Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Goldmund's now that's what I call music: 1864-style

Goldmund's All Will Prosper is a little out of the ordinary, but gorgeous. The album, by electronic composer Kenneth Keniff, collects 15 mostly-Civil War-era folk songs, reconceived for spectral piano and guitar, in the simplest possible, most emotionally evocative way. There is something, for instance, about the way that the piano notes reverberate that conveys memory and loss. these are not exactly faithful renditions of living melodies, but rather their ghosts, pared down almost to transparency and -- even the lively ones -- infinitely sad.

Western Vinyl has decided to give away one of the most familiar tunes on the album, "Amazing Grace" but the ones that give me the chills are the two "Johnny" battle songs..."Johnny has gone for a soldier" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again."

I've always loved "Shenandoah," too. (I used to have a lot of these songs in a collection of american songs that I learned how to play the piano from.)

I asked about reviewing this at Blurt, but I don't know if I'll get it.

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