Silently Drawn

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See things that others don’t

See things that others don’t (From The Original Motion Picture "Hamnet")

This is my first composition using the Max Richter Piano from SRM Sounds, and Nashville Scoring Strings on Cinesamples Musio.

Art work and Music © 2025 Roger Hooper

WINTER MORN

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i can still see the road through my tears.

01 John (but my friends call me Dante) - Thirteen Times - Thank You for Coming to My Ted Talk

Pre-order 'Trance Frendz' on LP/DL: www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP081
or digitally iTunes: snip.ftpromo.net/trancefrendz

Having been available exclusively as the second disc to 2015's 'Collaborative Works', Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm's improvised audio recordings 'Trance Frendz', taken from their 45-minute studio film of the same name, have been given their own vinyl release – out March 4th, 2016.

Prior to a string of collaborative Erased Tapes releases, which include 2012's 'Stare' 10” and last year’s 'Life Story Love and Glory' 7” and 'Loon' 12” – compiled on the 'Collaborative Works' 2-CD set, Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm spent many hours together in their studios across Berlin and Reykjavik. Both have carved out genre-defying musical careers and formed unique live shows, creating a fan base loyal to their prolific output.

During a session at Durton Studio in Berlin last summer, Nils and Ólafur invited Alexander Schneider and his camera to document it. The recording continued long after the first take, stretching out into the next day until, eventually, several new improvisations had been recorded in 8 hours with no overdubs or edits. The unexpected nature in which these pieces had been created was reminiscent of their first on-stage improvisation many years ago. It became immediately clear how special these songs were.

"At the end of the night we had all this music that sounded unfamiliar even to us, loudly asking to be included in this collection.”

Originally made available as a 45-minute film on their joint website (www.arnaldsfrahm.com) last September, 'Trance Frendz' will be available to own on vinyl from March 4th, 2016.

Press for their 'Collaborative Works':

'A particularly joyous wash of slinky percussion and juddering layers' (8/10) – Clash

'An enchanting listen. The bar for a Lads' Night In has just been raised a few notches' (7/10) – Drowned In Sound

‘This is music for slowing down the pace of modern life... An immersive listening experience is guaranteed, while we must hope Frahm and Arnalds go on ‘holiday’ together more in future, and don’t forget to take their musical instruments.’ ★★★★ – MusicOMH

'A collection of gorgeously intimate piano compositions and eye-opening synth pieces, each never aggressive but always powerfully poignant' (8/10) – Under The Radar

'What Collaborative Works offers is something strange: a shared world created by two mad geniuses. Long may Arnalds and Frahm tinker' (8/10) – PopMatters

'Collaborative Works further proves just how natural a fit Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm are together' – Resident Advisor

Trance Frendz

20:17

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Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm – 20:17

Solo Remains are previously unreleased tracks from Nils Frahm’s album Solo, which was recorded on the M370, the world’s largest piano, built by the visionary piano maker David Klavins in 1987.

Nils fell in love with the sound of this giant and joined David for the new project – building an even higher piano – the Model 450. The aim of it is to explore the not yet reached physical limits of the piano instrument and also to push forward into new musical dimensions. The M450 will be characterized by an even clearer sound with more depth and richness of overtones as well as an unrivaled frequency spectrum and intensity of sound and tone. In time for the 2nd anniversary of Piano Day, Nils decided to give four previously unreleased songs from that very session to his fans and supporters of the Klavins 450 project.

“In the end, every album production leaves you with the same tough task – making the choices for the final track selection. You leave out some tracks for various reasons: some of the tracks are wonderful by themselves, but they simple don’t fit anywhere in the album and others have to be left out because otherwise the vinyl would become too long for a cut in good quality. However, these outtakes are often as important as the final selection and I thought, they might be a great surprise for Piano Day too. I hope in this case, it’s both …”

Solo Remains is available for free download in 24-bit and mp3 format.
http://www.nilsfrahm.com/works/solo-remains/

'roses' is a funeral piece dedicated to my friend’s mother who died from cancer. The ostinato, the repeating single note in the intro, represents her beating heart, and the tumour's presence, sometimes forgotten but still spreading. How do ill people find peace, if they do at all? "roses" is a journey of someone's musical memories, wandering from pop to classical remembrances, concluding on nostalgic harmony. - Jean-Michel Blais (01/25/18)

c‘est une pièce funéraire dédiée à la mère d’une amie qui est décédée d'un cancer.  L’ostinato, la note répétée de l’intro symbolise le battement de son cœur ainsi que la tumeur inquiétante, parfois oubliée, mais toujours présente. Comment les gens malades trouvent-ils la paix, si jamais ils le peuvent? roses est ma tentative de refléter les souvenirs musicaux de quelqu'un, passant de la pop aux souvenirs classiques et se concluant sur l'harmonie nostalgique. - Jean-Michel Blais (01/25/18)

http://jeanmichelblais.com

roses - Single

Jean-Michel Blais "roses"

We made a video for this track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Uoe8tfsbI
While working on my new album, I began to try to write a track which encapsulated in its sound the feeling of something new and being full of hope with #pianoday approaching. Around the same time I discovered this beautiful old word in a twitter feed from Susie Dent, and it was perfect for the emotion in this track being created. 'Respair' means fresh hope and a recovery from despair.  The Piano is very much celebrated in this piece by it's background role as a continuous, percussive-like sound, providing a platform for the other instruments to dance upon. I also wanted to use the Piano to somehow gently lead the piece through its chord changes, establishing the mood, as an ode to the way I like to work with piano in my music. 

Credits:
Artwork - Pure Romance by TB Ward (2017 oil on linen)
Piano, electric organ, xylophone - Joel Pike
Violin, Viola - Faith Brackenbury
Written, recorded and produced by Joel Pike.
Mastered by Stavros Kokkinos.

Respair

Reconnect with the simplest things: presence, nature, the passing of time; yourself.

MANAGEMENT /// contact@lysten.me
BOOKING /// sylvain@podium.agency and antoine@podium.agency/

IT FLOWS

Lysten

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