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Biography

Nils Frahm is a German composer and musician whose work combines acoustic and electronic instruments with a primary focus on pianos and synthesizers. His recordings range from solo and prepared piano compositions to melodic synthesizer pieces, as well as soundtrack work. Frahm's debut LP, Streichelfisch, combining heavy electronic glitch with acoustic instruments, was released in 2005 on his AtelierMusik label. My First EP followed in 2006, and Electric Piano, marking Frahm's shift to piano-based works, arrived in 2008. Two more solo piano works, Wintermusik (on Sonic Pieces) and The Bells (on Kning Disc), were well received. Frahm began collaborating with many electronic and modern classical artists, including F.S. Blumm, Machinefabriek, Peter Broderick, and Anne Müller. The 2011 solo album Felt, featuring heavily atmospheric prepared piano compositions, arrived on Erased Tapes (home to most of Frahm's subsequent releases), along with the synthesizer-based single "Juno." The minimalist piano album Screws followed in 2012, and Frahm collaborated with Ólafur Arnalds on the Stare EP the same year. Juno Reworked, a 12" EP featuring both tracks from the "Juno" single as well as remixes by Luke Abbott and Clark, appeared in 2013.

Spaces, a live album consisting of field recordings of Frahm's performances over the course of two years, appeared toward the end of 2013, and was his most acclaimed recording to date, receiving high praise from numerous publications. His 2015 album, Solo, was initially released for free on March 29, a day Frahm declared to be "World Piano Day." He composed his first film score for the German single-take film Victoria in 2015. Later that year, Frahm produced an eclectic mix as part of the Late Night Tales mix CD series. In early 2016, he revisited his Screws album with Screws Reworked, a selection of remixes from fans and fellow musicians, handpicked by Frahm himself. During the year, R&S released two albums by Nonkeen, an experimental trio consisting of Frahm and childhood friends Frederic Gmeiner and Sepp Singwald. Also during 2016, he released collaborations with Ólafur Arnalds (Trance Frendz), F.S. Blumm (Tag Eins Tag Zwei), and Woodkid (Ellis [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]). After spending two years building a studio in Berlin, Frahm returned with the solo album All Melody in 2018, followed by a world tour. ~ Paul Simpson

Our Review

To record All Melody, Frahm designed his dream studio inside Berlin’s historic Funkhaus complex, rewiring the cables, installing a pipe organ, and building a custom mixing desk. Then, like a kid in a candy store, he created one of his most meticulous and adventurous albums yet. A delicate mix of ambient meditations ("The Whole Universe Wants to be Touched”), wandering piano melodies (“My Friend the Forest”), and staccato, Latin-leaning grooves (“A Place,” “Kaleidoscope"), it’s an absorbing study of atmosphere that's full of surprises.

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