Nils Frahm – Music For Animals

This is an exceptional album. I can’t think of anything better to play at night, with total silence around me and in isolation from light. You have to open yourself to be able to let the music enter your brain.

Well, how do you rate this type of album ? Three hours of -almost- nothing but random sounds... As a fan of his previous work, I find it hard to like. What is missing to make it interesting ? Probably composition and a purpose. This record goes nowhere and it drives me nuts. I had the same feeling when I heard Philip Glass music in twelve parts. Boring...
The only track to salvage is Right Right Right.
Does this mean Nils is on another path ? I strongly hope this is a one off.

Now, let's talk about the media. For 3 CD, the price is ok but the packaging is quite cheap (and as empty as the music). The humongous price of the vinyl release, WOW, that hurts !

The more I live with this behemoth of an album, the more I love it. Aside from the still enjoyable solo piano albums, it looks like Nils has been getting ballsier in his main output ever since the masterpiece of All Melody, and so dropping three hours of ambient music just feels like a natural outgrowth of the dronier tracks on the Encores EPs.

As a diehard CD buyer, I'm glad I bought Music For Animals in that format and therefore "learned it" as three CDs over the last few weeks. This has made the whole thing more digestible, and provides quite a nice structure. First it eases you in gently with the shortest disc, where my favourite track is Seagull Scene. Then in the middle comes the longest and most challenging disc, with Sheep In Black And White my pick of its three tracks. Last but definitely not least is the hour-long disc that I love the most: four tracks that contrast with each other well, Lemon Day just clinching overall favourite.

As other reviewers have alluded to, the magic of Music For Animals lies in how organic it feels: played rather than looped on a DAW, with a really natural, patient feel for gradual progression. It might sound on first listen a bit like Selected Ambient Works II with the track lengths blown up, but it's closer to the spirit of late 70s - early 80s Eno or Cluster. Everything here works equally well as truly ambient background music or for closer listening to pick out the subtle details. Can't wait to hear what Nils does next.