In their project "Ferntrompeten" eletronic musician and sound poet Marsen Jules and jazz trumpetplayer John Dennis Renken explore the fields of ambient, avandgarde electronic and modern jazz in an exciting live performance.

www.marsenjules.de

Marsen Jules & John Dennis Renken present  "Ferntrompeten" Live-Preview 2014

It is an absolute delight to announce @daigohanada's new LP Satori, which we'll release in March of next year. It's hard not to overstate how special Daigo is as a person and musician ; his care and thoughtfulness shine through every interaction and every note chosen on the piano, synth or organ. He's been writing material for Satori over the last couple years and the collection of 13 pieces is an intimate invitation into his world, infused with hopeful melodies and a soulful vulnerability. We'll be telling you lots more about it over the coming months, and you can discover the album track 'Emi' now right here: https://idol.lnk.to/dh-emi

Big thanks to Andrea Diotallevi for the lovely artwork and to Martyn Heyne for the tasteful master. With such great audiovisual collaborators we've prepared beautiful pressings of the LP in vinyl & CD format - which we'll share with you early in the new year!

Satori

⊜ spotify

Daigo Hanada - Emi

Waterpane

Since Fifteen

Bonus Track from the album 'The Journey Tapes' (Moderna Records, 2016).

Written by Ed Carlsen for Piano Day 2016

Hundrede Træer (Piano Day 2016)

from 'Intervals' (Piano Day 2018 compilation)

Download/Buy: https://modernarecords.bandcamp.com/album/intervals

Composition and production: Jacob David

Violins: Madeleine Rygner Holm & Zerlina Rigmor Rygner
Viola: Marianne Rygner
Cello: Nicolaus Tamino Rygner
Piano: Jacob David 

Mix: Thomas Haahr

Loft

Download

Jacob David - Loft

Tom Hodge & Franz Kirmann pair up once more to work on a gorgeous soundtrack for a documentary about the most popular musical star in Tunisian history. Being a work about a man and his music, the choice for a film score is carefully made, not just by the composers, but by the producers who chose to invite Hodge and Kirmann into their very personal work - British-Tunisian filmmaker Claire Belhassine’s feature The Man Behind The Microphone revolves around her discovery in her 30s that it is her grandfather, Heidi Jouini, who is a worshipped superstar in her home country, known as the "Frank Sinatra of Tunisia". Headphone Commute, in partnership with 1631 Recordings, on which this OST will be released, is proud to premiere the opening track.

The Man Behind The Microphone OST

TRACK PREMIERE : Tom Hodge & Franz Kirmann - The Man Behind The Microphone Part 1

1631 Recordings is proud to release the original score for the indie documentary “The Man Behind The Microphone” composed by Tom Hodge and Franz Kirmann.

Directed by Claire Belhassine and produced by Claire de Lune Films and Roast Beef/Nutopia, The Man Behind The Microphone starts from a very personal story (the British director found out by chance in her early 30s that her grandfather was a legend of Tunisian music, the ‘Frank Sinatra’ of Tunisia) and turns into a family saga and a reflection on the nature of fame, culture, heritage and homeland.

Tom Hodge and Franz Kirmann have worked collaboratively over the past 10 years and have released three albums together under the guise of their post-classical/electronic moniker Piano Interrupted. This is their  second soundtrack together, having composed the score to BBC One series McMafia earlier this year.

The Man Behind The Microphone took several years to complete and Kirmann & Hodge were involved early on, sketching compositions loosely inspired by some of Hédi Jouini’s own music. Sometimes they would sample a small musical phrase from his old recordings or write harmonies and chords in a relative key to use as a starting point for their pieces. Their score echoes the melancholy and investigative nature of Claire Belhassine’s quest for her grandfather and the mysterious and fragmented aspects of the story.

Kirmann’s vaporous electronics and Hodge’s ghostly piano and clarinet lines are mixed with earthy analog synth basses and a string quartet provided by the London Contemporary Orchestra. The soundtrack is a melancholic and dreamy journey over 9 pieces, oscillating between post classical, minimalist and ambient music.

“There is a real sense of culmination about this soundtrack. In one way way it is our very first score, as it started long before McMafia. But even more so, you might say it is simultaneously our first and last Piano Interrupted record, or our very first collaboration even. Our album Two By Four was strongly influenced by our work on the prototype of this film and the sound of Papa Hedi. Yet because of the longevity of this film project, our combined musical voice has been profoundly altered by our work on our other two Piano Interrupted albums, as well as the four hours of score we wrote for McMafia. Here we are, full circle.”

www.1631recordings.bandcamp.com

The Man Behind The Microphone

Tom Hodge & Franz Kirmann - Ghost Of My Grandfather

This June 7th, we're releasing Tom Adams' LP 'Particles' - a series of explorations for piano & electronics. 

▶ CD/DL pre-order + stream the lead single : https://orcd.co/tomadamsparticles

The Berlin based producer and songwriter originally did a small 'soundcloud only' self-release of the record in 2014, and we were stunned by the singular vision and voice present in each of the album's explorations. We're very pleased to be giving this record a worldwide release in CD format and on all digital platforms, with a new master by fellow Berliner / sound artist Martyn Heyne.

Particles

Particle VI

buy/stream 'Particles'

Tom Adams - Particle VI (Shadow & Light)

September 20th marks the 30th birthday of Berlin pianist Nils Frahm, but also the day he has chosen to give his fans a special gift in the form of 9 songs he recorded with 9 fingers, entitled 'Screws'.

Nils experienced an unfortunate accident which saw him fall from his bunk bed located directly above his studio, which resulted in a broken thumb. But through inspiration from his fans and after a gentle walk and talk through the park with a close friend, he decided to deal with the situation in the only way he knew – playing his piano.

With four screws surgically placed inside his thumb, he started recording with his remaining 9 fingers, what later resulted in 9 intimate piano recordings.

Fans can download 'Screws' as mp3s or in full 24-bit 44.100 kHz audio quality here (http://screws.durtonstudio.com), and pre-order a Vinyl/CD edition from the Erased Tapes online store (http://erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP046), which will be released later this year.

'I am sitting in front of a sheet of paper. My right hand is bending over my left thumb. The first day I got out of my cast I could bend it by 15°. Now I am already at 50° and that makes me happy. Things are going uphill...

As you can imagine, it is really bad news for a pianist when he gets diagnosed with a broken thumb. That day I was sitting in the emergency room, feeling rather dizzy while thinking of a zillion shows coming up and all the people involved around it. I realised in that moment how busy things have become. It is hard to turn down interesting projects and opportunities, since I surely love my work. It actually never felt like work. Playing piano and playing it for wonderful people is the greatest joy I can imagine.

For a couple of days I felt like this all could be over. How pathetic. But hey – also feeling sorry for yourself has its place somewhere. All of a sudden I had so much time, an unexpected holiday. I cancelled most of my schedule and found myself being a little bored. Even though my doctor told me not to touch a piano for a while, I just couldn't resist. I started playing a silent song with 4 fingers on my left and the remaining 5 on my right hand. I set up one microphone and recorded another tune every other night before falling asleep.

The day I got rid of my cast I had recorded 9 little tunes. They have helped me feel less annoyed about my accident and reminded me that any good is something I can only achieve, when I am making the most out of what I've got.

Thank you all for listening!

With lots of love,

Nils


9FINGERS North American Tour 2012

09/16 New York (US) – West Park Presbyterian Church 
09/21 Boulder (US) – Cherryvale Studios
09/22 Colorado Springs (US) – The Mesa
09/23 Santa Fe (US) – O'Shaughnessy Performance Space @ Santa Fe Uni
09/24 San Fransisco (US) – private show (RSVP only)
09/29 Seattle (US) – Decibel Festival @ Broadway Performance Hall
09/30 Portland (US) – Classic Pianos
10/03 Mexico City (MX) – Mutek

ERASED TAPES 5th Anniversary Tour w/ Ólafur Arnalds & A Winged Victory For The Sullen

10/08 HAMBURG (DE) – Fliegende Bauten
10/09 PRAGUE (CZ) – Palac Akropolis
10/10 BUDAPEST (HU) – Trafo
10/11 MANNHEIM (DE) – Alte Feuerwache
10/13-14 BERLIN (DE) – Radialsystem
10/15 AMSTERDAM (NL) – Paradiso
10/16-17 LEUVEN (BE) – Stuk
10/18 LONDON (UK) – Hackney Empire
10/19-20 ISTANBUL (TR) – Salon IKSV

PREVIOUS PRESS:

'No. 42 Best Albums Of 2011' -The Guardian
'Felt is a transportative album, a balm for troubled minds.' BBC Music
'Frahm’s hyper-intimate recording technique for the album makes Felt a captivating listen' (9/10) DIS

★ ★ ★ ★ – Popmatters ★ ★ ★ ★ – Uncut ★ ★ ★ ★ – Clash ★ ★ ★ ★ – Mojo

OFFICIAL WEBSITES: screws.durtonstudio.com · facebook.com/nilsfrahm · twitter.com/nilsfrahm · erasedtapes.com

Screws

Buy CD/LP/DL

Nils Frahm - Me

The music of Christoph Berg is the soundtrack for many moments in my daily life. He is my beloved mate and friend from Berlin and i did this track to feel much more connected with him. Enjoy. 

Field Rotation - Sleepless rework by Hior Chronik

say hello / licensing / demos 
modernarecords@gmail.com

We're here to trace a line from electronic sound designers to classical composers, connecting them through the realms of ambient & cinematic music.