FENNESZ

Review: Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christian Fennesz came together to stunning effect on their collaborative album Cendre. Now, for the first time ever, Touch are releasing it on vinyl. It was initially recorded between Vienna and New York in 2004 and 2006 with each artist responding to the other's compositions. Accompanying text says that the record fuses "unstructured and imaginative qualities of improvisation with the satisfying sculpture of composition." In short, it is a powerful ambient album with a quiet but devastating artistry. Heavy chords linger in the air, distant shakers take your mind away, foggy atmospheres are run through with gentle winds. It is beautifully melancholic.