Forbidden Fruit

Nils Frahm writes his first score for one-take feature film ‘Victoria’ and is nominated for German film prize

LABEL: Erased Tapes RELEASE DATE: June 15th, 2015 CAT.NO: ERATP071 CD/LP/DL EAN: 4050486110577

ABOUT:
Nils Frahm has always said that he’s just waiting for something real special when being asked if he would ever score the music for a film. And that’s exactly what German director Sebastian Schipper presented to him with his one-take feature ‘Victoria’. Filmed in Berlin, Victoria’s plot sees a runaway party girl, who's asked by three friendly men to join them as they hit the town, but their wild night of partying suddenly turns into a bank robbery as the music changes from techno to subdued piano sounds.

For the recording session at Studio P4 in Berlin, Frahm enlisted the help of long-time collaborator and cellist Anne Müller, violist Viktor Orri Árnason and ambient artist Erik K. Skodvin of Deaf Center on guitar.

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

Dear viewer and listener,

I’ve finally written music for a film. It took me some time to do so, as I was patiently waiting for a movie that would truly speak to me. When director Sebastian Schipper invited me to work on Victoria, I knew it was worth the long wait. Does such a strong film even need music? I realised it wouldn’t be easy to create a score that embraces these bold pictures.

Luckily we were given unusual creative freedom by approaching the movie together with Sebastian Schipper, who was keeping the production and direction to one single team. The score was recorded in a special location, the former GDR broadcasting production facilities that today host Studio P4. We simply put a big screen in the middle of the room, filled it with microphones and instruments, set the movie on loop and kept improvising on top of it together – my good friends and I.

The guest musicians started their recording session by playing a cohesive take over the course of the whole movie. This was the most interesting part of the day, since they hadn’t seen the film before. They became spectators and creators at once, intuitively recording hundreds of different cues that way. You are about to listen to some of its highlights. I hope they do Victoria and your ears justice.

With love, Nils Frahm

‘Music for the Motion Picture Victoria’ will be released by Erased Tapes on LP/CD/Digital June 15th.

‘Victoria’ won the Berlinale Film Festival prize for Best Cinematography and has also received seven nominations including Best Soundtrack for the Deutscher Filmpreis – Germany’s highest movie award, and will be released in cinemas across Germany on June 11th with plans to release it in the UK and other countries soon.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK:

The cover illustration was drawn by Stephanie Franziska Scholz based on a still from a key scene in the film, with additional design by Torsten Posselt at FELD.

TRACK LISTING:

1 Burn With Me (Victoria Edit) by DJ Koze 2 Our Own Roof 3 A Stolen Car 4 In The Parking Garage 5 Them 6 The Bank 7 The Shooting 8 Nobody Knows Who You Are 9 Pendulum

The soundtrack opens with an edit of ‘Burn With Me’ by German producer DJ Koze. The digital Bonus Track Version features a previously unreleased track by Hamburg’s electro-punks Deichkind titled ‘Happy New Fear’ plus an additional DJ Koze track titled ‘Marilyn Whirlwind’ from his 2013 album.

PRESS:

‘Frahm's soothing electro-orchestral pieces prove especially effective, washing over the throbbing dance beats like a flood of endorphins.’ – Hollywood Reporter

‘Nils Frahm’s score is an equally flexible asset, veering from juddering electronic chaos to dreamy intrusions of piano and cello — a sonic approximation of the alternating noise in the title character’s wrecked head.’ – Variety

OFFICIAL WEBSITES: nilsfrahm.com · facebook.com/nilsfrahm · twitter.com/nilsfrahm · erasedtapes.com

Music for the Motion Picture Victoria

Our Own Roof

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Nils Frahm – Our Own Roof

Order 7"/DL here: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP073
or via iTunes: http://snip.ftpromo.net/lifestoryloveandglory

Erased Tapes artists and friends Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm have separately carved out a musical career that defies genres both with their unique live shows and a loyal fan base that’s always eager to hear what their prolific output will bring. 

Their latest collaborative 2-track release ‘Life Story Love and Glory’ is a live improv affair on two pianos, recorded in 2012 at Nils’s Durton Studio in Berlin. Fans may wonder why they have waited until 2015 to release these tracks, but having revealed a new website www.arnaldsfrahm.com you may think this may not be the end to their musical story this year. 

“We would meet in Reykjavik or Berlin with the intention to share some days off work, hiking, swimming or eating pizza. That is great for a couple days, but after a while we would always end up back in the studio, fiddling with synths or pianos.” – Nils Frahm 
“You can hear in the beginning of ‘Life Story’ how I have already started playing the piano whilst Nils is still moving microphones around and preparing everything. It was all kept in!“ – Ólafur Arnalds 

‘Life Story Love and Glory’ will be released as a 7” on Erased Tapes – exclusively through record stores only on August 21, 2015 ahead of its digital release later on – as an ode to this classic and beloved format. 

More info: www.arnaldsfrahm.com · www.erasedtapes.com

Life Story Love And Glory

Life Story

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Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – Life Story

‘Loon’ will be released on Erased Tapes as a 12” vinyl as well as digitally on October 2nd. 
Pre-order it here: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP072
or via iTunes: http://snip.ftpromo.net/loon

Containing five synthesiser-led pieces, ‘Loon’ was recorded in autumn 2014 across five days at Nils’s Durton Studio in Berlin, and continues on from the ambient sounds of ‘Stare’ but with the addition of more percussive elements and dub influences. For this new EP the duo wired an Oberheim 4 Voice and a Korg PS3100 to the mixing desk and performed live takes on both instruments. With all four hands on its pots, all mixes were recorded straight onto 2-track ½-inch tape.

Like on ‘Stare’, their first collaborative affair in 2012, they simply followed what was laying in front of them, and this time they were driven by some new synths, a kick drum and tape effects. Indulging in dub, the tracks where all performed rather than engineered, with Ólafur riding a few elements on faders and Nils bringing effects in and out. After running several mixes, they went for the five strongest moments from this session. The release was announced on a joint website www.arnaldsfrahm.com together with the launch of an intimate 45-minute studio film titled ‘Trance Frendz’, featuring another seven improvisations.

“Nils got some new synths and we thought we’d try them out. We loved them so much that we didn’t actually end up using anything else to make these songs.” – Ólafur Arnalds

“When I was young I was smuggled to Goa parties by my brother. The music played there in the late nineties had a somewhat deep effect on me. ‘Loon’ is almost a blurry memory of these times. In other words, it is what I’d like to remember that music sounded like back then. In fact it sounded probably really cheesy.” – Nils Frahm

Loon

Four

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Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – Four

Marko Djukic - Dry

Pre-order the 'Swept EP' on 12"/DL: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP078
or via iTunes: snip.ftpromo.net/sweptep

Following on from their Record Store Day ‘Looped EP’ release, which featured remixes by Dauwd and Lubomyr Melnyk, Kiasmos – made up of Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen – return with three new tracks and a remix by Tale Of Us.

Recorded in various locations including Reykjavík and Berlin, the EP opens with ‘Drawn’, a four-minute percussion fuelled track with gentle piano motifs. ‘Gaunt’ features the addition of ambient synths and a drum loop, underpinned by slow-moving chords. Title track ‘Swept’ which the duo offered to fans as a surprise gift in form of a free download card at previous show dates, showcases a more club-oriented beat structure alongside Kiasmos’ signature emotive instrumentation. 
 
Closing the EP is a remix from Berlin-based duo Tale of Us who met Kiasmos in London and twist the original downbeat title track
into their distinctively dark aesthetic. Pulsating hats and a driving bass loop add pace as the track builds toward an epic breakdown.

The ‘Swept EP’ will be released on 12”/DL via Erased Tapes on November 20th, 2015.

Kiasmos - Swept (Tale Of Us Remix)

Available here:
https://davidaugust.lnk.to/jby-ouvert

Counter Records (Ninja Tune)

Digital (‘J.B.Y./OUVERT' Out Now)
 12” (‘J.B.Y./OUVERT' - Out 27 May 2016)

Picture by Linn Kuhlmann

Marko Djukic - Dry

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