klavier, neoklassik

late night tales and bonobo were pretty much made for each other, it just took them a while to both realise it. stepping forward into the compiler’s spotlight for the 33rd edition is simon green – aka bonobo – a musician, producer and dj perfectly suited to soundtrack an evening spent reclining to some parallel beats.
heavyweight 180 gram double vinyl plus 12x12 inch print of the cover art and download code for the mixed and unmixed tracks.

nils frahm, born in 1982, had an early introduction to music. during his childhood he was taught to play piano by nahum brodski – a student of the last scholar of tschaikowski. it was through this that nils began to immerse himself in the styles of the classical pianists before him as well as contemporary composers. today nils frahm works as an accomplished composer and producer in berlin. in early 2008 he founded durton studio, where he has worked with peter broderick and dustin o’halloran amongst other fellow musicians.
the three instrumentals, which make up his debut release wintermusik are piano led pieces, coloured with occasional celeste and reed organ parts. the record’s equal measures of sorrowful refrains and uplifting passages, combined with a real intimacy that makes for an album you’ll want to return to again and again. the songs were originally intended as a christmas present for friends and family, hence its winter release on erased tapes. the vinyl release includes a download code.

over the past few years orchestral instrumental music from outside the classical establishment has become huge, and neil leiter and margaret hermant of the belgian echo collective have witnessed the evolution and extraordinary rise of this movement right up close. they ve worked with some of the most important players, including stars of the lid, dustin o’halloran and adam wiltze’s a winged victory for the sullen and o’halloran’s solo projects, as well as jóhann jóhannsson. and though the echo collective members themselves very much do come from within the classical music establishment, they don t care which side of the fence they are seen to be on.

after 2016’s mini-album shady and light, composer and guitarist martyn heyne releases his first full-length record electric intervals on the new 7k! imprint. says heyne: the number of parameters that determine a recording appears to be infinite. the mood, instrument, tuning, mics, room, temperature, time of day, all contribute to sound. the magic, once captured, is impossible to recreate. this might seem a hindrance, but it’s really the whole point of recording for me.’ opener ‘carry’, for example, is a composition carefully developed over months with most of the production happening in front of the microphone. ‘wilde wide’, however, was recorded only once as an early-morning improvisation. having worked with dustin o’halloran on the emmy-winning transparent soundtrack and with clarinettist claudio puntin as part of the duo set aglow, heyne’s sound is one of simplified diversity. on his debut album he controls each melody with the precision of a veteran producer.