The Quietus - A new rock music and pop culture website

Baker's Dozen

Music Is Not Sport: Nils Frahm's Favourite Albums
Karl Smith , September 10th, 2015 14:05

Before he releases his Late Night Tales compilation, the pianist, composer and new classical ("I never liked it, but I'm stuck with it now; give me something cool like 'neo jazz'") pioneer gives Karl Smith a tour of his favourite overlooked records, by musicians "that deserve a little afterglow"

The_necks_1441893440_resize_460x400

The Necks - Sex
This one is a classic, I think. A lot of people know The Necks, fortunately, but I think that record… such an awkward title, right? Sex. But who has sex for 56 minutes? Not many people.

But it really is great. I put it on repeat sometimes and listen to it the whole day. That's a lot of sex. And then you just, you never know when it starts, when it stops - I like their work a lot but this record is really the best idea they ever had. They always like long pieces and long arrangements, but this sounds - it has no length, it's music without time because it's just the same chord over and over, the same loop but it always differs a little bit. It's like watching the ocean, you know? Another wave and another wave; you feel like it's the same wave, but it's not, they're all different. But you never get tired of it: you come back the next day and you want to watch the ocean again. That's the kind of feeling I have with that record: the human condition they've put into that record. It's much more than an actual loop.