Nils Frahm Paris

    Nils Frahm – Paris

    18 Mar

    By

    Genre: Electronic, Classical
    Style: Contemporary, Ambient
    Label: Leiter – LTR046
    Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
    Country: Worldwide
    Released: Dec 6, 2024

    The Paris End of Melbourne?

    Recorded in March 2024 at Philharmonie de Paris, this is a live album from Berlin based keyboard wunderkind Nils Frahm.

    June 2022, we got to see Nils perform at the Sydney Vivid Festival inside the famous Sydney Opera House, which along with the legendary Halcro DM58, is in my humble opinion one of the best looking music delivery devices made in Australia.

    That event was a preview of what would become Music for Animals album. He called it Music for Sydney and over three nights each night was a nuanced diversion from the core melodies he’d set out to deliver.

    Since being introduced to Nils Frahm by a dear friend in Sydney “Mark O”, who is tapped into the universal consciousness at a deep level, I have become a fan to put it mildly.

    How much of a fan? Well, I would travel to the four corners of the earth to see Nils Frahm live. Live is where the magic can happen.

    If possible, one should book all the nights Nils performs in country. Things happen on one of the evenings which will never reach the aether ever again unless bottled by a member of the audience for YouTube reissue.

    What you get are arpeggios and sequencers creating rhythms and beats whilst underpinned by loops. Evocative notes are overlaid on top of these sequences to describe mythical beasts. Then add pure genius melodical outbreaks to create a fusion for the senses.

    Is it classical? Is it jazz? Is it ambient? Is it primal? Is it Krautrock? Is it Berlin or Dusseldorf? It is Nils Frahm.

    He named the album after Paris France where it was recorded.

    Melbourne where he played Paris, is my city and was in times past rated as one of the most liveable cities in the world.

    So, we heard Paris Live in Melbourne with the added joy of his improvisations. Live at the Hamer Hall which is a challenge for sound engineers on the mixer due to its large size and reverberant attributes was tamed by technology to create an immersive sonic wall with body shaking bass and clear mids and highs without the need for earplugs.

    It sits across the Yarra River which cuts the city into two. It could be the left bank or the right bank depending on your viewpoint. It is most definitely a hub of arts and music. If you skip across the river, you are in Collins St and at the “Paris end of Melbourne” with some older buildings left intact after a cultural revolution (yes one of those).

    We stayed on the arts bank. Drinks at Cicciolina’s and dinner at Rococco’s with George, Josh, Sam, Lachie and Madeleine (my concert buddies) in Acland St on the way to Hamer Hall is something worth doing as a preconcert leadup. Grand Prix at Albert Park nearby saw lots of locals and visitors enjoying life.

    Over dinner Josh remarked Melbourne in the 1850s was the fastest growing city in the world. The Gold Rush had delivered financial wealth to the city and ”They dreamt big, they built big… it was a city jumping out of its skin”.

    As Melbourne grew, it became an epicentre of film culture and its hotels, restaurants and cafes became world renowned. Coupled with the city’s grand Victorian architecture, it was a first-class destination for travellers. But, in the 1950s, with the impending Queen’s visit and then the ‘56 Olympic Games, Melburnians felt a deep-seated cultural cringe. Our buildings were deemed too old fashioned and a demolition blitz began. “Whelan The Wrecker” was brought in to demolish the old city and over the next twenty years we lost many treasured buildings. With the introduction of television, the same year as the Olympic Games, the audiences for our cinemas were decimated and they too were felled by the wrecker’s ball. When Melbourne was primed to lose the Regent Theatre to make way for a city square, the population was galvanised into saving what they still had left.

    You can find out more in www.thelostcityofmelbourne.org and a short video on YouTube.

    When we go out to see bands at the Palais, the Forum, the Regent, the Atheneum, the Princess we get to enjoy the old acoustic spaces and restored glory of the Victorian era.

    Hamer Hall in contrast is a more modern venue with gold leaf applied to foyer ceilings and a 70s vibe which has stood the test of time. It was built as a restorative vision to bring back music and art into Victoria. It is a most comfortable space to escape into an artist’s world.

    Why I bring this up is I love Melbourne and what it stood for. The cultural values of art and music, diverse multicultural food and Italian and Greek coffee are something that takes decades to develop and refine. It is better for its vintage and should be preserved for future generations.

    I think it doesn’t matter where you live “Whelan” is still at work and looks like paving the road to paradise is an unstoppable force. We constantly experience this force where the new “new” is in fact foam and render vs the old bluestone foundation.

    However here is an opportunity to find Paris wherever you live. The revolution is in the form of two plastic discs, and it will transport you to a magic era and place of your choosing.

    The Melbourne concert was at the tail end of a tour which started in Europe.

    Last night we got to experience the Melbourne end of Paris!

    I hope you take the time to visit soon…

    Playlist

    Prolog 12:36

    Right Right Right 14:02

    Briefly 18:44

    You Name It 3:28

    Some 2:44

    Re 5:01

    Spells 11:02

    Opera 4:41

    Our Own Roof 5:29

    Hammers 3:35

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