Interview: Arovane: the return of the electronic architect

2013 has already been billed as the come-back year for electronic artists. Yes, Boards of Canada are back, but for those tuned-in to the early 00’s of electronica, you’ll also have noticed the absence of another one of the genre’s pioneers, Arovane.

Uwe Zahn’s releases date back to 1998, with the most notorious appearing on the infamous City Centre Offices label over ten years ago, home at the time to the likes of Ulrich Schnauss, Casino Versus Japan, Christian Kleine, Snd and Bitstream. Arovane’s distinctive melodic break-beat-laden electronica was the driving force of the genre for many years and his decision to stop making music in 2004 hit fans hard, with the last track on ‘Lillies’ becoming the swan song for Uwe’s signature sound.

Fast-forward nine years and Arovane is back. A couple of remixes for Ulrich Schnauss’ latest single ‘I Take Comfort In Your Ignorance’, a re-release of an EP and a brand-new album on n5MD called Ve Palor. I was lucky enough to ask Uwe a few questions on why he decided to say good bye and what he’s been up to all this time…

Welcome back Uwe!!! I’d like to start off by going back to the beginning. How and when did you begin producing music?

Thanks a lot! Everything started with some tape recorders, self constructed string instruments, microphones and a Casio keyboard. At around 15-16 years old, I was experimenting with sounds and tape manipulations. I placed microphones in rooms of a cellar to record specific reverbs and time shiftings. The Kraftwerk track ‘Autobahn‘ played on the radio at the time, and triggered my attention for synthesized sounds. I was blown away by that synthesized car sound with the doppler effect. I always felt like a scientist with a microscope, zooming into structures of sound. I used techniques of musique concrete, spliced tapes, played tapes backwards, manipulated the recorders and tapes technically to play loops.

A couple of years later I bought a Korg MS20 and a cheap analogue delay to record my first tracks. The next step was a digital synth with a superb, straightforward sequencer concept – the Ensoniq ESQ1. I never used a computer to sequence my tracks until the beginning of the year 2000. Currently i’m using a QY700 to ‘record’ my ideas, to play and to control my digital equipment. I run this hardware sequencer parallel to Ableton’s live 9.

How did your relationship with the legendary City Centre Office’s label begin?

Back in the mid’ 90’s I was listening to KISSFM radio in Berlin, consisting of many late night breakbeat shows. They encourage the listeners to send their music, so I sent some tracks on a DAT. A few days later i’ve got airplay and a call from Thaddi. He invited me to come to the studio for an interview. This started the ball rolling. I was looking for a label since 1991, after I moved from Munich to Berlin. Thaddi passed Sascha from Din records a tape with my tracks and the next step was the first EP, released in 1989.

Thaddi started his label (City Centre Offices) in 1999. He asked me to produce a 7″ vinyl to start the label, so we released Occer/Silicad. In 2000 CCO released Tides, which was a perfect counterpart to Atol Scrap, released on Din.

2003/2004 was obviously a big year for CCO (both a tough time and a great time for music). Ulrich’s rather good album, A Strangely Isolated Place was also released at the same time as ‘Lilies’. How was that period of time for you guys on the label?

Yes! it was a very busy period! Great music as well, like Ulrich’s album! There were a lot of remix requests and collaborations. I bought a Kyma system and built up my studio. Kazumi called me and I invited her to sing on my new production, Lilies. I got a lot of requests to play live, flew over to Japan to play live in Kyoto, Nagoya and Tokyo. There were concerts in France, Belgium, UK, USA… it was a fantastic period of time for me and for the music scene in Berlin.

Who else was inspiring you at around this time?

Hummm, I was listening to Bernard Parmegiani mainly, a lot of electroacoustic/ computer-acoustic music from around the world. But it was not only the music i’ve listened to at that time, it was a special, inspiring atmosphere, a network of creative people.

I’ve always wondered if you mean’t ‘Good bye forever’ with your last track on Lillies, or if it was a coincidence that you did indeed, say goodbye (for a very long time)?

How long is forever? Yes, I said ‘good bye’ for a long time and i’ve enjoyed that time to travel, meet people and to play music sometimes. The last track on Lilies sounds sentimental, but it was a new beginning for me in a way.

Was it an emotional good bye? And the big question, why?

It was a kind of ‘break’ in my life. I had a lot of (how do you say) ‘reversals'(?) in my life. That feeling, that you have to do something different? It wasn’t that emotional, it was a clear decision, but I love music, I love to produce music. This is my passion.

So what have you been up to for the past 9/10 years? Have you been producing, or did you just decide to pick up your tools and start again?

Well, I love to motorcycle. I traveled to the South of France on my motorbike. I ended up feeling drawn to that country and the people – it’s beautiful. Sometimes I played on my synthesizers back in Germany, but I wasn’t that inspired. I’d just program some sounds or listen to samples i’ve made. In 2012 I decided to produce new tracks. I’ve put out tonnes of DAT’s, listened back to them, and found Ve Palor, an album that was produced for Din. This, combined with freshly produced tracks sounded perfect for me, so I uploaded a track on Soundcloud and got some amazing feedback from the community.

And how did you end up going with n5MD to release Ve Palor?

Mike Cadoo (label owner) is wonderful. It’s a pleasure to work with him. He loves my music and I remember that first release on n5MD, theMD1. I told him about my idea to re-release the Cycliph EP and to release the album Ve Palor and everything worked out perfectly.

What can people expect from Ve Palor?

Classic Arovane music. It’s a kind of rewind back to the early 2000 years and a view to the future. I’m currently producing tracks for a new release in 2014 and I think you’ll be surprised by what’s in store with the new album.

Was it hard to get back into your classic style? Did you try anything different?

It wasn’t hard to get back into my style after that long period of time. I’m very into sound design, field recordings and manipulating sounds – dissecting sounds like a scientist with a microscope. I’ve finished a sample library for Zero-g with signature Arovane sounds. I’m in contact with lots of sound designers, and some very interesting and talented people to collaborate with on projects, as you’ll hear in some of the field recordings on Tides and Lilies. I’ll also be integrating this technique into my new productions. 

Does this have an influence on the obscure track titles in ‘Ve Palor’ and many of your other works?

A lot of people ask me that question. For me it is the easiest way to categorize my sounds, presets and tracks. I like to play with words. Sounds and tracks are unique and have their own characteristics. For example, some sounds, like ‘veed’ are soft, or ‘crk’, has a hard attack; bassy tracks like ‘boon’ or airy like ‘flirr’. I developed a unique system of nomenclature to categorize my sounds. It is more handy than numbers. 

Can you describe your studio set-up? Any favourite hardware? And what type of software do you use?

The ‘heart’ of my studio is the QY700 sequencer from Yamaha and my analogue Tascam mixing desk m2600. The Yamaha QY 700 is connected with my hardware synth’s and sampler. I’m using Waldorf synths like the Q and the microwave XT, Clavia Maschines like the Nordrack2 and the Nord modular G2, a Kawai k5000s, Access Indigo2 and TI2 synthesizers, EMU E4XT Ultra and e5000 Ultra sampler, outboard equipment like the TC Fireworx and the Alesis wedge. I’m recording in Ableton Live 9 and running a bunch of VST’s like Spectrumworx, Reaktor, Absynth, Aalto, GRM, Audio Spillage, MFM2, Zebra2, the machine from NI and the MPC Ren and studio.

n5MD are pressing your record to a lovely red vinyl edition. Are you a collector of vinyl?

A big yes! My favorites are a 7″ from CCO with Snd Loops and the Toytronic compilation – Neurokinetic on picture disk. Beautiful. (Gimmick – Wavefiles, below, taken from the compilation)

Are there any plans or wishes to play live soon? What would be your ideal live performance?

I would love to fly over to Japan again to perform. It was a very special experience for me, back in 2003. I will be playing live, 15th November 2013 in Dresden at Cynetart with Grischa Lichtenberger. I’m also planning a visual concept for my future concerts in collaboration with Akitoshi Mizutani.

Places are a big inspiration for this site, do they inspire you in any way?

Of course, places do inspire me. Tides and Lilies are good examples. ‘A secret’ is inspired by an old abandoned house I found near Caen. It was quite spooky to find old maps from 1918 and the horrible ghost of the first world war.

So if you were to produce a track based on a place, where would it be?

Hummmm, I don’t know. maybe a veeeery high tower to look over the world…

—

Arovane’s new album ‘Ve Palor’ is available to purchase now through n5MD in CD and Vinyl editions (with download). We’re also being treated to a very special isolatedmix from Uwe very soon.

Ve Palor tracklist

01. audiofragment
02. scrai-n
03. ve palor
04. scaabl
05. c ll lt
06. cleiy
07. ccale eqou
08. gniddt
09. leptr
10. deev
11. cae nij
12. foldt
gaed ventr (download bonus)
ioqu (download bonus)
vendt (download bonus)

Decibel X In Review

After years watching Decibel Festival unfold across the Atlantic from England, I was finally able to attend this year after my recent relocation to the Pacific North West. Five days later, as I sit on the Coast Starlight from Seattle back to Portland, I feel lucky to have experienced a very special tenth anniversary Decibel festival. Here’s my own personal low-down of the week, but I obviously didn’t get to see it all. So for anybody else who went feel free to comment below with your own experiences.

Wednesday: Venue pit-stops. No Order. Performances by Ben Klock & Kode9.

Arriving early evening on the Wednesday, the only performance I was interested in seeing was Peter Hook and The Light, where he was due to perform New Order’s classic ‘Power, Corruption and Lies’. We arrived at around 10.30pm and couldn’t get in as the venue (Neumos) was already at capacity – I expected it to be busy but it was a disappointing start to my festival experience. I later learnt that Moby went up and performed with him on stage, but after a chat with someone later on in the week, apparently any die-hard New Order or Joy Division fans were cringing the whole way through as Moby destroyed Ian Curtis’ unique and legendary vocals…

A quick walk down the road to ‘Q’ Nightclub and it felt like we had walked into a european super-club; with Funktion One speakers adorning each wall, a glitzy light show on the ceiling and Ben Klock getting down to his dirty business. We didn’t stay long, as the sound engineer that night was obviously intent on demonstrating the lowest spectrum of the Funktion One without any treble, and my trousers were rattling against my legs.

On to The Crocodile for a quick blast of Kode9 – it seemed like a good performance and the perfect venue, but we decided to call it a night as the best was undoubtedly yet to come.

Thursday. The kings of improv. Performances by Peter Broderick, Oliveray, Haushka, Moby.

Thursday got off to a great start as my planned interview with Nils Frahm was moved to 1pm. A skip over to the W Hotel to meet the Erased Tapes crew including Peter, Hauschka, Olafur, Nils and label owner Robert, and my excitement for the Optical Showcases that were to begin that night had reached new heights. (More on my interview with Nils and Ólafur to come very soon!)

The Optical Showcase kicked off in the Nordstrom Performance Hall and I was quick to bag a front-row seat. Peter Broderick introduced himself via his choice of outfit – a suit “chosen by a gay friend in Portland” he said. His modest and charming demeanour won the crowd over straight away and his equally brilliant voice was quick to draw gasps from the audience. Switching from the banjo, to acapella and violin, Peter’s warmth and charm shone through as he played new material “he was trying out”. I’m not sure if everything he played that night will make his new album though – his unexpected improvised rapping was the perfect end to his set and the ideal crowd-warmer for Oliveray.

Nils Frahm then joined Peter on stage and as expected took to the piano to accompany Peter’s vocals. What followed, was again more unexpected improvisation as these two musical genius’ decided to tap, drum and loop their way across the stage, intersecting delicate Oliveray tracks with surprise, laughter and smiles from the crowd. Nils was already a magician in my books, but I think he found another partner-in-crime that night.

Hauschka, the legendary king of improvised piano began with an introduction to his work schedule, apparently consisting of many haunting film-scores, he warned the audience he had been in a dark place recently. With a Grand Piano full of unknown gadgets and tidbits, and a full screen linked to a camera peeking inside the hood, Hauschka pelted out a 45 minute, non-stop piece that went from skittering tight notes to blasts of bass and rolling melodies. Mind-blowing and all-consuming, Hauschka took advantage of coins, tins, drumsticks and what I think were a couple of vibrators pinned down with tape (!) to conjure up scores of euphoria, dictating his very own improvised movie soundtrack. Despite his unorthodox approach, he said he “likes the purity” of the piano, and like a musical cleansing process, proceeded to remove the trinkets that adorned the piano, throwing them on the floor for all to see just how much experimentation and ingenuity went into his performance. An amazing first night of Optical performances.

From here, we headed over to Showbox Sodo, mainly because it was right next to where we were staying so we could see the night through in comfort. Also, after our first night’s experience trying to get into Neumos we didn’t want to risk turning up late to see Teen Daze (who I heard had a stormer), but on hindsight we could’ve made a better choice. Whilst Moby’s warm-up act were terrible, The Little Idiot did a good job banging out some dirty techno which at times was just perfect, but some atrocious mixing moments and the weirdest crowd i’ve ever been dancing with, put a quick end to the night. More for the energy bank though and the highly anticipated Friday schedule.

Friday. D-day. Decibel Conferences and Performances by Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, Dauwd, Beacon, Lusine, Shigeto, Max Cooper.

The big day. My Decibel day of choice, started with a visit to the Broadway Performance Hall to get a download on sound-related topics, which are for the most part over my head. An intimate session with Olafur as he took a crowd of twenty through his Ableton setup, his loops and his very earnest approach to production – a sneak peak into what was to come that evening. This was followed with a lecture by Rafael Anton Irisarri who took a room through his surround-sound manipulation techniques. Then, a quick glimpse into Ghostly’s Dauwd and Lusine’s setup before I made a dash back to the Performance Hall to make sure I was in line for the Erased Tapes special showcase with Nils and Olafur.

Seats taken, and the space filled 20-minutes before the first note was played. Nils and Olafur have become infamous for their performance on this tour and this was destined to be one of the highlights. Nils didn’t waste any time in taking to the piano and beginning his ‘Spaces’ performance with Olafur joining him shortly at the start with a glass of wine (or juice as Nils may have it). My review of ‘Spaces’ pretty much sums up how fantastic it was should you want an overview of the entire performance, however in a twist of fate relating to his album inspiration, a raggae sounding ring-tone interrupted Nils’ flow in the middle of his switch into ‘Hammers’, only for Nils to stop, give a smile to the crowd (as if to thank them for the inspiration of his latest album) and switch from the Rhodes straight back into his emotional flow. This moment happened at almost exactly the same time as it does in his new album ‘Spaces’…

Nils quoted on ‘Spaces’ that the audience are his main inspiration for how a performance will grow and develop, and during “Over There it’s Raining”, the silence felt from the room was almost unreal – it seemed to inspire Nils to approach this particular track even more softly than normal. Some of the most, quiet, delicate and intricate piano playing I’ve ever witnessed, balanced with his multi-piano manipulations.

Nils stood up to end the set with the synth-laden “Says” and powered his way through to a well-deserved crowd joining him with a standing ovation. I experienced his genuine gentleness and humour when i interviewed him the day before, but watching him perform is like witnessing a dark-magician alter-ego conjuring up a musical storm – a genius, mystical, out-of-this-world experience.

Ólafur started with his audience-sample loop, similar to my experience at Hackney Empire last November and continued with tracks from ‘For Now I am Winter’, delivered as always, in spectacular fashion alongside plenty of audience banter. Every girl in the room was swooning at his Icelandic charm and modest jokes. Whilst Ólafur is an easy focus of attention, he gave plenty of room for his violinist to shine, who delivered a ridiculous solo. And the unselfishness continued as Ólafur invited ‘For Now I am Winter’ vocalist, Arnor Dan to the stage to deliver the album’s title track – an amazing voice which really shone on the big stage. As Arnor walked off to leave Ólafur to finsih, he gave a little punch to the air as if to congratulate himself on how well it went.

Like every single Optical performance at Decibel so far, Ólafur was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd and once again, these musical geniuses had won the hearts of every single person in the room.

The night wasn’t even finished and I was rushing over to The Crocodile for another highly-anticipated showcase by Ghostly International. Label newcomer Dauwd began the night amongst a fire-alarm evacuation and finished on spectacular form with his melodic, layered driving electronica. This is only his second tour with Ghostly and he already looks a part of the Ghostly furniture.

Beacon followed and sent the room into a hazy, dreamy state as eager eyes fixed on the duos silhouettes and angelic vocals. Lusine was quick to follow and like a forgotten godfather of electronic music, laid down the dance-floor friendly electronica law – simple, clean and just damn good, people can’t help but smile and enjoy Jeff’s productions, especially as he debuted some brilliant new material.

Two-years ago, Shigeto was warming up for his label-mates, but now takes centre stage after his recent album has caused a stir. Adorning Portland-esque trendy lightbulbs amongst his synths and drum kit, Shigeto wasted no time in sending an expected Ghostly crowd into a hip-chopped electronic frenzy. Amongst thanks to Decibel and gratuities to the other performing artists, Shigeto, as always, gave it 110% and is now a well-deserved head-liner.

One last performance of the night and I was off to catch Max Cooper at Q. Despite the millions of remixes, live sets and DJ recordings i’ve heard from Max this was to be my first time catching him live. Walking in, and you could immediately sense a different vibe from the first night’s experience at Q – the sound was much better, the crowd were already in full flow and Max was dropping his signature sound from one-track to the next. He even paid homage to the earlier Olafur performance with a subtle little remix from (what I can remember) ‘For Now I Am Winter’ – maybe an unreleased gem we can look forward to?

Saturday. The original heroes. Performances by Juan Atkins, The Orb, John Tejada, Matias Aguayo, Thomas Fehlmann.

There was only really one act I wanted to see on the Saturday – The Orb. Everything else took a back-seat, however it ended up being one of, if not my favourite nights.

I chose to skip the Zola Jesus Optical show at The Triple Door, which going by everyone else’s feedback was a mistake – an acoustic set backed by an orchestra apparently. However, my absence meant I got to the Showbox venue early enough to grab a table and wait for The Orb to appear.

I forgot that Juan Atkins was also on the bill and as soon as he stepped up with his choppy mixing and energetic detroit techno, I was gravitating towards the dance floor. Not a moment too soon and the legendary Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann graced the stage to a rapturous applause.

What followed may not have been an original performance – it was raw, it was familiar, it was swampy, it had Alex Paterson smiling from ear-to-ear and Fehlmann rocking like a possessed doctor, but it was The Orb and it was great. Edits of ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ amongst other classic cuts, a quick glean at the crowd and every single person, including The Orb were witnessing a rather special reunion set. Apart from the Optical Showcases, this was the only crowd I witnessed at Decibel who seemed 100% obsessed and locked into who they were watching. It was great to see middle-aged balding men (no comment – I’m one of them) and psychedelically dressed hippies grinning and nodding to their heroes from years gone by.

Any tiredness I had collected until that point was replaced with adrenalin and we quickly stomped over to the Kompakt after-hours at Neumos. Thomas Fehlmann was due to perform a live set, but at 5am this seemed a little unrealistic to stick out. However, I have to thank John Tejada and Matias Aguayo for keeping me rocking until the time came. Tejada, with an emphatic minimal techno set that would lead me to buying every single record played if I had a way of finding out, and Aguayo with a unique vocal-looping-latin-inspired performance that kept the energy rolling. Listen to Tejada’s set here.

Fehlmann arrived on cue at 5am and with a half-empty club, proceeded to rip the place apart with edits of his own productions on the likes of ‘Gute Luft’. Again, Fehlmann gently rocking as he stared into his laptop, only to break out into subtle little arm-dances and cheeky smiles as he realised his beloved following had stayed with him until the very end. Listen to Thomas Fehlmann’s set here.

Sunday. A grand-bient finale. Performances by Raime, The Sight Below, Nosaj Thing.

I was tired by now, but there was one last Optical Showcase and it was set to be a stunner. Arriving early at the infamous Triple Door (it was my first time and is quite a legendary place after hearing many ambient live sets recorded here), I had a brief chat with HC (Headphone Commute) and waited out an unexpected delay to the show as Decibel tried to compensate for Oren Ambarchi’s delayed flight.

My venue inexperience showed as the seats we were given placed us at right-angles with the stage – great for a band, not so good for any AV performance. Raime were up first and the english duo wasted no time in delivering a harrowing soundtrack, whilst hunched over their laptops in the stage’s dark corner. You could tell these two hail from a dubstep background with their subtle appreciation of beats, but the progressive bells and washes were from the (twisted and brilliant) mind of a couple of ambient masters.

After a brief break and a well-deserved Decibel thank-you procession, The Sight Below took centre stage, laden with his laptop, numerous loop pedals and his infamous hoodie. I was lucky to see Rafael perform as himself at Substrata a few months back but i’ve never seen him perform as The Sight Below – the guise which induced my entry into Rafael’s productions. His performance can be summed up pretty simply – #dronelife. Rafael shook The Triple Door to the ground, teetering on the edge of the maximum output, as subtle guitar loops grew into an atmospheric monster. My friend had to leave as he said he was getting heart palpitations – no joke – I wasn’t surprised. This gentle dinner setting was being assaulted by a wonderful, rich ambient performance from Seattle’s finest. The subtle introduction of vocals into the last enveloping track blew my mind, and pretty much everything else in sight.

Oren Ambarchi was due to cap the night but couldn’t make it due to a delayed flight, so Nosaj Thing was lined up at last minute to close proceedings with a debut ambient AV set. I enjoyed it. It was unique and melodic as you’d expect from him, similar to the likes of Sun Glitters and Teen Daze, but I couldn’t help but think Oren’s set would’ve capped this night off perfectly. After The Sight Below, I wanted something dark, dramatic and transcending.  But, i’ve been spoilt and had got used to such perfect programming. Decibel did an amazing job getting Nosaj in at last minute and it was a testament to the hard work put into this festival. For a great in-depth review of the Optical 4 night, have a read of Kexp.

From the showcases, to the set-orders, it was an unbelievable week of music and without a doubt the best ‘city’ festivals I’ve been to. It’s not often you get to see the faces of the grafters, nor is it often you see a festival curator such as Sean Horton at nearly every single performance you go to, running around making things happen. Top this off with a dream lineup and it’s one hell of a festival. I missed out on so much; Machinedrum, Aeroplane, Lorn, Âme, Teen Daze, Lapalux, Cajmere, Gold Panda, Zola Jesus to name just a few sacrifices, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Thank you Decibel for a mind-blowing musical week, and here’s to another ten.

Top 5 festival moments (a list of complete performances was too hard)

1. Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann glancing at each other on stage with total satisfaction and happiness (because I was in it with them!)Main picture.
2. The Sight Below rattling the hell out of The Triple Door. Is it still standing?
3. Peter Broderick freestyle rapping at the end of his performance.
4. Singer, Arnor Dan joining Olafur Arnalds on stage – what a voice.
5. Nils Frahm’s emphatic standing ovation at the Optical Showcase. Grins from ear-to-ear.

Five tips for next year:

1. Get to the venue early if there’s something you really want to see.
2. Avoid the pasta at Lost Lake Cafe opposite Neumos.
3. Try not to get a seat down the side of the Triple Door at any AV led performance.
4. Avoid the Neumos / Q area after 2pm. It’s a war-zone.
5. Don’t take a mate with a dodgy heart to see The Sight Below.

ASIP027 Module - The Frequent Sea

 

The ocean remains one of life’s great intangibles. For me, it’s always been something that conjures family-holiday sentimentality and a vast sense of escape and, even now, every time that first glimpse of coastline pulls into focus, there’s a child-like wonderment will that hasn’t ever dissipated. 

Module aka Jeramiah Ross has a similar fascination with the big blue, and ‘The Frequent Sea’ captures the rhythm of something constant and cyclically serene. It’s a track that builds in lapping swathes, moving with a liquid ebb and flow of breaking waves, and the split-second moment between the rippling aftermath of one cycle, and the insistent, rushing momentum of the next. The rolls and washes, the breaks and the split-second before the retreat and the cycle begins again. It’s perpetual and infinite, 

"I imagine each sound is like layers of clouds and it's rolling over the surface of the water,” he explains “and then it comes rushing in slow motion crashing down creating texture and patterns in the sand. I am inspired by the patterns found in nature and I guess you could say I am using music to express those shapes and movements across the time, light and sound energy fields."

Nils Frahm – Spaces

Nils Frahm is single-handedly responsible for my new-found passion and respect for the piano.

I’ve never been one to proclaim extended knowledge on classical, modern-classical or contemporary music. I’ve always lived on the edge, never quite diving in to something to its fullest and often glancing over reviews, albums or such which covered the genre. I am a big fan of soundtracks for example, but I can never quite imagine the type of person, how many takes, or indeed how many people it took to make such monstrous scores filled with elaborate piano or instrumental pieces. Was it one man? One take? The most talented of the bunch, maybe yes. I don’t know.

I’m also sure there’s many of you out there can point me in the direction of a classical piano genius. From years gone by perhaps. But again, i’ll probably never have the patience to dig through an archive without seeing the substance of the material. It seems that when it comes to this type of music, it’s an experience that I need to live outside of my earphones. I didn’t know this until I went to the Erased Tapes 5th Anniversary show last year, and the likes of Ólafur Arnalds, A Winged Victory For The Sullen and Nils Frahm absolutely blew me away. It was a experience I wouldn’t forget and one that epitomised live performances, especially for this type of music. Nils has it spot on.

“What I love most about playing in front of people has something to do with a certain kind of energy exchange. The attention and appreciation of my audience feeds back into my playing. It really seems as if there is a true and equal give and take between performer and listener, making me aware of how much I depend on my audience. And since the audience is different every night, the music being played will differ too. Every space I performed in has its own magic and spirit.” – Nils Frahm

Two-years in the making, across various performances and using a multitude of recording devices including old portable reel-to-reel recorders and cassette tape decks, we have ‘Spaces’ – an ode to the live performance. An album that sits halfway in-between a non-stop live recording and a studio produced record, Nils has decided to piece together several live performances which he had referred to as ‘field recordings’, mastered by Mandy Parnell to form a beautiful insight into the world of improvisation and the talent that Nils adorns, and has grown upon these past few years.

So how do you translate experiences into a recorded piece? Nils and Mandy have kept this record as it should be, relatively untouched from the original recordings. Whilst sounding polished, they’ve decided to keep in many of the surprise moments that were captured during the performances including the toilet brush incident – a moment I remember, where Nils began to bang the brush against the piano strings. And as one track details, some accompanying laughs, coughs and a cell phone. But this audible distraction just adds to the pleasurable contradiction in sound; rumbling piano tones backed by subtle ambience transports you to the moment.

‘An Aborted Beginning’ grabs your attention and settles you in for the ride. It’s an apt title for a track which is probably a misguided direction for the remainder of the album. Heavy echoing percussion is quickly followed by the familiar gentle, progressive stance of ‘Says’ – an outer-space experience that gently meanders, changing in tone across an epic seven minutes until pounding keys destroy every sensory experience for the final minute.

I’ll never forget watching Nils at the beginning of ‘Said and Done’ – wondering how he kept that consistent, heavy piano chord rolling throughout the track. Not a single slipped note or timing adjustment. Like a performance split straight down the middle, ‘Said and Done’ could be misconstrued as two people playing against each other. On one side, drama, on the other a floating melody. In any other recording I would’ve imagined two people playing this, but it was just the one… at 5.41 my mind was blown i didn’t know where else this could possibly go or how much energy Nils had left. But the track still had more.

Nils Frahm – Said And Done (live at Haldern Pop Festival 2010) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo.

‘Went Missing’ is the deserved shuffle back into your seat. The love-story, the soundtrack and the peaceful relinquish from ‘Said and Done’ and the mid-ground before the more evocative ‘Familiar’. By now, Nils’ has paced himself well and you’re truly addicted to the developing story-line. And like all good tales, the unexpected keeps you hooked.

The ‘Improvisation For Coughs And A Cell Phone’ does just that. Making sense of the grand-piano and warming the notes for the crescendo in ‘Hammers’. Nils’ head is down and beads of sweat struggle to hang on to a forehead and body pulled apart by hands of their own stretched out across two pianos. Again, Nils has managed to transform into a machine; an emphatic, relentless machine that is somehow producing a dream-state for every single person in the room, ended deservedly by a raucous applause.

Return of the synths and the familiar ‘For‘; a favourite of mine, I cannot express how good this sounds rattling around a performance space. Easing into ‘Peter’, the toilet brush incident and ‘More’, if you’ve watched any performances of Nils on Youtube or similar then you’ll recognise much of this. Again, a sight to behold as Nils is split in two, in a world of his own yet reflecting against an audience waiting with baited breath for any give on this relentless piano assault.

And then the most beautiful yet; ‘Over There, It’s Raining’. I’m pretty speechless at this point – just an absolutely stunning piece of music that melts every single part of you. Continuing this theme is ‘Unter—Tristana—Ambre’ with it’s reflective soundtrack moments in ‘Tristana’, the more sincere ‘Unter’ and a perfect, complimentary ending in ‘Ambre’.

The end of the record, and you’d be expecting either a majestic sign-off or a heart-wrenching melody but instead Nils opts for a contemplative and unique piece in ‘Ross’s Harmonium’. Perhaps to keep the audience guessing, maybe a nod towards more of what’s to come. I feel like Nils has opened up his world only to leave the door slightly ajar, with a glimmer of light creeping through from a low sunset, and the camera backing slowly into the dark.

This album wasn’t recorded as one, and is made-up of many different experiences and interpretations over many months. But you feel like you’ve been there with him. The roller-coaster of emotion this album invokes is like no other, and luckily for me, I now have the perfect memento to that very special night last October I watched Nils play, control and orchestrate his way into hundred’s of peoples musical minds and memories.

‘Spaces’ will be released in the form of a CD, 2xLP and Download on November 18, 2013 via Erased Tapes. Nils will also be performing at Decibel Festival next week as part of the Optical Showcase where i’m due to ask him a few question so please comment below if you have anything you’d like answered from the maestro himself.

‘Spaces’ tracklist:
1. An Aborted Beginning
2. Says
3. Said And Done
4. Went Missing
5. Familiar
6. Improvisation For Coughs And A Cell Phone
7. Hammers
8. For—Peter—Toilet Brushes—More
9. Over There, It’s Raining
10. Unter—Tristana—Ambre
11. Ross’s Harmonium

Nils Frahm - Spaces (Official Album Teaser) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo.

Passing by: Arovane, dalot, Petar Dundov, Fibreforms, Heathered Pearls & Leandro Fresco

Arovane – Ve Palor
I’m quite surprised I haven’t seen a trending topic on twitter or something after n5MD announced the legendary Arovane would be returning to production duties… This is big news! Fans of electronica have long felt his absence. The likes of n5MD’s Loess, and Crisopa have done well to fill the void of Arovane’s glitches, but his return is more than welcome. What to expect? Everything you wanted I guess. The formula remains the same – but the music is reinvented. Nine years is a long-time to be away but when you’re this good, time is irrelevant. Melodic, complex stuttering beats, the kind of music that good headphones appreciate and the mind struggles to comprehend. Available to pre-order on limited edition red vinyl via n5MD.

dalot – Ancestors
ASIP Uncharted Places remixer and (soon to be released) Places Series contributor dalot has been busy recently. First, her ‘Hands’ EP and now this stunning release on n5MD. The title track is emotional, delicate and haunting at the same time. But when the bvdub remix takes center stage and the strings come out to play, the original is taken into a whole new world – as you’d expect from Brock. Izumi Suzuki’s (Linda Bjalla’s) vocals compliment bvdubs more recent style featuring a host of vocalists and this one is no different, complementing the beautiful original.

But what really connects, is the story behind the EP and the emotion felt in the title track (both the original and Brock’s remix). “In December 2012, I spent two weeks going through and sorting out the photographs, notebooks and paper clippings found scattered in the drawers of my grandfather’s desk that was left untouched since 1996. ‘Ancestors’ is a reconstruction of fragments, not concerned with the accuracy of images and moments but with opening up the flood of memory mechanics to imagination and transformation”.

Northcape also features as remixer on the release (i’m a big fan and he is a great addition to a wonderful EP. Northcape’s take is more electronic focused, the vocal is reduced and the melody given space to shine through. ‘Ancestors’ EP will be available through n5MD on October 15th.

Petar Dundov – Sailing Off The Grid 
Petar Dundov returns after his rather magical album Ideas From The Pond with a similar stance of synth heavy electronic music. Progressive and expansive, i’m yet to identify any other producers who aren’t afraid to develop such a retro sound within today’s often hideous genre boundaries. The full album is available to stream below.

Fibreforms – Treedrums
“Long before KILN (Ghostly) turned to the sunset-soaked textures of Dusker, and the sonic-carousels of “Thermals”, they made music as fibreforms”. This new release on Infraction Records (the great repository for Parks first releases) is another gem that deserves more of an audience. Combining ambient, melodic guitars and addictive melodies spread across slowly developing drums, this is reminiscent of the kind of guitar combos you’d find from early Jonas Munk, but a little less psychedelic. In fact, this would be amazing to hear live. Buy the CD at Infraction Records.

Heathered Pearls – Loyal (reworks) 
Jakub’s ‘Loyal’ LP was a confident jump into the ambient lovers realm – a unique, fuzzy approach to some of the most relaxing and immersive music i’ve heard recently. Now, nearly one year later Ghostly returns with a set of amazing remixes of the album featuring Markus Guentner, Teen Daze, Sun Glitters and Loscil. The one that surprised me though, is the very first track – The Foxes in Fiction Tape remix – stunning!! Available at Ghostly.

Leandro Fresco – Egg Box 007
And lastly, our very own Leandro Fresco has an insightful interview for Relevant BCN and an accompanying mix. Find out about his relationship with Kompakt and news of an upcoming album whilst listening to Arovane, Marsen Jules, Boards of Canada and many of his own works. See the interview and original post here.

Main photograph / Eagle Creek