AmbientFestival / Cologne – Day Three: Nils Frahm & Peter Broderick

People were still filing into the Basilika St. Aposteln as Jörg Burger aka Triola took to his laptop for some warm ambient sounds, and by the time Nils Frahm arrived at the piano the venue was completely packed. Frahm played a range of material from recent records, switching to a Juno analogue synth for a rendition of “Peter” from the “Juno” 7-inch, and adding touches of Rhodes to supplement the warmth of the Bössendorfer grand piano. It was the latter instrument, however, that was clearly the star, and Frahm’s command of it was little short of astounding. While Greg Haines’ performance the previous night had made great use of open chords left hanging in the basilica’s rich reverberation, Frahm’s fingers hardly ever stopped moving. Rather than relying on variations in note density to provide depth and interest, Frahm instead chose to use rich manipulations of dynamics, tonalities, and tempi, as well as the balance between melody and arpeggiated chords, and between short, stabbing staccato and smooth legato playing. This was a performance of great energy and verve, anchored by impressive technical ability.

Frahm was joined onstage by both Haines and Peter Broderick for a short 3-way jam, with Haines on Rhodes and Frahm and Broderick on piano. The latter pair, whose work together as Oliveray has already produced the beautiful short album “Wonders”, continued with an atmospheric improvisation built around a Juno loop and layers of violin. Broderick then took to the mic for a spot of beatboxing, with Frahm supplying percussion with the Bössendorfer case, his knees, and anything else he could find to hit – a fun piece of showmanship that had the audience completely charmed.

After the break Broderick began his solo set singing ‘a cappella’, before taking to the piano with a lyrical and flowing playing style. While in Frahm’s performance the piano was the centre of focus, Broderick switched freely between piano, guitar, violin and vocals. At one point the man from Oregon unplugged his violin, stood on a piano stool and sang and played Oliveray song “The Book She Wrote And In The Time” completely unamplified – a risky gamble, but one that paid off handsomely, with the basilica’s cavernous architecture stepping in to provide natural volume and a haunting touch of echo. While much of the music heard so far during the festival worked its magic through textures or tonalities rather than hummable tunes, Broderick brought simple, gorgeous melodies to go away singing – and judging by the audience’s response, they’ll be floating round more than a few heads for weeks to come.

Frahm returned for the end of the set, and the ecstatic crowd brought the pair back for an encore based on a handsaw played by a violin bow (to surprisingly great effect). As much as their respective solo work impresses me, I have to say that watching Frahm and Broderick play together has convinced me that in their case the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Broderick’s daring approach to live performance and ear for a sweet melody reacts alchemically with Frahm’s technical virtuosity and flair, and the result is pure gold. Another rapturous night of music at the Ambientfestival “Zivilisation der Liebe”.

- Review and photography by Nathan Thomas for Fluid Radio

www.ambientfestival.de