Fennesz & KMRU

March 29, 2022
The Lab, San Francisco

Using a filtered and treated electric guitar as the starting point for his lush soundscapes, Fennesz has created a personal and groundbreaking discourse throughout his career. Perhaps sculpting the last truly unique vision for the guitar, his luminant compositions are anything but sterile experiments. Fennesz’s world of sound unfolds and resembles sensitive, telescopic recordings of rainforest insect life or natural atmospheric occurrences, an inherent naturalism permeating each piece. In addition to his prolific output as a solo artist, and his ongoing investigation of the limits of noise, automatic composition, field music or contemporary classical, Fennesz is also a frequent collaborator with other luminaries of the scene. These include artists such as Alva Noto, Oren Ambarchi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Keith Rowe, Peter Rehberg, David Sylvian, and Jim O’Rourke. fennesz.com

Born in Nairobi and currently based in Berlin, KMRU is a sound artist and producer whose methods include field recording, improvisation, noise, machine learning, radio art and drones. His music has earned praise from NPR, Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, DJ Mag and Bandcamp. In 2020, he released three albums that showed the depth and range of his sound: Peel, an LP of hypnotic drones on the avant-garde institution Editions Mego; Opaquer, a collection of vivid and dreamlike sound sculptures; and Jar, a dreamlike cassette of found sounds and analog ambience. In addition to his work as a musician, KMRU is a core member of Black Bandcamp, a DIY effort to promote music from Black artists and labels. He presents a monthly show on Internet Public Radio, guests on NTS and Rinse FM and organizes workshops for Nairobi Ableton User Group. He also manages reissues of music by his grandfather, the celebrated activist and Benga musician Joseph Kamaru. He is currently a master's student at Universität der Künste Berlin for Sound Studies and Sonic Arts. kmru.info

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