Cover illustration made with an AI image tool, chosen and framed by the editor.
A playlist for…
Nils Frahm and Kindred Spirits
Nils Frahm’s piano and synthesizers, woven with music in the same spirit: Ólafur Arnalds, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hania Rani and others. Sequenced for one long, quiet evening, about 1¾ hours.
- Length
- 1h 45m
- Tracks
- 22
- Energy
- Quiet
- Vocals
- Mixed vocals
Piano, strings and electronics, and as far as we know without singing, but we haven’t yet listened through every track for voices, so we don’t label it instrumental.
Listen on SpotifyPublished October 29, 2026
Nils Frahm grew up near Hamburg and is based in Berlin. His albums Felt, Spaces and All Melody came out on the London label Erased Tapes, and in 2015 he created Piano Day, held each year on the 88th day of the year.
This playlist puts eight of his pieces and two of his collaborations with Ólafur Arnalds alongside music we think belongs in the same room: Arnalds on his own, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hania Rani, Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka, Joep Beving, and Frahm’s label mates at Erased Tapes. It closes with Brian Eno’s “An Ending (Ascent).”
It isn’t in date order. It’s sequenced to move like an evening: quiet solo piano first, a slow build through the longer electronic pieces in the middle, then back down to stillness.
Put it on low, and let it fill the room.
Tracklist
Side A
- 01AmbreNils Frahm3:47
- 02Near LightÓlafur Arnalds3:29
- 03FamiliarNils Frahm3:30
From Felt (2011), Frahm’s first studio album for the London label Erased Tapes. [source 1] [source 2]
- 04Opus 23Dustin O'Halloran3:30
- 05On the Nature of DaylightMax Richter6:12
- 06SaysNils Frahm8:18
From Spaces (2013), an album built from live recordings made at different venues over two years. [source]
- 07BlurredKiasmos5:06
Kiasmos, A Winged Victory for the Sullen (track 17) and Rival Consoles (track 15) are Frahm’s label mates at Erased Tapes. [source]
- 0821:05Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm5:16
Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds have released records together since 2012; this is from their 2016 album Trance Frendz. [source]
- 09EdenHania Rani4:55
- 10UnterNils Frahm2:37
- 11RadarHauschka3:52
Side B
- 12ReNils Frahm3:50
- 13Flight from the CityJóhann Jóhannsson6:31
- 14HammersNils Frahm3:48
- 15RecoveryRival Consoles4:50
- 16SunsonNils Frahm9:10
- 17Requiem for the Static King Part OneA Winged Victory for the Sullen2:46
- 18Ab OvoJoep Beving4:48
- 19a1Ólafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm7:05
From their collaborative EP Stare (2012). [source]
- 20samanÓlafur Arnalds2:12
- 21My Friend the ForestNils Frahm5:16
- 22An Ending (Ascent)Brian Eno4:26
Total1h 45m
At a glance
- How long is the “Nils Frahm and Kindred Spirits” playlist?
- 1 hour 45 minutes, 22 tracks, played in the order listed.
- Does it have singing?
- Piano, strings and electronics, and as far as we know without singing, but we haven’t yet listened through every track for voices, so we don’t label it instrumental.
- Where can I listen to it?
- On Spotify, as a public playlist. Anyone can see the tracklist there, and playing it needs the Spotify app or web player.
- Who made it?
- It was picked, put in order and listened through by the editor at A Playlist For…. Software did not choose the songs.