F.S. Blumm & Nils Frahm - Handling (Leiter) [Ambient]
- The Slow Music Movement
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's October 1st Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***
I know I’m in the minority but the music of Nils Frahm never really grabbed me, it’s just a bit too nice. It was more the involvement of F.S. Blumm, whose quirky home made sounds, oddball pop and leftfield dub releases that have provided me so much pleasure over the years, who caught my attention here. The two have been putting out albums for the last fifteen years, and despite the pair stating that, “It’s not Frank, it’s not Nils,” it definitely feels like Blumm is something of spirit guide, although I’m sure it’s a welcome release for Frahm from his more straight ahead, bill paying signature sound. Whatever, it sure sounds good.
The album is three tracks and forty minutes long, with each passage entitled ‘Leuchter’ - German for ‘candlestick,’ and it’s a microdosed, microsound collaged, avant-ambient jazz not jazz gem (or something like that), that doesn’t so much flicker as splatter sonic shards through the speakers. As I listened I was imagining the pair surrounded by a vast amount of percussion, pianos, guitars and oddball instruments collected on musical tours, frantically picking them up plucking a random note here or laying down the odd progression there, before hastily dropping them and quickly rummaging through a box for the next instrument. I guess the reality during the improvised sessions was a more considered, less frantic version of that, and apparently a lot of the recording’s magic happened during some intense post production.
Rather like the the more sedate microsound uniting soundscapes of Tomotsugo Nakamura, whose virtues I’ve extolled many times, it always amazes me how such cohesive ambient arrangements can be collaged from such shattered sonics, it must be like trying to glue a dropped glass back together, but glue they do, albeit with a Germanic bluntness compared to Nakamura’s more considered Japanese ways, and Handling is as much a testament to the duo’s studio craft as their musical abilities.
The bluntness pays off though, they’ve managed to retain the underlying urgency and edginess from the original recordings which becomes more apparent with increased volume or attentive listening - they were obviously in the zone during the improvised sessions, although whilst listening at a distance it works wonders as mellow background music. Up close though, the free spirited, improvised tension of the original recordings shines through; the telepathic call and response between the two friends, a constant probing, prodding and mutual curiosity to see what happens next, the only requirement being that space be left between the notes for the listener to consider what just occurred or to contemplate what might happen next. It’s a restless, relaxing, intriguing, ignorable, meandering yet methodical, Gaudiesque audio collage that doesn’t sound like too much else, and possibly their finest outing yet.
Playlist Companion
For more great horizontal listening sink into the Slow Ambient Playlist: