6 March 2010

Goldmund - Corduroy road


A day of glistering snow, warming sunlight, ambivalent moments by the kitchen sink and quiet on all fronts. I pick up an old favorite, Goldmund's (Keith Kenniff's) Corduroy's road, an album that does not wreak havoc, not in volume, not in mood. The main instrument is piano (there are some other sounds too, guitar, some electronica, but they drift in and out and if you don't pay attention, you'll miss them). Sloppy ears allow the music to slip into a safe background ambience / mine sometimes do / but if you're alert, it's a rewarding record that refrains from rubbing itself into your face but has a welcoming glow around it all the same. Kenniff's work isn't overwhelming because of its compositional intricacy nor is it music virtuoso music (what the hell is that term, anyway). What makes it special is rather how it is layered as a recording, the care with which Kenniff allows the sounds to emerge. You could call it physical, yes. The tunes might have a melancholy streak but they are not brooding look-into-the-darkness-think-about-death. It's a record that isn't reducible into specific moods and that makes it all the more exciting to listen to. Lots of contemporary instrumental music is praised for its cinematic qualities. I don't know if it would do any justice to this record if one would bring up that rather overused term. What would it add, what would it emphasize? (Often it is not even that clear what people mean when they call some piece of music cinematic. Evocative, yes, but?) Corduroy road is restrained and I like it but maybe the fact that I do just proves that I am indulging in capitalist pretense. Is Jan Johansson a reference people find tacky? I don't think he is. Johansson excavated Swedish folk tradition, Kenniff American civial war tunes. Familiarity breeds boredom? Not here.
What can I say. I like simple music. The more unpretentious, the better.
PS: If you've heard this album - is there any other music in the vicinity of it, in approach, in simplicity etc.?

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