Goldmund: Sometimes (LP, Western Vinyl, December 2015)


This is Keith Kenniff's first album as Goldmund since 2011's Civil War song cycle All Will Prosper, although this harks back more to 2010's Famous Places. Which is to say that these are short improvisations for solo piano (17 tracks here in 46 minutes), swathed (to a greater or lesser extent) in ambient swooshiness and backed very occasionally by a gentle guitar strum and recorded in that close-miked style which was all the range a few years back (I was half expecting to see Nils Frahm's name in the credits, but in fact mastering was by Taylor Deupree) — and that they are intimate and delicate and lovely. Apparently, the tracks were recorded over the course of three years, often late at night after he'd been working as a session musician all day. It's true that this sound isn't exactly cutting edge in 2015, but it seems churlish to point that out when the music is as delightful as this. Also noteworthy is that one track, A Word I Give, is a collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto, developed out of work they did for a charity project for victims of the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

I bought this from Boomkat. They call it Modern Classical / Ambient.

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