The year with Goldmund and Helios

» Published by trym on Nov 17, 2008

Piano compositions to move the heart and guitar-based electronics to warm it in autumn.

Keith Kenniff should now be known to readers of Soundscaping as the magnificent instrumentralist and classically trained musician behind monikers such as Goldmund and Helios.

We reviewed his 2007 endeavours roughly a year ago, which then saw us teased with a fine EP, a shorter album on Western Vinyl and his first experimentation with vocal-based music on his familiar imprint, Type. Since then, at the close of 2008, Kenniff has given us two new albums to remember him by, both on Type Records and solid, full-length albums. One bearing the signature of serene piano composition genius Goldmund, the other the guitar-based and more electronic instrumentalist in Helios.

The former, The Malady of Elegance, breathes slowly over the passage of the record, gone now are the inspiration of American civil war and patriotism found on the timeless Corduroy Road, but without losing the gripping atmosphere of a lone piano and the simultaneously sparse and rich sounding world therein.
It feels cinematic, and draws on associations to his peers in Peter Broderick, Sylvain Chaveau – both label colleagues at Type – but also other great names like Philip Glass and Erik Satie and maybe even a nod to one of the all-time greats – Claude Debussy. The songs are gripping, another apt description of Goldmund’s compositions is captivating and soothing. Through tranquil pieces that trod along tenderly, every stroke of the piano key deliberated, lingering and masterfully executed, Kenniff plays with such profound intimacy you feel your chest heaving and a lump rising in your throat.

Yours truly’s favourite is probably a split between the ending piece Evelyn and maybe the own drawing the longest straw; The Gardener which sees the piano with an accompaniment of medieval-sounding guitar strums in a simple, yet effective melody that delivers on all accounts – a timeless testament to the musical genious of Keith Kenniff.

But of course Kenniff was not content to end the year on only one high, but treats us to another of his offerings under the Helios moniker – the enigmatically titled Caesura. As the complete product is important, to see more of Matthew Woodson’s artwork is always a real treat and his artwork warms a Norwegian’s heart – as if a scene taken from a train ride crossing over Hardangervidda past cottages around Geilo and Finse. Sentimentalism aside, the music of Helios delivers from the first stroke and during the course of the ten beautiful arrangements that see Kenniff experiment more with guitar- and percussion-based instrumentation than his piano-centric alter ego.

The sound in this second album from Kenniff is much more uplifting and at times can seem a bit too similar to Eingya – occasionally in sound but also in the build-up and flow of the album, and probably bears some signs of containing some b-sides that have been reworked over the years to a format deemed worthy of release – or maybe matured is a better word, Backlight and Shoulder to Hand being two such notables, but also as a result of this reworking some of the album highlights. Because Kenniff now portrays the characteristics of the veteran who explores and invents amazingly detailed electronic soundscapes and instrumentals to meet the expectations of his long-time followers and the adulthood of electronica. And when his experimentation with vocals in Ayres did not go to well with yours truly, the expectations were for more of the sounds found precisely in Caesura, and it comes at a perfect time. Autumn music to lift the autumn to new heights, dispel any darkness and let that sun gleam through the clouds as the warm and fuzzy electronica of Helios washes over you. As with the Goldmund album, yet another must-have release from Helios and sure to open more people’s eyes to the wonderful world of Kenniff’s musical artistry.

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