I've heard of Fennesz but haven't listened to him, should I just start with Endless Summer?
Yep, I think 'Endless Summer' is a good place to start.
I am possibly going to a three-day electronica festival called Forma Nova, so I might as well familiarize myself with it. Ullrich Schnauss is coming, he's pretty big isn't he?
Yeah, Ulrich Schnauss is really big in the (tiny) world of "indietronica". That's basically quiet electronic music that's mining similar moods / musical themes to 90s shoegazer stuff and wandering post-rock (Godspeed et al), but doing it with computers instead of a band. It's kinda mopey and tries to pull on the heart strings, always gets called "cinematic" and shit.
Maybe this decade's version of what 4AD was doing in the 80s?
I did a wee search for the line-up of that festival, haven't heard of most of the artists. I'd still probably check out all the links on the myspace page and go anyway, because by its nature this kind of music is pretty anonymous! It's not like soft instrumental stuff gets massive airplay anywhere.
Plaid are very highly regarded, really distinctive, highly melodic stuff coming from a dance background. They've been at it for yaers and still going strong, which is usually a good sign. Their stuff is still "electronica", for sure (I mean DJs won't play it in a club or anything) but it's very beat-based and lively, as well as having all the interweaving melodies. Very fiddly and baroque at times, it usually works out.
.tape. is really nice, IMO. Good nice, I mean.
He has an EP on Observatory Online that's free for download, so I won't bother describing what he's up to.
I think those are the only 3 names I've heard!
FWIW, some of my favourite music in this kind of vein is coming out of Copenhagen... I like these guys in their various permutations:
http://www.systemf3.com I think they've all released records on the same label as Schnauss. I'm in Japan, there's whole racks of this kind of thing available in even the big chain stores. (= I'm in heaven
)
Edit: Ulrich Schnauss has a track on this free compilation,
Intelligent Toys 2, which is a little more beat-y than most of his, but is pretty indicative. Those synths are too clean and sparkly for me.