Apparently, I buy too many records

My wife Helen, like every other woman i've ever lived with, believes that I buy too many records.

Which, as every record-buying man knows, is a ridiculous belief.

I will concede, however, that I do indeed buy a lot of records and that I don't afford them the same amount of listens and attention that I did 20 or 30 years ago.

To this end, I have decided to blog about the records that I buy, in order to help my appreciation of them - and perhaps to show Helen that I don't buy that many records after all.

Because i'm crap with deadlines the blog posts will be sporadic and probably be about a month or 2 behind but that's just the way i am! The posts will not necessarily be actual reviews (most likely comments, at best) and will generally be pretty damn short due to the reasons outlined above. As a writer in a previous existence i have decided not to worry about writing as art in the pieces but, instead, to attempt to convey feeling over semantic (and often grammatic) perfection.

And 'OCRB'? It stands for 'Obsessive Compulsive Record Buying' - a little known mental health affliction that is potentially damaging to the bank account but ultimately life-affirming. It is sad.......but a nice form of sad.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Nils Frahm: Felt (Erased Tapes)

Recorded on microphones perilously close to strings heavily dampened by the material of the title, this makes for an incredibly intimate experience. The background noise, creakings, foot movements, breathings and the sound of the environment add acres to the already atmospheric music. This is piano playing when the piano is a living thing - the sound of life around the instrument increase the effect of the pianosaurus, whereby it is playing Nils as much as Nils is playing it (him). Allegedly recorded in the dead of night, this is music to be heard up close and personal, in order to really experience the surrounding noise as well as the musings of the pianosaurus. I feel that Nils is a tool in the process here - merely a part of the machine, and certainly not the leader in the normal sense of musician leading the system of notes and rhythm. Similar to Keith Jarrett's solo improvised work (but much more so) these tracks lead Frahm into areas he had probably rarely thought about - i believe the process created a link between pianosaurus and his thalamus and, when they were locked together, produced the wonderful (seemingly) spontaneous music heard here.

Or maybe Mr Frahm is just a beautiful, emotionally resonant, musician.




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