About

Since 2012 Erased Tapes peers Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm have spent many hours together in their studios across Berlin and Reykjavik, freely improvising and occasionally capturing the music for their fans. The duo's sound is an astoundingly rich, tonally pure example of synth-driven experimentation, conceived and performed by two prolific collaborators. Ólafur Arnalds is a BAFTA-winning multi-instrumentalist and producer from Iceland. Ólafur is known for his unique mix of strings, piano with loops and edgy beats crossing-over from ambient/electronic to pop. Ólafur was a drummer of hardcore metal bands Fighting Shit and Celestine, as well as others. In 2014 Ólafur announced his electronic debut album under the Kiasmos project with Bloodgroup front man Janus Rasmussen to much acclaim.

Nils Frahm works as an accomplished composer and producer from his Berlin-based Durton Studio. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, played contemplatively and intimately, has won him many fans around the world. For a musician this early in his career, Frahm displays an incredibly developed sense of control and restraint in his work, catching the ear of many fans.

Trance Frendz is their fifth release together, and is the music taken from the short film of the same name, in which the two improvise new pieces and eat homemade pizza in Nils Frahm’s flat, which appears to prioritise being a studio above being a home. It’s a charming bit of film, and while the music itself leaves you breathless, it’s very much worth also watching to truly understand just how spontaneously brilliant this album is, considering it was put together between the hours of 8pm and 4am. Despite being a fully improvised LP, the album gains some structural integrity by ending where it began, with a piece for two pianos, with the charming addition of Arnalds delicately humming. It’s an album that gets full marks not due to being a certain amount away from perfection, but because it’s such a feat of improvisation and incorporating elements that many would perceive to be flaws. — (via Headliner)

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Label: Erased Tapes Records
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Released: 2016
Genre: Electronic, Classical
Style: Contemporary

File under: Modern Classical
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