Official Piano Day 2020 Playlist
Happy Piano Day!

Artwork: Alice Baldwin.

Piano Day 2020 Playlist

Piano

piano days

here's the second round of "good medicine"!

Peace of mind #2

calm

pianoambulance

The new album 'Spaces' out now on CD/2xLP/Digital via Erased Tapes.

EU order link: http://www.erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP055
US order link: http://www.midheaven.com/item/spaces-by-frahm-nils-cd

9/10 Drowned In Sound · 9/10 Clash · 4.5/5 Fact · 4.5/5 Resident Advisor · 9/10 Popmatters · 9/10 The Line Of Best Fit · 8.5/10 Under The Radar · 8/10 Exclaim! ★★★★1/2 Music Omh · ★★★★ The Irish Times · ★★★★ Arts Desk

‘Frahm truly excels’ 9/10 Uncut 
‘Frahm works his magic’ ★★★★ Mojo
‘The infinite elasticity of sound’ 7.8 Pitchfork 
‘Improvisatory, wild, heartfelt’ Interview Magazine
‘A fantastic record’ The Guardian Album of the Week 
‘Frahm creates something mesmerising’ ★★★★ The Observer
‘My favourite new piece of music this year’ Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC 6 Music

erasedtapes.com · nilsfrahm.com

Spaces

Says

Buy 2xLP/CD/DL

Nils Frahm - Says

Nils Frahm – Ambre

￼
The first full track stream from Nils Frahm's new album 'FELT' which will be released worldwide via Erased Tapes on October 10, 2011.



￼
ORDER it on CD/LP/DL here: http://erasedtapes.com/store/index/ERATP033
and receive 2 exclusive outtakes and a limited edition postcard.

LIKE and FOLLOW Nils Frahm here: http://facebook.com/nilsfrahm



￼
★★★★ – MOJO | ★★★★ – CLASH | ★★★★★ – MUSO | 9/10 – Drowned In Sound
★★★★ - ROLLING STONE (Germany) | ★★★★★ – WESTZEIT


￼
CONTEXT: Berlin-based pianist Nils Frahm is already a firebrand in the modern classical world, collaborating with contemporaries such as Peter Broderick, Ólafur Arnalds and Anne Müller. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, played contemplatively and intimately, has won him many fans around the world.

As announced by Drowned In Sound, he finally returns on October 10th 2011 with the successor to his highly acclaimed solo piano works Wintermusik and The Bells. Released on Erased Tapes Records and entitled FELT, the album will coincide with a European tour in November 2011 – a truly memorable and magical live experience.


CONTENT: Having recorded his last album live in a large, reverberant church, Nils Frahm now invites you to put on your headphones and dive into a world of microscopic and delicate sounds – so intimate that you could be sitting beside him.

Recorded late at night in the reflective solitude and silence of his studio in Berlin, Frahm uncovers a new sound and source of inspiration within these peaceful moments:

'Originally I wanted to do my neighbours a favour by damping the sound of my piano. If I want to play piano during the quiet of the night, the only respectful way is by layering thick felt in front of the strings and using very gentle fingers. It was then that I discovered that my piano sounds beautiful with the damper.’

Captivated by this sonic exposition, he placed the microphones so deep inside the piano that they were almost touching the strings. This brought a host of external sounds to the recordings which most producers would try their hardest to hide:

‘I hear myself breathing and panting, the scraping sound of the piano's action and the creaking of my wooden floorboards – all equally as loud as the music. The music becomes a contingency, a chance, an accident within all this rustling. My heart opens and I wonder what exactly it is that makes me feel so happy.’

FELT creates its own personal microcosm, offering a refuge of tender and honest beauty.

A video for the pre-release single UNTER can be watched here:
http://vimeo.com/13833500


￼

Press reactions to his last album THE BELLS:

'The Bells is a record of astonishing beauty' (8/10) – Drowned In Sound  

'Nils Frahm is poised to become something of a sensation' – The Economist's Intelligent Life  

 ‘Emotionally charged piano music which always errs toward the melodic side of melancholy' **** – Mojo  

 ‘If there’s any justice The Bells, along with his recently released Wintermusik set, will expose Frahm to a wider audience, a demographic with a seemingly insatiable appetite for more prime neo-classicism’ – BBC Music  


TRACK LISTING:       1. KEEP 2. LESS 3. FAMILIAR 4. UNTER 5. OLD THOUGHT 6. SNIPPET 7. KIND 8. PAUSE 9. MORE

OFFICIAL WEBSITES:          

WWW.DURTONSTUDIO.COM
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NILSFRAHM
WWW.ERASEDTAPES.COM 


Felt

Nils Frahm - Snippet

From the new album Asperities

http://juliakent.com
http://theleaflabel.com/juliakent
https://www.facebook.com/juliakent.music
https://twitter.com/juliakent

Asperities

Tramontana

Piano: me
Cello: Lee Caspi
Bass: Hana Ito

© Riverse (Ha Thi Hoang), 19 December 2016.

Berlin Train Station (Piano Day 2017) - Acoustic

And our faded memories, we leave behind

Bootsmann

All tracks on Mikrokosmos are recorded on a felted Yamaha P121 Upright Piano.

A Simple Waltz

🙃🎹Piano day 2019!!🎹🎉
Stream on Spotify and more! -> https://fanlink.to/PlinkPlay

🌱And what better way to celebrate our roots then dusting off the 🎼sheet music 🎶 and relearning some of the most important pieces from our youth 🤔

🇫🇷 Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes are two incredibly important pieces to us, and have been for a long time. As we're sure they are for many 😊 When you play them, it really holds up a mirror your craft as a performer, really showing you /and/ the listener what's going on behind the hands 🙌 There's so much s p a c e, that you can't help but reveal yourself in them 🧙‍♂️With the Gymnopédies you play the 🔕silences🔇 as much as you do the sound! How long should a chord last ⏰⁉️ When does it finish saying what it's saying 🙊 Is the melody at the top or dancing between the phrasings of the chords?! It is bare in execution but so so dense in decision, and we've heard so many different ways of playing it! 🌿

The 🗿Gnossiennes🗿 on the other hand school you in your own sense and style of rubato 🏃‍♀️it's like finding ones musical pulse 💙 It evokes such pulsing summation tones between phrasings, that with the wrong pedaling it can be a somewhat unforgiving journey- we tried our best with it haha 🙉

🎵 Set together these two pieces aim to show how we arrived where we are as a player, as well as play homage to the track that started it all, and of course- the Piano itself. Hopefully it will resonate with other like us too- let us know! ✍️ A large motivator too was a friend who's been asking for ten years for us to record a version ⏳ so if you're any requests for 2029 let us know haha 😆 With our next album nearly finished, it felt like a great stop gap to reflect 🔍 on the greats that brought us to where we are, with hopefully our unique and soft take on an old classic! 👩‍🎨

🌚 For all new listeners and old, thank you so, so much! It means to the absoloute world to us that people are tuning in to our little songs- and pushes us forward to do more and more. We hand't expected anything near the engagement we've gotten and it genuinely makes our world a better place. Thank you 🍃

Now...to the album!!

Love love
💙
PP
xx

Plïnkï Pläys: Satie

Trois Gymnopédies: No 1, Lent et douloureux

Everytime You Leave

Everytime You Leave (pianoday 2019)

Taken from the album Inwards.
https://1631recordings.bandcamp.com/album/inwards

Nil Ciuró -  Even

Dearest  - Piano day 2019

In November, Berlin-based cellist and composer Anne Müller released her long awaited astral debut solo album 'Heliopause'. Named after the border of our solar system, the record crosses physical and invisible borders throughout, sending the cello as a typically classical instrument to exciting new and uncharted territory. ⠀

'Heliopause' followed several Erased Tapes releases featuring Anne, including her celebrated collaboration with Nils Frahm titled '7fingers', appearances on Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm’s 'Collaborative Works', Nils Frahm’s 'All Melody' and his acclaimed soundtrack for the film 'Victoria', Lubomyr Melnyk’s 'Fallen Trees', as well as the two bespoke solo pieces Walzer für Robert and Bel Tono for the label’s 5th and 10th anniversary box sets. In fact, a glance at  Müller’s Discogs boasts credits on over 60 releases since she began recording in 2007. 

Classically trained at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts under the renowned cellist and conductor Michael Sanderling, Anne Müller performed as a cellist in many of Berlin’s symphonies for some time before choosing a different path with her music and focussing on novel approaches to classical instrumentation. A profound believer in the power of artistic collaboration, Anne’s skilled cello playing and instinctive composition became extremely sought after. Following her work with Nils Frahm, an enduring partnership with singer-songwriter-composer Agnes Obel ensued, touring for five years together and featuring on two albums (Philharmonics Deluxe Edition and Aventine)and most recently, working with multi-instrumentalist Markus Sieber (aka Aukai) on his 2019 album Reminiscence. In between all this, Müller also co-founded the progressive live project Solo Collective along with violinist/singer Alex Stolze and pianist/conceptual artist Sebastian Reynolds, releasing Solo Collective Part One in 2017.

“Müller is superb” — The Guardian⠀
“Once you’ve reached the edge of the solar system, why rush back to Earth?” — Pitchfork⠀
“A meditative collection of gorgeous cello pieces” — NPR⠀
“Plaintive, lyrical and sporadically sublime” — UncutMagazine ⠀
“A confidently bold and richly detailed effort” (8/10) — Exclaim!
“Heliopause is a work of some sophistication” — Electronic Sound Magazine

Heliopause

Aarhus / Reminiscences

Buy LP/CD/DL

Anne Müller - Aarhus / Reminiscences

On October 4th 2019, Penguin Cafe released 'Handfuls of Night', the highly anticipated follow-up to their much applauded 2017 album 'The Imperfect Sea' 

Using gut-stringed violins, viola, cello, bass, percussion, upright and grand pianos, synthesiser, harmonium and more, Arthur Jeffes and his cohorts have crafted a vivid series of panoramic sonic landscapes, that are as rich in cerebral poignancy as they are in emotional depth.

Bookended by the atmospheric ambient piano pieces ‘Winter Sun’ and ‘Midnight Sun’, the album traverses glacial minimalism with ease, combining their signature contemporary classical panoramas, such as the melancholic yet upbeat lead track ‘At the Top of the Hill, They Stood...’ and the colossal cinematic piece ‘Chapter’, with the crystalline folktronica on ‘Pythagorus on the Line Again’ — a re-visiting and continuation of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s 1993 Union Cafe song on the principles of harmonics.

'Handfuls of Night' began life after Greenpeace commissioned Jeffes to write four pieces of music corresponding to four breeds of penguins, to help raise awareness for the endangered Antarctic seas . A fundraising evening at EartH in Hackney followed, where Penguin Cafe premiered the four songs named after their feathered counterparts to a sold out audience; the rousing contemporary folk inflected ‘Chinstrap’, the mournful and minimalistic ‘Adelie’, stoic and rhythmic ‘The Life of an Emperor’ and the wistful, string-laden ‘Gentoo Origin’.

“Such is its mastery of slowly uncoiling drama you can almost taste the salt in the breeze" ★★★★ — MOJO⠀
⠀
"Arthur Jeffes' music has a direct clarity. Dramatic swells and sweeps showcase the jaw-dropping landscape. Most importantly, though, the music carries an environmental message, which is a critical issue for this generation" — A Closer Listen ⠀
⠀
"One of their most impeccable moments to date" ★★★★ — Music OMH ⠀
⠀
"Elegiac strides across epic landscapes... Arthur Jeffes is doing the legacy of his father proud" — Prog Magazine ⠀
⠀
"Another winner from this group, with Jeffes and company mixing minimalism, folk music and classical string writing into a charming combination” ★★★★ — All About Jazz ⠀
⠀
"A sensitive, frequently lovely follow-up to 2017’s ‘The Imperfect Sea… Handfuls of Night’ conjures pastoral panoramas and weathered vistas" — DJ Magazine⠀

Handfuls of Night

Midnight Sun

Penguin Cafe - Midnight Sun

Woven

The Sun Rose

the sun rose

A selection of electronic emotions. #pianoday2020

STURM - Café 70

complete album here : https://iikki.bandcamp.com/album/cut-off

shift

Aluna

#pianoday2020

Taken from the album 'To Believe (Remixes)', released 6 March on Ninja Tune: http://tco.lnk.to/remixesSo

Follow James Heather -
Spotify: http://found.ee/jheather-sp
Apple Music: http://found.ee/jheather-am
Instagram: http://found.ee/jheather-ig
Facebook: http://found.ee/jheather-fb
Twitter: http://found.ee/jheather-tw
Youtube: http://found.ee/jheather-yt
Soundcloud: http://found.ee/jheather-sc

Follow The Cinematic Orchestra -
Spotify: https://found.ee/tco-sp
Apple Music: https://found.ee/tco-am
Instagram: https://found.ee/tco-ig
Facebook: https://found.ee/tco-fb
Twitter: https://found.ee/tco-tw
Youtube: https://found.ee/tco-yt
Bandcamp: https://found.ee/tco-bc
Soundcloud: https://found.ee/tco-sc

To Believe (Remixes)

A Caged Bird/Imitations of Life (James Heather Rework) [feat. Roots Manuva]

Where 2

originally only released for Piano Day 2020, now  available on  all platforms.

https://linktr.ee/aukai

A Halcyon is a mythical bird said to lay her eggs in a floating nest at sea, during which time it charms the wind and calms the waves. 

www.aukaimusic.com
www.pianoday.org

Halcyon

thesisproject.bandcamp.com/album/thesi…artyn-heyne

Ben Lukas Boysen - editing, zen garden.
Martyn Heyne - guitar, organ.

Composed, mixed, and mastered by Martyn Heyne + Ben Lukas Boysen at Lichte Studio Berlin.
Additional engineering by Matthias H. Franz Hahn. Vinyl cut by Mike Grinser.

Thank You!
Gregory Euclide, Matthias H. Franz Hahn, everyone at Manners McDade, Erased Tapes Records & Publishing, Claudia Gödke, and Karolina Zenobia Heyne.

Dedicated to Frieda and Frau Bellmann.

Thesis 16

& Martyn Heyne - June

To mark this year’s 88th day and as an acknowledgement to these unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in, Piano Day founder, pianist and producer Nils Frahm releases a collection of eight solo piano pieces titled 'Empty'. 

Stream and download 'Empty': https://idol.lnk.to/nils-frahm-empty

Conceived of just before Nils broke his thumb and composed the similarly intimate solo piano album 'Screws', 'Empty' is a soothing vessel of eight simple and serene pieces originally recorded as the music to a short art film he shot with his friend and film director Benoit Toulemonde. Drifting through emotions from the stark and sobering opener 'First Defeat', to the gently euphoric 'No Step On Wing' and the contemplative but hopeful closer 'Black Notes', with its poignant minute of silence, 'Empty' is a comforting score for these turbulent times.

“When I came back from the hospital with a broken thumb and listened to the recordings, I felt they were unfinished. I decided to put them aside and started to work on my small album, 'Screws'. 

Many many other notes of the piano have been struck since these days, and before we all forget about this, I thought it would be a good moment to share these lullabies with you. I hope they help you stay all strong and calm in these days of solitude – despite the hardship, we can discover introspection and reflection unexpectedly. Who knows what it is good for.  
 
Much love, Nils”

Empty

No Step On Wing

Stream & order LP · CD

Nils Frahm - No Step On Wing

Kindred piano lovers Peter Broderick and David Allred have gifted the sheet music for their song Hey Stranger, taken from their collaborative 2017 record Find The Ways. Reminding us of the importance and power of friendship, it was originally performed on double bass, with Peter on violin and the two singing together. David kindly recorded this solo piano version to make it easier for you to follow the notes.

www.allredbroderick.com
www.pianoday.org

Find The Ways

Hey Stranger (Solo Piano Version)

Free sheet music

Allred & Broderick - Hey Stranger (Solo Piano Version)

Pakistani-American avant-composer and drummer of the cult experimental acoustic trio Dawn of Midi, Qasim Naqvi, shares the second single 'Onna at Pulse', taken from his new album 'Beta' — out June 20 to coincide with the first ever Love Record Stores Day, in support of local record shops. 

· support Love Record Stores Day: https://www.loverecordstores.com
· pre-order 'Beta' on limited edition clear LP: https://idol.lnk.to/onna-at-pulse
· watch Qasim perform live from his kitchen: https://youtu.be/Gedfxi28220

One in a series of experiments chronicling Naqvi’s understanding of writing for a modular synth, 'Onna at Pulse' sounds like as if it moves in and out of the realms of control, twisting around a melody with a life of its own; "Onna at Pulse was the first piece of music I made with an extremely rudimentary modular synthesiser. I had just acquired two components and I wrote this simple exposition as an exercise to see what the machine would do. It was like teaching one eyeball to blink." — Qasim Naqvi

Meant as a prequel to last year's 'Teenages', a modular synth suite in six parts, 'Beta' evolved from the most basic elements of a modular synthesiser. As Qasim explains; "One oscillator and a random voltage generator which is a module that releases sporadic currents through the system. Ironically, this component provided a lot of warmth and humanness to the music, a kind of fallibility. At the time I felt that this music was underdeveloped but listening back, I think the 'Beta' tracks add an interesting dimension to the entire 'Teenages' arc. They’re the zygotes.”

If 'Teenages' captured the sound of electronics living, breathing and mutating of their own accord 'Beta', rather, describes the moment they came to life.

Love Record Stores Day is an initiative from the #loverecordstores campaign, launched during lockdown to encourage music fans to shop online with their favourite record stores. Qasim Naqvi joins a wide range of artists and labels who have pledged to release exclusive, limited edition records including Caribou, Belle and Sebastian, Beach House, Robyn, New Order and many more.

Beta

Onna at Pulse

Stream & order LP · DL

Qasim Naqvi - Onna at Pulse

Two years after the release of his acclaimed Erased Tapes debut, ‘The Transition’, Californian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David Allred returns with a solo piano perspective on the album, aptly titled Felt The Transition — out December 18.

"Felt The Transition is a new minimalist solo piano perspective on my experimental chamber folk album previously released in 2018, called The Transition. This music is reinterpreted on my 114 year old upright piano which was very kindly donated to me by my friend Adam Selzer who previously ran a recording studio in Portland called Type Foundry. This piano is very sentimental to me as it was used by a handful of my favorite musicians on their albums over the past 20 years, namely Peter Broderick’s ‘How They Are‘ and ‘Two Balloons’.” — David Allred

Felt The Transition

Poet Tree (Solo Piano)

David Allred - Poet Tree (Solo Piano)

Two years after the release of his acclaimed Erased Tapes debut, ‘The Transition’, Californian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist David Allred returns with a solo piano perspective on the album, aptly titled Felt The Transition — out December 18.

"Felt The Transition is a new minimalist solo piano perspective on my experimental chamber folk album previously released in 2018, called The Transition. This music is reinterpreted on my 114 year old upright piano which was very kindly donated to me by my friend Adam Selzer who previously ran a recording studio in Portland called Type Foundry. This piano is very sentimental to me as it was used by a handful of my favorite musicians on their albums over the past 20 years, namely Peter Broderick’s ‘How They Are‘ and ‘Two Balloons’.” — David Allred

David Allred - For Catherine E. Coulson (Solo Piano)

Olde Warp. 
Drafting sweet melodic moments. Remixing.

A patina place way up north, which goes back to the year 1136 and literally means old anchorage. A place that got a nautical, military history. A place that I left long time ago but my melancholic heart is still around. A place with woods, water, wind, nostalgia - forgotten by society.