Efterklang - Piramida

September 2012 Efterklang - Piramida Rumraket/4AD RUM028/CAD3229 (cd/lp)

1. Hollow Mountain
2. Apples    
3. Sedna    
4. Told To Be Fine
5. The Living Layer
6. The Ghost   
7. Black Summer
8. Dreams Today    
9. Between The Walls   
10. Monument

Casper Clausen
Mads Brauer
Rasmus Stolberg
Earl Harvin - Drums (1 to 3, 6, 7, 9, 10)
Sønderjysk Pigekor cond. Mette Rasmussen - Choir (1, 3, 7, 8)
Lukas Fichtner - French Horn (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10)
Nils Frahm - Piano (7, 8, 10), Wurlitzer (1), Juno (8), Celesata (8), Xylophone (8)
Daniel Glatzel - Tenor Saxophone (6, 7, 9), Clarinet (1, 7)
Mathias Götz - Trombone (1, 2, 6, 7, 9)
Damir Bacikin - Trumpet (2, 6, 7, 9), Flugelhorn (10)
Richard Koch - Trumpet (6, 7, 9)
Peter Broderick - Violin (1, 3, 5), Backing Vocals (3, 4), Piano (3) 
Martin Heyne - Additional Synth (2), Rhodes (9)
Rune Mølgaard - Fuel Tank Organ (3)
Laure Mourot - Flute (6, 10)
Agnes Obel - Backing Vocals (7)
Katinka Foch Vindelev - Backing Vocals (7)
Johannes Schleiermacher - Baritone Saxophone (7, 9)

Screws

September 2012 Screws (download)

1. You 3.08
2. Do 3.04
3. Re 3.50
4. Mi 3.59
5. Fa 2.25
6. Sol 2.29
7. La 3.11
8. Si 3.23
9. Me 2.31 

September 20th marks the 30th birthday of Berlin pianist Nils Frahm, but also the day he has chosen to give his fans a special gift in the form of 9 songs he recorded with 9 fingers, entitled 'Screws'.
Nils experienced an unfortunate accident which saw him fall from his bunk bed located directly above his studio, which resulted in a broken thumb. But through inspiration from his fans and after a gentle walk and talk through the park with a close friend, he decided to deal with the situation in the only way he knew – playing his piano.
With four screws surgically placed inside his thumb, he started recording with his remaining 9 fingers, what later resulted in 9 intimate piano recordings.

Available as a free download here. A physcial edition id forthcoming on Erased Tapes.

'I am sitting in front of a sheet of paper. My right hand is bending over my left thumb. The first day I got out of my cast I could bend it by 15°. Now I am already at 50° and that makes me happy. Things are going uphill...

As you can imagine, it is really bad news for a pianist when he gets diagnosed with a broken thumb. That day I was sitting in the emergency room, feeling rather dizzy while thinking of a zillion shows coming up and all the people involved around it. I realised in that moment how busy things have become. It is hard to turn down interesting projects and opportunities, since I surely love my work. It actually never felt like work. Playing piano and playing it for wonderful people is the greatest joy I can imagine.

For a couple of days I felt like this all could be over. How pathetic. But hey – also feeling sorry for yourself has its place somewhere. All of a sudden I had so much time, an unexpected holiday. I cancelled most of my schedule and found myself being a little bored. Even though my doctor told me not to touch a piano for a while, I just couldn't resist. I started playing a silent song with 4 fingers on my left and the remaining 5 on my right hand. I set up one microphone and recorded another tune every other night before falling asleep.

The day I got rid of my cast I had recorded 9 little tunes. They have helped me feel less annoyed about my accident and reminded me that any good is something I can only achieve, when I am making the most out of what I've got.

Thank you all for listening!

With lots of love,
Nils

Icarus Concerts Tape #1: Nils Frahm

September 2012 Icarus Concerts Tape #1 (stream)

Excerpts from the Icarus XL concert at DOK, Gent, 12/09/12, with Nils talking about his influences & music.

Spirit Of Talk Talk

September 2012 Various Artists - Spirit Of Talk Talk Fierce Panda nong74cd (cd)

1 Wealth - Lone Wolf
2 The Colour of Spring - Zero 7
3 I Believe in You - S. Carey
4 Dum Dum Girl - Recoil
5 Life's What You Make It - Duncan Sheik
6 The Rainbow -    Thomas Feiner, Fyfe Dangerfield & Robbie Wilson
7 After the Flood - Alaska & Halloween
8 It's Getting Late in the Evening - Nils Frahm, Davide Rossi & Peter Broderick
9 Give It Up - King Creosote
10 Living in Another World - Lights (feat. Darkstars)
11 The Rainbow - Zelienople
12 Myrrhman - Joan As Police Woman
13 Runeii - The Last Dinosaur
14 ? - Jack Northover
15 It's My Life - The TenFiveSixty
16 Inheritance - Recoil (feat. Linton Kwesi Johnson & Paul Marshall)
17 Ascension Day - Turin Brakes
18 Today - White Belt Yellow Tag
19 I Don't Believe in You  - Ian Curnow (feat. Human?)
20 Chameleon Day - Goldheart Assembly
21 April 5th - Matthias Vigt Trio
22 New Grass - Do Make Say Think
23 Tomorrow Started - Jason Lytle
24 Give It Up - White Lies
25 Time It's Time - Lia Ices
26 The Party's Over - The Lovetones
27 Candy - Thomas White
28 Renee - The Black Ships (feat. Amelia Tucker)
29 Taphead - The Acorn
30 I Believe in You - Richard Reed Parry
31 Ascension Day - Minerva Lions
32 It's My Life - Mike Gill (feat. Robert Owens)
33 Eden - Kurran and the Wolfnotes