There are two kinds of music fans in the world. One loves hardware; the other software.

Hardware lovers obsess over sound quality. They’re less concerned with composition or song writing, or for that matter genre. They tend to invest in the best sound system, and they’re constantly on the hunt for music that pushes their system to its limits.

Software lovers are all about the music. No matter if it’s on a cheap car stereo, built-in iPod speaker or a state of the art concert hall PA system. The right music always sounds great.

Very occasionally, there are albums that satisfy both groups. Think Dark Side of the Moon. More recently, The Cinematic Orchestra’s Ma Fleur fits a similar bill.

And now we have dopeman’s magnificent Ideas & Fragments. Niklas Nähring is a 22-year old electronic music producer from Germany whose first LP landed in 2014. How he’s still making music without the support of an international label is beyond me.

This new disc landed Sept. 22. Every one of its 11 tracks is a small masterpiece.

“Cloudburst” is the first track to really show off Nähring’s talent as a keyboardist. Next comes “No Place in the World.” Like much of the album, it will make you wish you’d spent more on your headphones.

Ideas & Fragments is one of a handful of releases so far this year that can fairly be described as great. Hardware and software lovers will be equally enthusiastic.

Kevin Press