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After his great live album “Spaces”, Nils Frahm returned with a new effort called “Solo”. He released “Solo” as part of the celebration of the Piano Day, a day created by Frahm to pay a homage to this intense instrument. You can get “Solo” as a free download or on vinyl.

The new piono-based tracks are more intimate and reduced as his live shows. You can call “Solo” definitely as a personal record. It’s the perfect music for a relaxed sunday morning. But that’s not all about Frahm. If you have the chance to see him live, you should buy a ticket. His live shows are totally different to his studio records. I have seen him in May this year in Hamburg and it was phenomenal. The switches between the intimate piano tracks and the heavy synthesizer stuff are a totally success. It’s the art of Nils Frahm to create a rising suspense. For me, he can’t play a better closer track than “Toilet Brushes – More”. It was absolutely gorgeous! Yes I like the new record, but I also like his electronic stuff. Hopefully we will hear some new tracks in the near future. But Frahm does not only create new music by his own, he also create the soundtrack for the one-take movie “Victoria”. The soundtrack reinforced the feelings in the movie from Sebastian Schipper (Absolute Giganten, Ein Freund von mir). The movie is about a spanish young girl, which is new in berlin and there experiences on one special night. I haven’t see the movie yet, but I will do it in the future and will share my feelings about it here.

There is a kind of mystery in the music of Nicolas Jaar. The American-Chilean musician is the head of the label Clown & Sunset and also the owner of the subscription-based imprint Other People. Jaar’s music is ruminative and emotional (he calls it “blue-wave”), drawing inspiration from fellow Chilean Ricardo Villalobos and minimal techno.

My first contact to his music I’ve got with “Space Is Only Noise” his debut record in 2011. I can’t say that I like it from the beginning but it grown on me after the time. But Jaar is not only a great composer, he is also a fantastic dj. One of the greatest dj sets I’ve ever seen is his Boiler Room set from 2013. It was mindblowing! In 2014 he released the debut album from Darkside with longtime collaborator Dave Harrington. And now he’s back with another solo release by his own. “Pomegranates” is an alternative soundtrack for the classic avant-garde movie “The Color of Pomegranates” by Sergei Parajanov from 1969. The soundtrack included 20 tracks and in combination with the pictures by Parajanov it is very intense and dramatic. No word, this movie is not for people they can’t see blood or have generally weak nerves. The power from Jaar’s music is impressive. In some tracks he remind me about Ben Frost and otherwise like in the ending score “Muse” he sounded like pianist Nils Frahm. This soundtrack by Jaar is definitely a masterpice but maybe it takes some time if you into it. But it is worth it!

At the beginning of this year two of my best friends recommended me Alessandro Cortini. First, I never listened to his music, so who is that guy? What I know is that he is a member of the alternative group Nine Inch Nails. His primary role in the band was to play the keyboards. He also formed the band SONOIO as his first solo project in 2010.

The newer releases by himself are comes under his own name. One or two month ago I have noticed that he will release a new record called “Risveglio”. I’m listening to the first teaser song “La Sveglia” via his soundcloud page and was blown away. This song has a special dark and hypnotic John Carpenter style in it. I love it! After that I have no change to ignore the past releases from him. I decided to start with the direct predecessor “Sonno”. After the first tracks I’m into it. Very intense atmosphere! Cortini is a master in the usage of the synthesizer. For the sucessor “Risveglio” he also create his intense drone sounds by only one instrument, the Roland MC-202—a monophonic synthesizer/sequencer. “Risveglio” is a immersive record and you should listend to this via good headphones. The first three tracks are massive until the short sequence of track four. It’s a little bit strange that this track stoped suddenly after 30 seconds. But yes this is a planned cut according to Cortini. This kind of music is definitely not suitable for standard listener. You have to be into that kind of drone music. If you like artists like Tim Hecker, Roly Porter or Lawrence English you will also like the work of Alessandro Cortini. There is no way to ignore his work. For me “Risveglio” could be one of the best releases in this year, but we will see what comes next.