Friday, January 19, 2007

Young Berklee grad and Boston multi-instrumentalist Keith Kenniff is the only electronic musician we know to have issued a DJ-style mixtape featuring tracks by John Adams, Gyorgy Ligeto, Igor Stravinsky, and Steve Reich. He records under too many aliases to count, including minimalist electronic music as Helios and delicately-phrased solo-piano sketches as Goldmund, in all endeavors guided by an emphasis on spare melody and rigorous restraint. “Ba,” from Goldmund's Civil War-themed album Corduroy Road, a studious balancing act between sad and vacant in the key of Donnie Darko, has just popped up in a new ad for Honda's ASIMO robot. And now he's sprung on the world another surprise twist: his debut as a drummer and bandleader in Sono, a jazz sextet (also featuring his brother Colin) whose debut single is a nine-minute, oh-so-quiet meditation on Bjork's "Hyperballad," recorded live and pressed to 10-inch-vinyl.

DOWNLOAD: Sono, "Hyperballad" (mp3) (z-share)
DOWNLOAD: Helios, "Classical Mix" (mp3) [tracklist]
WATCH: Honda's Asimo ad featuring "Ba" (or DOWNLOAD HERE)