The Malady of Elegance

Bought this from the classical menu, was surprised to see it labeled as electronica... You really have to strain to hear the electronic elements, but they do enhance the music. Beautiful album.

It’s simply amazing album! So deep and elegant. Do not listen it on the go because it is such an event!

This album has been a part of my life now for the last year and a half, and I am still to this day impressed with how deeply I can be hit by hearing the simple notes of this music. It will remind you of hope, pain, longing, and nostalgia, perhaps some of the best music to write or create art to that I have ever heard.

a beautiful and emotional listen, after four years this album is still wonderful!

Hovering somewhere between Erik Satie and Harold Budd, Keith Kenniff's piano meditations (as Goldmund) are both luminous and nostalgic. Often it's so quiet that the squeaking foot pedals become integral to the composition in a Cage-like manner.

i am very moved by this album. very subtle, beautiful. takes me so many different places and i love it.

Keith Kenniff is back on Type Records with his second full length album under Goldmund alias, titled The Malady Of Elegance. A previous EP, Two Point Discrimination (Western Vinyl, 2007), hit the streets on the heels of Kenniff's much anticipated Helios release, Ayres (Type, 2007). Whether Kenniff flips between his more ambient and acoustic electronica works under Helios or modern and contemporary classical pieces under Goldmund, he seems to shine at everything he touches. Especially when it comes to piano keys. The Malady Of Elegance is very cozy, intimate and personal. It is, as if Keith was playing in your own living room and you had your ear against the sound board, picking up each stroke of a hammer, a creek of the pedal, and a soft brush of the finger tips. The melancholic lullabies gently sway the listener into a meditative state of contemplation. It is especially important to recognize how a simple single instrument, like piano, can capture enough emotion to be gently wrapped in an album. The story behind The Malady Of Elegance is a bit of a mystery. But the aged photograph on the cover, the track titles and the music itself, hint at a voyage into the past, suggesting "that the ghosts of old America [still] haunt the keys." And even if this cinematic fantasy creates a world a bit out of reach, it's still comforting to know, that on The Malady Of Elegance Keith Kenniff plays for you. Your own private performance. Incidentally... The album layout and design of The Malady Of Elegance was designed by Erik Skodvin, who is none other than Svarte Greiner and one half of Deaf Center. They must be friends ;). The cover photograph on the album, however, was taken by Linus Lohoff. Meanwhile... It seems that Mr. Kenniff has been a bit busy with yet another release on John Twells' (Xela) Type Records, this time under Helios moniker, titled Caesura. You can be sure I'll grab that one as well. Recommended for the likes of Hauschka, Sylvain Chauveau, Erik Satie, Peter Broderick and Max Richter.

This is an incredibly beautiful set of solo piano songs.

like a quiet breeze in summer caressing golden grasses, this music blows through you. It's simple, nostalgic, beautiful.