For full setlist visit yeahyal.substack.com
Episode 37 takes a picture so it will last longer—in fact, an additional hour to make up for the long delay, consisting of 59 songs total.
This episode’s highlighted track: Track 55
Nils Frahm - Says
Hamburg-born, Berlin-based composer Nils Frahm has made a career out of dissolving the boundary between modern classical performance and electronic sound design, building a cult following through his hybrid setups of grand pianos, analog synthesizers, vintage instruments, and tape-era outboard gear. From his 2013 live album Spaces on the Erased Tapes label, “Says” pairs a looping, arpeggiated analog synth pattern generated from his custom rig with a moody, melodic, reverb-drenched piano. The piece evolves almost entirely through gradual filter movements and subtle layering, slowly opening the harmonic spectrum over its eight-minute runtime. Recorded live, it captures not just the sound but the physical presence of the room, with Frahm shaping and automating the tones in real time.
The effect is hypnotic, somewhere between Steve Reich’s phase minimalism and the analog glow of early Tangerine Dream. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Frahm perform a few times and always leave a little stunned. His shows feel part recital, part laboratory experiment, featuring rare instruments like the glass armonica,* played by gliding wet-gloved fingers across the rims of rotating glass bowls, not unlike rubbing the tops of wine glasses. His music trades virtuoso flash (though he is an exceptionally skilled player) for something far more immersive: texture, space, and the emotional power of small sonic shifts unfolding over time. Even without the visual spectacle, “Says” builds and blooms with such dramatic force that by its final moments it’s hard not to erupt in awe as the sound reaches its towering climax.
*Invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761.
The setlist:
Artist / Song Name / Album / Year
Amiina / Sexfaldur / Kurr / 2007
Thomas de Pourquery / Back from the war / Let the monster fall / 2024
Sault / I.L.T.S. / 10 / 2025
Little Carlos / Got to Be Free / Presents: How & Little - T.M.F. / 2020
ESG / Dance / Come Away with ESG / 1983
SHADED / Naughty Mofo / Naughty Mofo - Single / 2023
Connie Francis / Pretty Little Baby (可愛いベイビー) - Japanese Version / Connie Francis Sings Greatest Hits In Japanese / 1962
SBTRKT & Little Dragon / Wildfire / SBTRKT / 2011
Count Basic / Speechless Drum & Bass (Kruder & Dorfmeister Remix) / Conversions: A K&D Selection / 1996
Dionne Warwick / Heartbreaker / Heartbreaker / 1982
Daphni / Carry on / Joli Mai / 2017
The Invisible / K-Town Sunset (feat. Connan Mockasin) / Patience / 2016
Tricky / Overcome / Maxinquaye / 1995
Elias Rahbani / Dance of Maria / Mosaic of the Orient / 1974
Bobby O / She Has a Way / Freedom in an Unfree World / 1983
Rhye / Hymn / Hymn - Single / 2018
Joubert Singers / Stand On the Word (Larry Levan Mix) / Electric Chair Saved My Life / 1985
Andrea Laszlo De Simone / Ricordo tattile / Una Lunghissima Ombra / 2025
Mac DeMarco / Holy / Guitar / 2025
The Brian Jonestown Massacre / Anemone / Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request / 1996
Flora Hibberd / Fern / Swirl / 2025
The Walkmen / We’ve Been Had / Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone / 2002
The Brothers and Sisters / Lay Lady Lay (feat. Edna Wright) / Dylan’s Gospel / 1969
Belle and Sebastian / Piazza, New York Catcher / Dear Catastrophe Waitress / 2003
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott / Diamond Joe / Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Sings Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers and Cowboy Songs / 1976
El Shab Arab / Lw Kan / Lw Kan / 1976
Camille Yarbrough / Take Yo’ Praise / The Iron Pot Cooker / 1975
Rose Droll / Opening Doors / With Strangers / 2024
Skeeter Davis / What Does It Take (To Keep a Man Like You Satisfied) / The Essential Skeeter Davis / 1967
Chrome Sparks / Marijuana / Marijuana - Single / 2018
Ty Segall / Imaginary Person / Melted / 2010
Mhaol / Pursuit / Something Soft / 2024
Prince Buster / Madness / I Feel the Spirit / 1963
Erasmo Carlos / É Preciso Dar um Jeito, Meu Amigo / Carlos, Erasmo / 1971
Night Beats / Nightmare / Rajan / 2023
Girls At Our Best! / Politics! / Pleasure / 1981
The Damned / Morning Bird / New Rose / 1977
Melissa Manchester / You Should Hear How She Talks About You / Hey Ricky / 1982
Aera / Future Holds / Fever - EP / 2023
Bill Nelson / When Your Dream of Perfect Beauty Comes True / The Love That Whirls / 1982
Beck / Rowboat / Stereopathetic Soulmanure / 1994
Micah P. Hinson / Beneath the Rose / Micah P. Hinson & the Gospel of Progress / 2005
Razzy Bailey / I Hate Hate / Color My World / 1973
The Honeydrippers / Impeach the President / Impeach the President / 1973
Jorge Cafrune / No Soy de Aquí... Ni Soy de Allá / Esenciales / 1973
Olivia Newton-John / Magic / Xanadu / 1980
The Donkeys / Lower the Heavens / The Donkeys / 2004
Dave Van Ronk / He Was a Friend of Mine / Folksinger / 1962
Earth, Wind & Fire / That’s the Way of the World / That’s the Way of the World / 1975
Neil Young / Separate Ways / Homegrown / 2020
Elizabeth Cotten / Freight Train / Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes / 1912
Kingsley Bucknor / You Gotta Keep on Luvin’ Me / Just U and Me - EP / 1985
Suki Waterhouse / To Get You / Memoir of a Sparklemuffin / 2024
Ashley Wass / 3 Gnossiennes: No. 1, Lent / Black & White / 2024
Nils Frahm / Says / Spaces / 2013
Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth for Christ Choir / Nobody Knows / Like a Ship (Without a Sail) / 1971
Shana Cleveland / Face of the Sun / Night of the Worm Moon / 2019
Crowded House / Into Temptation / Temple of Low Men / 1988
Aphex Twin / #3 / Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II / 1994
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Mix also available on Soundcloud.
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