The so-called ‘modern classical’ scene has furnished the world with a number of interesting and highly praised artists in recent years, but few have garnered a wider or more devoted following than Peter Broderick and Nils Frahm. Their respective solo work has charmed and delighted listeners of many different stripes, as has their recent collaborative release under the name Oliveray. It is perhaps only when seen in live performance, however, that the depth of their talent – and the strength and vivacity of their friendship – becomes apparent. We talked to the pair before their rapturously received concert at the Ambientfestival “Zivilisation der Liebe” in the old basilica of St. Aposteln, Cologne. Mass was being celebrated in the nave next door, so we had to keep our voices down…

2011 was a very productive year for both artists, with solo releases, their first album together as Oliveray, and a number of collaborations and live performances – a heavy schedule that suggests many nights spent working into the wee small hours. “We both could use a little more sleep than we’ve been getting…” remarks Broderick, prompting laughter.

“Your weekends are always kind of erased from the schedule,” Frahm agrees. “You never know when you’re working and when you have time off. Even when you travel on a beautiful ferry ride from Copenhagen to Berlin, you’re actually working but on the other hand it’s travelling. I visited Ólafur Arnalds for a couple of days in Iceland, and I was like, “….WOW! It’s amazing!” People say, “oh, you’re so busy!”, and it’s like, “yeah, but it’s also been pretty mellow”.

“It is like ‘holiday/work’,” Broderick explains with a smile.

Did any particular moments stand out from last year? “For me a highlight was definitely that we put out the Oliveray record,” Frahm says. “And also Peter invited me to come to Japan with him – that started the whole Oliveray idea, really. The contact [in Japan] asked if we were interested in bringing a tour CD or something like that.”

The pair are certainly not alone in facing an increasingly busy schedule of record releases, performances, and collaborative work, causing some to suggest that maybe there is too much pressure being placed on artists to produce new work. “I think there’s definitely something to be said about how quickly things move these days and how quickly things are forgotten,” Broderick asserts, “just because of the pace that keeps speeding up. But I don’t feel any kind of pressure. I feel more pressure to slow down, actually – that people are saying, “whoa, this is too much!”, you know, and that’s really got to my head at some point. And I thought “yeah, maybe it is a little too much”. And so I started to try to make an effort to slow things down in the future. I mean there is just so much music out there that a lot of things get forgotten about really quickly.”

With artists from all around the world making music with each other via the internet, it may appear that location is no longer such a restraint when it comes to finding a community of like-minded musicians. However, both Broderick and Frahm have consciously chosen to base themselves in Berlin. What does the city offer them that makes it such an attractive place to be a musician?

“It’s cheap!” they immediately declare in chorus, to more laughter. Broderick expands: “It’s great for travelling around Western Europe. If you want to fly somewhere for a one-off show, you can get cheap flights pretty much anywhere, for short distances.”

“A lot of people in Berlin seem to be looking for something,” Frahm muses. “They just live there from their mid-twenties to their mid-thirties, and just have the drive to do stuff. And they might go, and new people come, and other people just stay for a couple of months… You can just stay there and wait for people to visit you. It’s pretty comfortable. And I think we also like to collaborate in one room. I’ve just totally stopped this, “can you play piano on this track for me?” business…”

Broderick quickly agrees. “Email collaboration was really fun when you first start to do it. But then I would have this thing where I’d be collaborating with someone over the Internet, working on a bunch of music, and then you meet them in person and they don’t have anything to say to you, you know. And it’s like, if you can’t even have a conversation in person then… I very much prefer to make music with someone when we have a good vibe together.”

One suspects that it was the experience of working together that led them both to such a decision. Despite having only known each other for a relatively short time, it’s clear that a strong professional and personal bond has developed between the two, although they are by no means identical in terms of personality or musical background. Frahm’s dynamic approach to the piano is underpinned by many years of rigorous classical training, which prompts the question of what he has had to unlearn or re-imagine in order to keep on innovating. He sees things differently, however.

“I think I never have to unlearn things,” he declares. “A lot of my playing is probably because I never finished learning. If you have the perfect classical style, you can change your style in many different ways – I only have mine. You can play Mozart like that [mimes playing softly] or like that [mimes playing heavy-handedly]. And so when you’re only a classical player you spend your whole life learning different costumes to wear, and different masks, so that you can play different roles – like any good actor. I realised it’s too much to deal with, and way too hard at school. And so I stopped, and figured that I have enough intuition to just know what I like and not. So I just use that instead.”

Broderick’s own musical journey is in many ways very different. Inspired by a musical family, he picked up skills on a whole range of instruments, and this diverse approach has slowly come to characterise both his recorded and live output. Without a clear focus on a single instrument, as is the case with Frahm and the piano, this arguably makes the question of instrumentation much more pertinent.

“Well, I think the first real solo record I made, called “Float”, at that time I knew that I wanted to make this music that was based around piano and strings,” Broderick recalls. “Even though I played these other instruments I just wanted to use those. And at that time I thought maybe that’s the type of music I want to make, and the sound I want to have for a long time. But after I made “Float” I started to play live shows, and when I was onstage I realised I also like to sing and play guitar. So on the next record I said, ok, let’s see if I can make one without piano and strings, and then one thing kind of led to another. Most of the time there aren’t really any rules. If I’m working on a score project, sometimes they tell me, “ok, we want a score with piano and strings” or something. Otherwise I just kind of use whatever feels right. With the latest record I just finished, I made a conscious decision not to make any rules, and to just use whatever instrument feels right for the song.”

At this point Frahm interjects: “But also when you were travelling a lot you were writing songs on whatever instrument you were finding in places…    ”

“That’s the thing, yeah, whatever was there,” Broderick agrees. “If I don’t have a piano available then I’m going to write songs on the guitar instead.”

With “Wonders”, the pair’s debut album as Oliveray, Broderick and Frahm have managed to capture some of the intimacy and directness experienced when two musicians with complimentary approaches work together in the same room. However, it is in live performance that their shared creative spark really ignites.

“That was also the purpose, to write some songs which we could recreate live,” Frahm states.

Broderick agrees. “Some of them were definitely just improvisation,” he explains. “What we do onstage is also improvisation, but it’s not really going to be the same thing. But some of the more ‘singy’ songs we do for sure.”

Judging by their performance in the cavernous, reverberate hall of St. Aposteln, it is to be hoped that this partnership will continue to inspire both artists for many years to come.

- Interview and photography by Nathan Thomas for Fluid Radio

www.peterbroderick.net
www.nilsfrahm.de
www.erasedtapes.com

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

One can imagine the scene: a late night discussion between two close friends, possibly involving alcohol, in which they try to decide what name to give their new creative partnership. “Neter Broderfrahm?” “Pils Frahmerick?” Luckily the protagonists’ middle names proved more productive, and so it is that Nils Oliver Frahm and Peter Ray Broderick bring us their new collaborative project, Oliveray, and their “first truly 50/50 effort” entitled “Wonders”. When the pair performed together as part of the Seeljocht project in Utrecht not long ago the rapport between the two was obvious, as was a strong sense of playfulness and fun; with “Wonders” the playful anarchy is reined in somewhat, though this short album still shows flashes of humour and surprise.

First surprise: the track that proved to be the genesis of the project, a stripped-down version of Efterklang’s “Harmonium”. Both Frahm and Broderick have been collaborating with the Danish band for a while, so in this sense the choice of cover song is hardly a shock, yet what is really surprising is just how good the originally grandiose opus sounds when reduced to just vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, and finger-snaps. The sparse, simple approach to arrangement recurs across most of the album’s eight tracks, along with the occasional cough or quiet comment, giving the record a very intimate, cosy feel and emphasising the picture of two friends working together in a small studio in Berlin. On instrumental tracks such as “Piano in the Pond!” Broderick’s taut, highly rhythmic strings provide a natural bed for Frahm’s deft, jazz-inflected melodies, while the latter’s piano accompaniments on vocal numbers such as “You Don’t Love” and closing song “Dreamer” supply more contrasts of light and dark, energy and restraint than most five-piece house bands.

The ability of both of these musicians to string together a good melody is well known. To my mind, however, what sets them apart from much of their contemporaries is the strength of their musicianship and the imaginativeness of their arrangements, qualities which “Wonders” only serves to highlight bring to the fore. The sensitivity with which they listen to each other, swapping lead and accompanying roles while maintaining a perfect harmonious blend of their respective instruments and voices, is a pleasure to listen to. As highly respected as Frahm and Broderick both are, “Wonders” strongly suggests that this collaboration has the potential to prove greater than its constituent parts. The release is available from 12th December in vinyl and digital editions from Erased Tapes and on CD from Cote Labo – a wonderful soundtrack for friends and family gathered together this holiday season.

- Nathan Thomas for Fluid Radio

www.erasedtapes.com
www.peterbroderick.net
www.nilsfrahm.de

Oliveray will see its debut release ‘Wonders’ on December 12th, 2011. A nice little collection of eight musical pieces from label mates Nils Oliver Frahm and Peter Ray Broderick, available on Vinyl / Digital via Erased Tapes and on CD via Japanese friends Cote Labo…

Oliveray consists of me, Peter Ray Broderick, and one of my greatest friends in the world, the incredible musician / producer Nils Oliver Frahm. We’ve been collaborating in many ways these past couple years and traveling a lot together. Now finally we have arrived with our first truly 50/50 collaboration effort entitled Wonders.

It all started when I was asked to create a cover version for my great friends Efterklang. I asked Nils if he’d like to work with me on the project. So one day we got together in his studio and ran through the song (Harmonics) a couple times and then laid it down to tape in the most relaxed way possible – me playing the guitar and singing and him on the piano… We were both really happy and inspired with how easy and fun this process was. We thought you could hear and feel that relaxed atmosphere in the song.

So when our Japanese friends Cote Labo asked us to prepare some kind of release for our Japan tour, me and Nils set aside a couple days to record some music in a similar manner. Without much preconception we just set up the mics and started recording, with an aim to create a short album of half instrumentals, half vocal-based songs. We ran through a few fresh musical ideas that each of us had, improvising along with each other, sometimes just improvising entirely. And before we new it we had a nice little collection of eight intimate pieces of music.

The first official output of what will hopefully be a lifelong collaboration, Wonders feels really special to me. Here comes Oliveray! – P. Broderick

www.erasedtapes.com

Let’s start by stating a bold, undeniable truth, shall we?  Let’s get it out of the way up front and we can move past it and get on with our lives – and more immediately, this review. Peter Broderick has a talent that is almost offensive to mere mortals like you or me. Here we have a man that can pick up practically any instrument he likes and produce something that sounds as if Apollo himself had just ejaculated pure molten gold.

Having recently upped sticks from Denmark as his visa came to a close, Broderick has moved to Berlin, something of a musical home for him. Now residing above a piano shop, the staff of which – I’m reliably informed – have given him keys so that he can play any time the shop is closed. He has spent a not inconsiderable amount of his home-time scoring the soundtrack to a documentary by filmmakers Jennifer Anderson and Vernon Lott. The film, Confluence, tells the story of a number of young girls who were murdered or who disappeared in the Idaho area in the early 1980s and the soundtrack is said to move the listener through “waves of stark emotions”. If the album, released on Erased Tapes next week, is anything like the double A-side single that precedes it then we are in for quite an emotional journey.

Old Time / Solace In Gala begins with the exit music to the film. As the ‘credits’ song, it seems to have been a conscious decision to make Old Time dissimilar to the score that comes before and in the composer’s own words it provides a “breath of fresh air after a story that can only leave you wondering”. The song itself is led by a beautifully understated acoustic guitar that provides a warm bed of sound for Broderick’s vocal. The female harmony that joins him throughout is reminiscent of the accompaniment to Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s Ain’t You Wealthy, Ain’t You Wise? or looking further back to Emmylou Harris’ harmonies on Gram Parsons’ Grievous Angel album. It’s a tender and, ultimately, sad piece that leaves a lingering feeling of contemplative reflection.

Now, not a label ever to do things by halves, Erased Tapes (and one would assume, Broderick himself) have decided to include an exclusive digital 14-track bonus album with the single. The album, Music for Grace and Mercy, is a beautifully pretty recording of Broderick’s soundtrack for a film described by the label as ‘Haitians helping Haitians’.

It is this latter film then that give us Solace In Gala and this seems much more in keeping with what you might expect from Broderick’s film music output. It begins with a solitary, almost expectant picked guitar and as it is joined by bass guitar and strings it’s immediately clear that this piece is Broderick at his emotively eloquent and expressive best. There is little dynamic change in the piece but still it presents an obvious sense of sorrowful, moving drama.

As a brief, two-track introduction to Broderick’s soundtrack work, and by extension the films, Old Time / Solace In Gala is an alluring, intriguing and moving single.

- Lionel Mint for Fluid Radio

www.peterbroderick.net
www.erasedtapes.com
www.confluencethemovie.com
www.wehearyourvoice.com

The Roland Juno brand began life in the early 1980s as a range of hybrid digital/analogue synthesisers. The fat, grainy tones of these instruments can be heard in the work of countless artists spanning a wide variety of genres, from the time of their original release right up to the present day. Though prone to dead voice chips and other circuit failures, the unique sound of the early Juno models continues to win the hearts of analogue aficionados, including that of a certain American musician named Peter Broderick. Such was Broderick’s enthusiasm for the synths that he begged his friend, collaborator and labelmate Nils Frahm to record some solo sketches using a Juno. This short release is the result.

The two tracks were recorded in a single night, with no overdubs or punch-ins – more of a recorded live performance than the drawn-out process usually associated with a studio project. Broderick’s idea – of combining arguably one of the world’s finest keyboard composers with arguably one of the world’s finest synths – was never really in danger of falling flat, yet it is still remarkable to hear an analogue synth played as convincingly and with as much depth and sensitivity as a more traditional solo instrument such as a piano or an acoustic guitar. Both tracks really do give the impression of Classical sonatas, solo pieces that take the specific qualities and limitations of the instrument in question as their starting point. If a criticism can be levelled, it is that in the second section of the first track (“For”) Frahm plays the synth a little too much like a piano, in contrast to the rest of the music where the rhythms and harmonies seem more suited to what the instrument has to offer.

“Juno” is available in limited 7-inch vinyl and download editions on Erased Tapes. Though short, it remains a richly rewarding release, not just for Frahm’s many fans but for anyone interested in how music is breaking new ground by combining old sources and traditions (such as analogue synths and solo instrumental form) in unexpected and surprising ways. After a few listens, you might just fall in love with the Juno sound yourself.

- Nathan Thomas for Fluid Radio

www.erasedtapes.com
www.nilsfrahm.de

As part of his continued series of commissioned scores, Peter Broderick returns with another exemplary collection of instrumental compositions with “Music for Confluence.” While previous entries in his “Music For…” collections have included recordings for contemporary dance and abstract art installations, this latest entry marks the artist’s first foray into the realm of motion pictures.

Devised as the musical backdrop to a documentary film about a series of missing girls and a non convicted suspect, “Confluence” houses a group of richly detailed, somber and densely layered tracks, the type that one has come to expect from Broderick, befitting the mysterious and eerie subject of the film.

If one were to categorize Peter Broderick’s music to date, it would be fair to say there is usually an even split between contemporary classical instrumentation, electro-acoustic soundscapes, and multi-layered singer-songwriter fares.  “Music for Confluence” appears to be his first record that brings all these elements together.

Throughout the record, listeners will be subjected to the range of Broderick’s talents. From the album’s opener “In the Valley Itself,” which combines vocal chanting with piano, guitar and strings to the wildly different closing number, “Old Time” which is the only lyric based song throughout, the artist states his intentions to create a sound world infused with a wide range of instruments. Indeed it is interesting to learn that the album was built around the layering of sounds from whatever instruments or sound devices the artist had available. What this leads to is more than just a soundtrack, but another extraordinary example of how intelligent production can allow for bold musical statements.

However, let us not be drawn too far away from the record’s intentions as a film score and while it would be easy to continue a deeper analysis into Broderick’s overall musicianship, for now let’s focus on why the record works so well for film. A key element to this is the establishment of themes throughout the record. Great film composers like Bernard Hermann ensured there would be recurrent sounds to their scores that would allow for a subliminal relationship between the narrative, music and the audience’s consumption of both. “Music for Confluence” adheres to this as we hear repeated phrases or motifs throughout. The melody devised in the album’s opening appears at other stages of the record in varying forms. This is true of other tracks too such as the simple piano melody found on “We Enjoyed Life Together” reappearing in the densely layered “It Wasn’t A Dear Skull.” It’s not since Broderick’s debut record “Float” that he has employed this technique with such finesse.

A major frustration, or gripe, one can have with film scoring is that without the visual subject to hand, the music may take on a different meaning to the listener than that intended by the artist. It’s similar in many ways to how readers may enjoy a novel only for their depiction of a story to alter dramatically when the book is adapted to film. Perhaps it is our identification with Peter Broderick foremost as a recording artist, rather than a film composer outright, which will allow for this music to be enjoyed standalone. However there is an inescapable tinge when hearing this record that it should be consumed in the environment it was built for: as a soundtrack to a movie.

This minor criticism should not detract from the overall listening experience though. We once again find ourselves in the luxury of hearing exceptional output from an artist of the present and there is something wildly exciting in consuming art that is of the now, not knowing how it will be received in the future.

- Josh Atkin for Fluid Radio

www.erasedtapes.com
www.peterbroderick.net

Erased Tapes are on a roll. Fact! With the recent release by A Winged Victory For The Sullen proving to be a firm favourite on the channel 1 playlist, plus the news that Mr Frahm will be making an appearance on the label very soon, anyone would think that would be the icing on the cake for what has been a great year for the label. But oh no… Label head Robert Raths is not a man to rest on his laurels. Far from it in fact. News just in informs us that another firm Fluid fav is ready to make an appearance.

As I write this a download zip opens and iTunes kicks in with what sounds like a reborn Peter Broderick. Reborn in the sense of something completely fresh and dare I say it better than previous releases! Listening on random play iTunes selects track 7 ‘It Wasn’t A Deer Skull’ and my initial thoughts are confirmed. Broderick at his best! Damn this sounds real good! More soon as we get a full review put together. For now get your ears around some heart warming sample teasers and have a read about Peter’s take on the upcoming album ‘Music For Confluence’…

………

Following on from his contemporary dance scores Music For Falling From Trees and Music For Congregation, November 28th, 2011 will see Broderick return with a brand new work released on Erased Tapes Records, entitled Music For Confluence. Created for documentary filmmakers Jennifer Anderson and Vernon Lott, the soundtrack takes the listener through waves of stark emotions.

The release of Music For Confluence will be preceded by the double A-side single Old Time / Solace In Gala on November 7th. – Erased Tapes

………

It was November 2010 when I started to seriously think about relocating to Berlin. I knew my Danish visa would run out sometime in 2011 and if I wanted to stay in Europe I’d need to either renew it or get another visa elsewhere.

Berlin pulled me in like a magnet, with so many of my friends and inspirations living and working there, and also being so central for my frequent European travels. And just when I started to think about finding a place, I heard about a friend of a friend who was renting out a spacious two-floor apartment in the middle of town. I was told the building was owned by a man who only wanted musicians to live there, so I could make all the noise I wanted, and on top of that I was given a key to the piano store on the bottom floor so I could play anytime the store was closed… the place was made for me!

All winter, when I wasn’t traveling and playing concerts, I was locked away in this new space creating. I had been asked to make the score for a documentary film called Confluence. The film is based in the Lewiston, Idaho area, not too far from where I grew up in the USA, and it chronicles several mysterious cases of young girls found murdered or gone missing around 1980, all of which seem to lead back to one man who for a variety of reasons has not been able to be charged with these crimes.

So with my minimal equipment and a key to Die Klavier Etage (the piano store), I set out to create some textural soundscapes which could compliment the building tension of the story without being too intrusive or suggestive. Days and nights, snowed in and experimenting with layers and layers of whichever instruments I had around, finding a murky atmosphere that fit with the uneasy feeling which the film gave to me. On New Year’s Eve I was inside, recording the final notes for the score. I had finished everything except the piece for the credits. After speaking with one of the directors of the film, Vernon Lott, we decided the song for the credits should be different from the rest of the score. So while the fireworks were exploding outside my window, I was recording Old Time, a song which for me felt like a breath-of- fresh-air after story which can only leave you wondering. – Peter Broderick

PETERBRODERICK.NET 
ERASEDTAPES.COM

Available: In 2010, Dustin O’Halloran made the heads of contemporary classical fans, piano aficionados, and beautiful music lovers in general turn in awe and bow in appreciation for his breathtaking live album Vorleben. Almost ten months later, the solo piano effort of epic emotional effect and dream inducing melodies is being featured on experimental music websites’ year end lists everywhere, including here at Fluid Radio, and now, as if to reserve his place in next year’s lists he presents us with Lumiere.

Lumiere is an expansion of the sound Dustin O’Halloran had established in his first two albums, and gives the listener deeper insight into his abilities as a composer. With the strings of New York’s ACME ensemble, Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie’s guitar, the violin of Peter Broderick and the mixing abilities of Jóhann Johannsson all aiding in making O’Halloran’s compositions come to life, this is a work of the highest order. Forty three minutes of expansive, utterly flawless music.

The piano is still there; oh it’s still there, smack dab at the center of almost every movement. Fading in and out at the exact right moments and accented by the other instruments’ performances. That’s not to say that the other instruments are only there to as supporting cast, not at all, but their presence makes the piano shine in all its glory. Every note is made more significant and each song all the more fuller. Take “We Move Lightly” for example, at heart it is a simple piano melody, moving as naturally and briskly as possible; a projection of O’Halloran state of mind at a given point in time. Nothing is forced or over complicated yet the song has a unique richness to it. The main reason behind that lies in the highly intelligent placement of the string swells, their entrance and their subtlety. On listening to it, one can’t imagine it without these added elements, the texture they add can’t be compromised.

The moods on the album vary yet in a way all have a cold, reflective feel to them. “A Great Divide’s” subtle electronics in the beginning introduce us to that feeling, with windswept soundscapes surrounding the scattered piano notes and introducing the mournful violin section which gains in momentum and ushers the return of the piano again to put the finishing touches along with the processed background noises. “Opus 44” then enters as if to narrate the previous track and provide closure. That sequence by which closure is given after each track, be it joyful or sad, gels the album together until its dying moments.

One can’t label any of the pieces as non essential or remotely negligible. Each song has its character and has its spine chilling moments bringing to memory great albums of the genre such as Eluvium’s Copia, Max Richter’s Memory House and Peter Broderick’s Float. Where each song on the album might seem unrelated to that preceding or following it, but on further listens it becomes clearer and clearer that had these same tracks been placed in any different order the logic of the album would have made less sense or felt incomplete.

As a reviewer, it’s my job to find blemishes in an album, to criticize the weaknesses I find most obvious and hope it comes as constructive as possible. Very few albums will appear as flawless, and an album that hasn’t the slightest defect in it is probably (hopefully) never going to be made. Lumiere has tested me in doing so; it has made my life harder for the past three weeks or so, listening to it over and over again to find that fateful downfall. Surely it can be said that the album doesn’t cross any established boundaries or that more surprises would have helped it standout that tiny bit more. Then again, what’s wrong with playing it a bit safe when the result is as fantastic as this? One weakness perhaps? It should have been longer!

Released through FatCat’s 130701 imprint (a home for the orchestrally/classically aligned composers attached to the label) at some point in February 2011.

- Review by Mohammed Ashraf for Fluid Radio

130701
www.fat-cat.co.uk
www.dustinohalloran.com

Peter Broderick is a musician who needs little introduction. Establishing himself as a household name within this subculture of music we love is no mean feat for an artist so young, and yet with the volume of work already to his name, the high praise he has received as composer, accompanist and producer is worthy such is the quality of his output.

As a multi-instrumentalist of some distinction it seems unfair to typecast Peter Broderick’s sound, but one could cite two clear genre pools that his music fits within. On the one hand is his acoustic, singer/songwriter guitar based folk music. Records like “Home” and “4 Tracks” fall into this genre. On the other hand his meshing of ambient, electronic sounds with classical instruments like piano and violin can be found on the albums “Docile,” “Float,” and “Music For Falling From Trees.” This sound is also found on his latest record, a super limited edition EP release from Schedios Records entitled “Three Film Score Intakes.”

Released on 3” CD, the three tracks on display here combine piano, strings and field recordings. A signature of the Broderick classical sound is his ability to take a minimalist approach to composing and through his blending of pre-recorded sounds or looping his own instruments he adds significant complexity to his music. So, for example, “Part 1” in essence a fairly simplistic, but nonetheless beautiful piano composition is supported by undertones of violin and given a distinctly gritty edge through the recorded sound of a train passing by. “Part 2” which seamlessly integrates from the first track, gives the strings a more prominent role and the resulting sound is an emotionally charged, melancholic one. “Part 3,” reverting to a greater piano focus again, is the most melodic of the three tracks yet Broderick again through his ambient intuition, ensures there is not an overriding burden of romance to the composition.

There is a narrative link between the tracks, the title of the EP alludes to a cinematic quality, and as with the film scores we are accustomed to seeing on the silver screen, the three tracks here certainly feel connected. Despite its micro nature both in the few tracks at hand and the small physical format it’s released on, Broderick as ever succeeds in creating an expansive and complex, yet immediately accessible selection of recordings. With only 200 copies, make sure you are quick, as this is a necessary addition to the music collections of any musical enthusiast.

- Review by Josh Atkin for Fluid Radio

www.web.me.com/schedios/
www.myspace.com/schedios
www.peterbroderick.net