Nils Frahm's musical curation of the latest edition of Late Night Tales leans on the side of the slow burning, the meditative and the hypnotic; it's a listening experience for those who appreciate subtle complexity. Frahm mixes and layers various genres, especially jazz and electronic, with organic natural sounds and gently humming drones, and a number of the featured compositions have been slowed, to great effect.
Most notably he not only slowed Boards of Canada's 2000 track "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country," but appears to have emphasized both the beats and the keyboards, transforming it into a narcotic, molasses-slow drip. Perhaps the crowning achievement on this collection is Frahm's ability to seamlessly unite the compositions of a diverse array of artists — Miles Davis, Four Tet, Nina Simone and the glitchy stylings of System, to name but a few — into a cohesive whole. There is never a moment when any of the songs clash or seem otherwise out of place.
The one flaw is that at times Frahm allows the songs to continue for too long, losing the flow of the album — particularly between tracks 9 through 11, but later as well — but that's a small concern. Otherwise, Frahm's Late Night Tales curation is a blissful, satisfying experience.
(Late Night Tales)Most notably he not only slowed Boards of Canada's 2000 track "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country," but appears to have emphasized both the beats and the keyboards, transforming it into a narcotic, molasses-slow drip. Perhaps the crowning achievement on this collection is Frahm's ability to seamlessly unite the compositions of a diverse array of artists — Miles Davis, Four Tet, Nina Simone and the glitchy stylings of System, to name but a few — into a cohesive whole. There is never a moment when any of the songs clash or seem otherwise out of place.
The one flaw is that at times Frahm allows the songs to continue for too long, losing the flow of the album — particularly between tracks 9 through 11, but later as well — but that's a small concern. Otherwise, Frahm's Late Night Tales curation is a blissful, satisfying experience.