Corduroy Road

About

As Goldmund, Keith Kenniff has disregarded the electronic elements of his music almost entirely in favour of just a piano, a microphone and occasionally a guitar. 'Corduroy Road' is thirteen tracks of pure recording, the sound of the piano being opened and the feet on the pedal, the sound of fingers pressing lovingly onto the key. This is a record of rare and unusual beauty, so shocking and yet unpretentious in its simplicity. When the guitar does emerge from beside the delicately touched piano, it serves as a balancing point for the record. Weaving in and out of the melodie, it adds another layer to what is already incredibly moving music. 'Corduroy Road' is rooted in Kenniff's love of folk music from the American Civil War. We can hear this directly from his rendition of Civil War era classic 'Marching Through Georgia', but the influence carries throughout the record. There is an unheard voice which propels each track through history, maybe the ghosts of dying soldiers whispering in a long forgotten bar. Every haunting note drifts deep into the psyche and is lost in the ether of nostalgia. In this way it is a concept recording of sort, it certainly has a narrative and has to be listened to in sequence. The story has clear themes; lo, history, friendship, camaraderie, forgiveness and hope, all clearly marked out by musical segment. It is no surprise that Kenniff's passion for cinema shines through so strongly. It would be hard to draw comparisons to music so rooted in folk tradition, but the music evokes traces of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mark Holli, Keith Jarret or even Eno's more piano based composition. Yet influence seems unimportant when listening to this deeply personal work. Just let it sink in and drift into the psyche. .

via Last.fm

The Clerk says

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