NILS FRAHM
The Bells
ERATP21
Erased Tapes 2009
11 Tracks. 40mins12secs

NILS FRAHM
Wintermusik
ERATP18
Erased Tapes 2009
03 Tracks. 29mins58secs

The Bells
Amazon UK: DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Wintermusik
Amazon UK: CD Amazon US: DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

London imprint Erased Tapes continues in its quest to unleash some of the most beautiful music around with its latest signing, German pianist and composer Nils Frahm, who delivers not one, but two releases in as many weeks. During his formative years, Frahm studied piano with Nahum Brodski before going on to work on his own music. Based in Berlin, where he has established his studio and shares his time between production and composition, Frahm has already featured on a number of releases and has worked with the likes of Peter Broderick or Machinefabriek’s Rutger Zuyderveltd.

Originally published earlier this year on Sonic Pieces in a run of just 333 copies, Wintermusik is a totally immersive and wonderful EP. In just three tracks, Frahm creates a particularly stunning universe from a restricted pool of instruments, mainly using the piano and peppering it with delicate touches of celesta and reed organ. Opening the proceedings is Ambre, a piece which is not without recalling some of Yann Tiersen’s poetic flow. In just under four minutes, Frahm carves a melodic pattern that, although repeating throughout the piece, appears to grow into something superbly elaborate. Nue, which concludes, is a more upbeat and lighter piece, but its longer course (almost nine minutes) allows Frahm to expand the main theme much more comprehensively and give it a different resonance. The piece de resistance however is nested in between these two compositions. Clocking at over seventeen minutes, Tristana is a much more complex and refined composition, where piano, celesta and organ work much more tightly together to feed Frahm’s breathtaking narrative. As the piece ebbs and flows with grace, each instrument seems to take its particular turn, colouring the melody with a singular hue, before disappearing in the background as another takes its turn.

A different release altogether, The Bells features eleven improvised pieces on the piano. Curator of Kning Disk’s Piano Solo series of releases, which he inaugurated two years ago, Peter Broderick invited Frahm to contribute a collection of improvisations for piano. The album was originally released on the Swedish imprint and is now being made available through Erased Tapes. In many ways, The Bells is a sterner, more sombre release. The melodies are sparser, the pace slower and the scope more restricted. This is obvious right from the short opening piece, In The Sky And On The Ground, and its more fully developed follow up, I Would Like To Think. Here, the piano sounds much rawer, more vivid, as if, caught in the midst of a cold spell, it was threatening to snap up in pieces at any moment. Said And Done appears, to start with at least, even more austere, yet its melody is also fuller, more intense and vivid.

This is very much the strength of this record. Tailored with great sensibility and restraint, the compositions appear surprisingly rich and fluid, yet they are also often stripped down to bare patterns and forms. More concise than those on Wintermusik, the tracks here refrain from wide expanses and focus instead on largely introvert emotions. In essence, The Bells is more melancholic, echoing the work of Peter Broderick or Max Richter, but Frahm’s varied approach, occasionally much sterner, at other times lighter, gives this album an identity all of its own. Pieces such as Dedication, Loyalty, the all-too short Over There, It’s Raining or Small Me, which follow, are elegantly outlined and denote great purity, while Down Down, My Things or Peter Is Dead In The Piano are more angular and accentuated. Yet, these various aspects coexist perfectly and contribute to give this album its particular relief.

Already a recognised figure in musical circles, Nils Frahm is now gaining access to a wider audience with these two releases. While The Bells and Wintermusik present different facets of his music, they above all showcase the man’s exquisite talent and his perfect command of his art.

The Bells: 4.3/5 Wintermusik: 4.7/5

Nils Frahm | Nils Frahm (MySpace) | Erased Tapes

The Bells
Amazon UK: DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD

Wintermusik
Amazon UK: CD Amazon US: DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD