01 Nils Frahm 4:33 (Exclusive John Cage Cover Version)

02 The Baka Forest People Of South-East Cameroon Liquindi 2

03 Carl Oesterhelt/Johannes Enders
Divertimento Fr Tenorsaxophon Und Kleines Ensemble Part 4
04 Four Tet 0181 (excerpt)
05 Gene Autry Youre The Only Star (Nils Frahms 78 Recording)
06 Boards of Canada In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country
07 Bibio It Was Willow
08 Dictaphone Peaks
09 Vladimir Horowitz The Flight Of The Bumble Bee
10 Miles Davis Concierto de Aranjuez
11 Victor Silvester Its The Talk Of The Town
(Nils Frahms 78 Recording)
12 System SK20
13 Rhythm & Sound Mango Drive
14 Miles Davis Gnrique
15 Dinu Lipatti O Herr Bleibet Meine Freunde, BWV 147
16 Colin Stetson The Righteous Wrath Of An Honorable Man
17 Penguin Caf Orchestra
Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter
18 Nina Simone Who Knows Where the Time Goes
19 Nina Jurisch Cleo The Cat
20 Dub Tractor Cirkel
21 The Gentlemen Losers Honey Bunch
22 Nils Frahm Them (Solo Piano Edit - Exclusive Version)
23 Cillian Murphy In The Morning
(Exclusive Spoken Word Piece)

Ive really got off on working on compilations lately.

Its such a wonderful way to delve deep into your
music collection. My flat is now crammed with
music media of all stripes, from an old handcranked 78 phonograph player to 45s and albums
on vinyl, my beloved old cassette tape collection,
even MiniDiscs and, lately, WAV and MP3s. Its all
music to me. After spending hours recording from
all of these diverse sources, I started to play around
with the tunes, layering them, sampling, looping
certain parts, extracting phrases and using all the
freedom that this allowed me. If I got a little carried
away or stepped on anyones toes in my quest to do
something interesting and original, then I apologise.
Some things may have accidentally ended up the
wrong speed, while other spooky happenings have
occurred along the way, whether its ghostly
additions of reverb and delay or simply subtle edits
or reproductions, theyve all gone into the magical
stew Ive tried to create for your pleasure and
edification. I cant tell you how much fun Ive had
creating this compilation for you, and I hope it will
be a nice journey for your mind and heart.
Nils Frahm
July 2015

Where to start with a man like Nils Frahm? To which

fatuous category might one place him, since they all
seem so hopelessly inadequate? He is a classical
composer, yet he isnt really. Hes an electronic
musician, sort of. Hes an improviser, for sure, one of
musics true searchers, looking for something he may
never find. Meanwhile, were all there to join him for
the thrilling ride, strapped down to his Fender Rhodes,
hoping not to crash.
Hamburg-born and Berlin-based Nils Frahms career
path seemed pre-ordained from a young age. His
household was awash with Manfred Eichers ECM
releases thanks to his father Klaus, a freelance
photographer who provided pictures for several record
covers. While other teenagers were lusting over
pictures of Boyz II Men, Nils was comparing the
relative merits of Keith Jarrett and Arvo Prt. An early
obsession with the recording process, clearly evident
both here and on his own recordings, suggests
someone equally driven and inspired by the world of
sound. His debut album, Streichelfisch, was released
in 2005, but the inexorable trajectory of his career
began with his first studio outing for Erased Tapes,
Felt, followed by the brilliant Spaces, a collection of
his extraordinary live performances from which much
of the interest in Frahm derives.
This mix haunts and beguiles, lilts and jolts, darting
from leftfield composers like John Cage to 50s British
dance band leader Victor Silvester or RimskyKorsakov and back to Miles Davis, via Rhythm &
Sound. Somehow, it all makes sense. Its not mixing,
so much as gently layering, like a particularly fluffy
goose-down duvet folding in on itself, the folds part of
the attraction, the layers part of the overall picture
being painted.

Many of the tracks have been pulled apart, edited, broken

and re-made or fiddled with. The subtly overdubbed parts
on Mango Drive adding to the haunting hypnosis, while
choral interruptions aid Miles Davis Gnrique on its
journey towards the light. Meanwhile, on Boards Of
Canadas In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, the
tempo is somewhat sluggish, the organs slurred, as Frahm
slows it down to a funereal 33rpm that nevertheless fits
perfectly.
Gene Autrys Youre The Only Star, a country tune that
sounds like its transmitting from a mid-west diner wireless
circa 1947, is straight from the soundtrack to an imaginary
David Lynch movie, comforting and dismaying all at once.

This crackly reality abounds, as on Finnish band The

Gentleman Losers Honey Bunch, that adds an unsettling
texture, with a sound that is modern but as nostalgic as a
pot of tea, warming by the hearth on a Sunday evening.
You can almost see the sound, its so suggestive.
But this is not sound design. Its a sound sculpture, hewn
from the fervid imagination of Nils Frahm. Delicately
chipping away at the fragments of melody, shards of
sound, hypnosis via the black and white of the piano key.
Here he comes. All bow down and hold on tight.
Bill Brewster

01. Nils Frahm.

4:33

Written by John Cage.

Published by Copyright Control.
p 2015 Nils Frahm.
This rework could be considered
a joke. I sat at the piano in
silence and worked from there.
I listened and took in the
atmosphere and this is what
came out of it. Of course, it
doesnt do Cage justice, but it
was more fun playing rather
than sitting in silence.

02. The Baka Forest

People Of South-East
Cameroon.
Liquindi 2

Written by The Baka Forest

People. Published by March
Hare Publishing Ltd. Produced
by Martin Cradick. Remixed by
Martin Cradick. From the album
Voice of the Rainforest
by The Baka Forest People.
p 2013 March Hare Music.
march-hare-music.com.
Licensed courtesy of March
Hare Music.
I have a friend called Laszlo
Szell who is an encyclopaedia
of musical knowledge. When I
started this project I approached
him for some craziness from his
vast music archive and this is
one of the things he sent. Its
women drumming on the
surface of water with their
hands. Simple but truly
compelling. I added some
reverb and bass just to
accentuate its natural power.

05. Gene Autry.

Youre The Only Star

Written by Gene Autry. p 1936.

The fun of hunting for 78s is
that you have to buy blind since
theres often no way of listening
to them. I found this particular
one on a flea market in the
States. Id accumulated a
bunch of these gems, so I dug
out my old phonograph player,
dropped the needle down and
recorded my favourites and this
one stood out. I gave it a
haunting, hypnotic quality with
the judicious use of reverb.

06. Boards of Canada.

In A Beautiful Place Out

In The Country

Written & produced by Sandison

& Eoin. Published by Warp
Music/EMI Music. p 2000 Warp
Records Limited. Licensed
courtesy of Warp Records.
warp.net
Often, the most interesting
things happen quite by accident.
This is one of them. I started to
record my vinyl and went into
the kitchen to make a cup of
coffee and when I returned, I
found Id ripped it at the wrong
speed. But listening back it
sounded too good to press
delete. This band really did
change my life completely when
I discovered them so I hope they
will forgive me this small
indulgence Who am I to mess
with BOC?

03. Carl Oesterhelt/

Johannes Enders.
Divertimento Fr
Tenorsaxophon Und
Kleines Ensemble Part 4

Written by Carl Oesterhelt &

Johannes Enders. Published by
Copyright Control. Produced by
Carl Oesterhelt & Johannes
Enders. p 2010 Alien Transistor.
Licensed courtesy of Alien
Transistor.
These guys come from two
veterans of the famed Weilheim
scene and the album from
which this tune is taken may
well be my favourite German
jazz record of recent years.
Unfortunately, the album
deserves much greater
exposure, hence its inclusion
here.

04. Four Tet.

0181 (excerpt)

Written by Kieran Hebden.

Produced by Kieran Hebden.
Published by Universal Music
Publishing Group. p 2012 Text
Records. Licensed courtesy of
Text Records.
Ive got many Four Tet
recordings and treasure them
tenderly, but I wanted to choose
one that was slightly off the
beaten path. This is an excerpt
from an album that came out
on Text a few years ago, that
seemed to slip under most
peoples radar. I stitched this
together with some other lyrical
pieces that I layered on top.

07. Bibio.

08. Dictaphone.

Written by Stephen Wilkinson.

Published by Dirty Loop Music.
p 2005 Bibio. Licensed courtesy
of Warp Records.

Written by Oliver Doerell,

Piotr Rybkowski, Roger Dring
& Stephan Whrmann. Published
by Copyright Control. Produced
by Dictaphone. p 2004 City
Centre Offices. Licensed courtesy
of City Centre Offices.

It Was Willow

Each part of this mix is

important in some way, whether
its joining two parts together or
bridging from one song to
another, or changing the mood
or direction completely. And
even though Ive only used a
small amount of It Was Willow,
its still just as important as any
other part of the mix, because
ultimately, its about creating
atmosphere and moods with
music and Bibio, especially his
first two albums, does that so
wonderfully.

Peaks

Long before I had moved to

Berlin and got to know him in
person, Dictaphones Oliver
Doerell was one of my musical
idols. There was something
about his sound, both with
Dictaphone and his other act
Swod, that I always held close to
my heart. It truly touched me.
When I discovered that these
guys were contemporaries of
mine and that they lived in Berlin,
it really made me want to move
there to create music the way
they were doing it, too. This song
still stands out as a timeless
classic.

09. Vladimir Horowitz.

The Flight Of The

Bumble Bee

Written by Nikolai RimskyKorsakov. p 1932.

It may seem incongruous amid
the clatter and clang of the
modern electronic recordings
Ive selected, but this recording
has a lightness of touch in the
way that he plays as well as
the speed and pace that, to
me, at least, this fits perfectly
among these contemporary
mavens. Listening to it, youre
left thinking: Holy cow, what a
player!.

10. Miles Davis.

11. Victor Silvester.

12. System.

Written by Joaqun Rodrigo.

Published by MCPS Ltd / Schott
& Co. Ltd (MCPS) / S.G.A.E. /
MCPS Ltd. / Schott & Co. Ltd.
(MCPS). Produced by Teo
Macero. p 1960 Sony Music
Entertainment. Licensed
courtesy of Sony Music
Entertainment UK Limited.

Written by Livingston, Symes &

Neiburg. p 1938.

Written by Anders Remmer,

Jesper Skaaning & Thomas
Knak. p 2002.

Concierto de Aranjuez

As great as Miles Davis obviously

was, this album, Sketches Of
Spain, is at least as much about
the great arranger who worked
with him: Gil Evans. Naturally,
Miles plays great here, but the
contributions that Evans makes
to the overall recording are so
wonderful that Im almost
inclined to think it should have
been a Gil Evans album featuring
Miles Davis. Its an absolute
masterpiece, thats for sure.

13. Rhythm & Sound.

14. Miles Davis.

Written by Mark Ernestus &

Moritz von Oswald. Published by
BCP (UMP). p 2015 Basic
Channel GmbH. Licensed
courtesy of Basic Channel.

Written by Miles Davis.

Published by Edition
Continentale. p 1958 Decca
Records France. Licensed
courtesy of Universal Music
Group Ltd.

Mango Drive

Lets face it, Rhythm & Sound

are the most exciting German
contribution to dub. Theyre
just so brilliant at eking out
compelling sounds from what
seems like so little. Its so
deceptive. If someone put my
arm behind my back and forced
me to pick one, Id say this is my
favourite track of theirs: its a
piece of mighty minimal art.
Its just perfect.

Gnrique

Were back with Miles again.

Im not making any apologies
for that, either. For me, this is
definitely the most listenable
and ageless of Miles records
and probably my favourite jazz
tune. Its such an iconic period
for him, when jazz came
together with the French
nouvelle vague and produced
this soundtrack album. Louis
Malle, Kenny Clarke, Jeanne
Moreau and Miles - you cant
go wrong.

Its The Talk Of The Town

Sometimes when you choose

music, its not for emotional
reason or even logical reasons.
Sometimes a piece of music
just fits, like a hand in a glove.
It could be that its in the same
key, or the same tempo or the
same feel, or there could also be
just that little bit of indefinable
magic to the recording that
makes it just right. And so it is
with Victor Silvester.

SK20

This collaboration project of

talented producers raised the
bar in terms of what Id come to
expect from electronic music,
with these elegantly interwoven
textures and just the way they
seemed to approach musicmaking. Even today Im in awe.

15. Dinu Lipatti.

16. Colin Stetson.

Written by Johann Sebastian

Bach.

Written by Colin Stetson.

Published by Third Side Music.
Produced by Colin Stetson,
Shahzad Ismaily, Vid Cousins &
Ben Frost. p 2011 Constellation.
Licensed courtesy of
Constellation.

O Herr Bleibet Meine

Freunde, BWV 147

I love it when happy accidents

occur, its part of the alchemy
of music making and discovery.
I found this version of what is
probably Bachs most
recognisable song on an old
vinyl album and I really wasnt
expecting much, until I put the
needle on the groove. Now
it almost makes me cry each
time I listen to it and I dont think
theres another recording that
captures the beauty of the piece
quite like this one does.

The Righteous Wrath

Of An Honorable Man

There are few people working

in music today who approach
their instrument in the way that
Colin Stetson does. He plays the
saxophone like nobody else and
somehow transcends what is
possible on that instrument.
I feel like he and I are working
in similar directions on different
instruments, but what we
both have in common is a
determination to try and push the
limit of our instrument as much as
possible. He always is a big
inspiration for me. Also make sure
that you see one of his shows, you
wont believe how great he is.

17. Penguin Caf

Orchestra.
Cutting Branches For
A Temporary Shelter

Written by Jeffes. Published by

Editions Penguin Caf Ltd.
Produced by Simon Jeffes.
Mixed by Colin Green. p 1981
Virgin Records Ltd. Licensed
courtesy of Universal Music
Group Ltd.

18. Nina Simone.

Who Knows Where the

Time Goes

Written by Sandy Denny.

Published by Irving Music Inc.
Produced by Andrew Stroud.
p 2011 Sony Music
Entertainment. Licensed
courtesy of Sony Music
Entertainment UK Limited.

19. Nina Jurisch.

20. Dub Tractor.

Recorded by Nils Frahm.

p 2015 Nils Frahm.

Written by Anders Remmer.

Published by Copyright Control.
Produced by Anders Remmer.
p 2004 City Centre Offices.
Licensed courtesy of City Centre
Offices.

Cleo The Cat

Nina helped me finish this mix

by recording her beautiful cat
Cleo who is a grande dame at
20 years of age. As you can
hear she is very tired.

Is there another band quite like

Penguin Cafe Orchestra? They
mustve travelled to a dreamlike
universe where they plucked
their ideas out of Gods clouds.
This album was produced by
Brian Eno in the early 1980s and
they sounded like no-one else.
They were the first band that
I know of that sounded like an
orchestra even though they
were acting like a rocknroll
band.

This song is just adorable,

especially this live version,
which has this incredible
introduction. The way she holds
herself and talks, you can hear
what a truly special soul Nina
Simone must have been. When
the guitar comes in and she
sings, its completely and
naturally her. She expresses so
much freedom and confidence.
Its between everything: rock,
soul, pop, jazz. Its not a genre,
its just Ninas music.

21. The Gentlemen Losers.

22. Nils Frahm.

23. Cillian Murphy.

Written by Samu Kuukka & Ville

Kuukka. Published by Mute
Song Ltd. Produced by Samu
Kuukka & Ville Kuukka. p 2009
City Centre Offices. Licensed
courtesy of The Gentlemen
Losers.

Written and performed by Nils

Frahm. Published by Manners
McDade Music Publishing Ltd.
Taken from Music For The
Motion Picture Victoria. p 2015
Erased Tapes Records Ltd.
Nils Frahm appears courtesy
of Erased Tapes Records.
Licensed courtesy of Erased
Tapes. www.erasedtapes.com.
www.nilsfrahm.com.

Written by Enda Walsh.

p 2015 Night Time Stories Ltd.

Honey Bunch

Theyre most probably my

favourite discovery from the
past couple of years.
Its two brothers from Finland,
crafting some excellent music
out there. They make just
excellent records. Buy them
and listen for yourself, its really
incredible music which will stay
with you for a long time.

Them (Solo Piano Edit)

This is the main theme from my

first feature film score and it
soundtracks the part where they
finally kiss in the club I soloed
this piano part in the track, and
listening to it on its own, I almost
preferred it to the original
version, so I was pleased that
I had the chance to use this
alternative version on my mix.

In The Morning

When I heard that Cillian was

into my work, I was naturally
very humbled. I cannot thank
him enough to find some
precious time in order to read
this incredible short story for us.
Thank you Cillian, I hope I can
return the favour one day!
So long,
Nils Frahm

Cirkel

The same kind of era as some

of the other electronic tracks
Ive selected: early 2000s.
It sounds like a fantastic parallel
universe, a band playing
acoustic music but in the future
or from a distant galaxy. I could
never quite work out how they
did it. This was exactly what I
was looking for from electronic
music: something that confused
and challenged me. Its a weird
track, but Ive listened to it a
thousand times to try and work
out how they did it. Its one of
the tunes that was key in
propelling me headlong into
trying to make better music.

Late Night Tales would like to thank

Nils Frahm for such a unique take on
our Late Night Tales concept, Felix
Grimm, Robert and Sofia at Erased
Tapes, cheekypaul, Bill Brewster,
Tadas Svilanis, Dan at Tedra, Sam
Chapman, Matt at The Reptile House,
Peter Ashworth, Edwin and all at
N.E.W.S Belgium, Yugo and Shota
and all at Beatink Japan, Jeffrey and
all at Southbound, Tommy and all at
Love Da Records Hong Kong, Ben at
Echo Empire, Mark and all at Republic
Of Music, Pete Norman and all at Finyl
Tweek, Steve Owen and all at iTunes
and last but not least all the labels that
license us their great music to
make these albums what they are.
Cover Photography by Peter Ashworth
(ashworth-photos.com)
Nils Frahm photos by Alex Kozobolis
Design by The Reptile House
(thereptilehouse.net)
Mastering by cheekypaul
Nils Frahm appears courtesy of
Erased Tapes Records.
This Compilation p & c 2015
Night Time Stories Ltd

Jon Hopkins

Franz Ferdinand

Django Django

Bonobo

Ryksopp

Friendly Fires

Metronomy

Automatic Soul
Mixed by Tom Findlay
from Groove Armada

Belle and Sebastian

Volume 2

MGMT

Trentemller

Midlake

The Cinematic Orchestra

Snow Patrol

Arctic Monkeys

Music For Pleasure

Mixed by Tom Findlay
from Groove Armada

Groove Armada

Fatboy Slim

Lindstrm

Nouvelle Vague

Shrigley - Forced To
Speak To Others

Air

Belle & Sebastian

AfterDark : Nocturne
Mixed by Bill Brewster

The Flaming Lips

Four Tet

Turin Brakes

Jamiroquai

Sly & Robbie

Nightmares On Wax

Kid Loco

AfterDark : Nightshift
Mixed by Bill Brewster

Tommy Guerrero

Groove Armada

Zero 7

Rae & Christian

Howie B

Fila Brazillia

Rae & Christian

Mercury Rising

AfterDark
Mixed by Bill Brewster