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.

Nils Frahm & Anne Muller: 7fingers (Hush)

This one took a while to get to me. I've had it for a few months and, though normally a big fan of Mr Frahm's, found this one more of an irritation than a celebration. On paper it looks brilliant - Nils on piano/electronics and Anne on Cello - so how could this possibly fail? Well, initially i was put off by the fact that the electronics are much more frequent than the piano - he has smothered glitchy noises over everything, which just seemed out of place the first half dozen listens and, frankly, really got on my nerves. In fact, it is not until the beginning of side 2 that the piano makes a proper entrance and then it just reminded me what i had been missing all along. And i despaired of the whole bloody thing.

Then, after numerous plays, (and because i knew that there MUST be something that i was missing) it happened - the album made sense to me. I heard the dichotomy between the glitchiness and the cello and realised that Nils had not been fucking around at all - he had been accentuating the differences and this only made the whole thing much stronger. And i finally got it - which is testament to the whole point of this blog, it has made me listen to it numerous times so that i could make a comment. I've given the record the time it deserved and now i can place it on the shelf, like the coveted item it has become.

I'm not going to mention Nils' singing though. Just let's say that it shouldn't be on there and leave it at that.

Various: Keys (A Comprehensive Collection Of Contemporary Piano Compositions)(American Typewriter)

Another of those 'look at the roll call and it wont disappoint' jobs. Peter Broderick,Nils Frahn, Library Tapes, Macinefabriek etc tinkle away on solo piano in a softly softly manner to enchant you in a beautifully ambient manner. Nothing here troubles you or wakes you from your soporific manner and, frankly, you wouldn't want it any other way. Only Mr Polymath Broderick complicates matters by adding violin and vocals, and this breaks the flow somewhat, but it's not as if it metaphorically kicks you in the balls - more like a gentle tweak on the left nipple. Which is nice.

Simon Scott: Depart, Repeat (Seven Pieces/Sonic Pieces)

Sonic pieces is one of the premier boutique labels, whereby the creative design of the packaging is easily as important as the creative music within. This is their first vinyl release and the first in a series of seven 7"s - which fills me with the delight that only the addicted collector can feel, but also fills me with the inevitable future dread of missing one in the series as they are going to be increasingly bloody hard to get hold of. Simon Scott was the drummer in Slowdive and a guy i knew quite well 20-odd years ago and neither of these facts influence my utter love of these two tracks. The subtle simplicity of these basic guitar/vocals tunes accentuate the fragility of the lyrics and the clear production by Nils Frahm amplifies the spaces inbetween the notes. When Mr Frahm adds minuscule piano and Mr Scott taps away at a xylophone they prove that you can add more instrumentation and somehow make the songs sparser and even more emotionally affecting.

Various genius musicians: Erik Satie et les Nouveaux Jeunes (Arbouse CD)

This double CD is an absolutely no brainer when it comes to guessing how fucking fantastic it sounds before you even hear it. We have Satie's wonderful minimalist music covered and re-imagined by godstars like library tapes, Eluvium, Rachel Grimes, Max Richter, Sylvain Chaveau, Goldmund, Pan American, Hauschka, Nils Frahm etc etc etc. To listen to it is only to reiterate what you already knew - that it is amazing music by amazing artists. I cannot recommend this highly enough and could only be improved by a vinyl edition,