Les Fleurs). The most danceable track is definitely Off the Cahin, and Memories is a sun soaked summer jam.
Bandcamp: https://fenster.bandcamp.com/album/emocean-2
AllMusic Review by Timothy Monger; Score: ****
•• Defying easy categorization, Berlin–based pop experimentalists Fenster follow up their lovely 2014 LP, The Pink Caves, with an otherworldly science fiction soundtrack to their first film, Emocean. Initially intended to be a faux documentary about the making of their third album, the film then depicts the band being beamed into an alternate dimension where they suddenly become devoid of feelings. According to Fenster, the mostly instrumental soundtrack was conceived and recorded prior to making the film, and its celestial world of spacy synths and Krautrock grooves informed the film’s bizarre premise. Only three albums into their young career and Fenster have shown a tendency to evolve substantially with each release, with Emocean undoubtedly being their most ambitious project to date. Citing a myriad of influences from prog acts like King Crimson and Pink Floyd to Can, Devo, and 1970’s Turkish disco, these ten tracks are neatly composed, though not necessarily song–based, reflecting the band’s more exploratory side. The warm, dreamy “Memories” is one of the album’s rare vocal tracks and its easy rhythms feel almost tropical, pairing watery soft–rock guitar tones with an unexpected and quite charming clarinet solo. The music is beautifully captured, occasionally resembling the Flaming Lips’ spaced–out surrealism, but without iciness of some of their more cerebral late–era works. The bulk of the tracks seem synth–generated but blended with plenty of live instrumentation. They are, at times, quirky and humorous like the off–key cosmic blues riffing on “Mental Blues” or the wacky, plodding, bleep–festooned lounge of “Eyeland.” Other times, there’s an ethereal beauty to the music as on the sunny “Les Fleurs” or the majestic title track, which could be the love theme from a John Carpenter film. Having jumped head–first down this strange new rabbit hole, it will be interesting to see where Fenster will go next. •• http://www.allmusic.com/
Website: http://fensterfensterfenster.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emoceanthemovie
_____________________________________________________________