Tripping with Nils – Film Review
by Killian Laher

Directed by Benoit Toulemonde
Produced by Felix Grimm and Nils Frahm
Exec Produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner

Tripping with Nils Frahm premieres on Thursday 3rd December – Exclusively on MUBI

The album version is available on Bandcamp here.

Tripping with Nils is a concert film of the German artist Nils Frahm from Funkhaus in Berlin, with an accompanying album.  These days Frahm is playing a sort of downtempo techno, moving away from his ambient roots.  What comes across is an artist lost in music creation.  Watching him on stage is more akin to watching a DJ performance than that of a live band.  The film is excellently shot capturing just how physical Frahm is on stage.  He doesn’t just inhabit the stage, he is a mesmeric performer, playing his bank of keyboards mostly in a standing position.

The music consists very much of trance-like grooves and his complex, intricate playing got multiple ovations from the audience, many of whom were completely lost in the hypnotic music.  It’s probably one for existing fans only, there’s not much else going on bar the music but it’s a good snapshot of a highly original artist.