CINEMATICA

Perhaps not exactly in the prog rock genre but this is an album which is well worth a listen from an almost completely unknown and underrated guitarist and keyboard player.

The self produced album as with all of this artists albums is a digital release only and consists of 2 long instrumental tracks of slightly over 28 minutes each, both of which contain elements of classic sounding guitar wizardry ala Joe Satch, Dave Gilmour, or perhaps Gary Moore (or maybe all of 'em combined) sitting right alongside Tangerine Dream and/or Jean Michel Jarre. The album as it's title suggests is rather cinematic in concept and is a bit different from the more prog or metal style of this artists previous releases. Each track on the album is a journey which is well worth taking, and if like me you like the long tracks like 'Close to the Edge' or 'A Change of Seasons' for example, but without the singing, and you're kind of tired of listening to the same old stuff again and again and on the lookout for something new, this could be for you. It's on all the streaming sites including Bandcamp, itunes and spotify so give it a try if you fancy.....well worth it.

Very good instrumental album. I would classify this under the label of 'electronic crossover prog' if such a genre exists. There's plenty of synth sequencing and rich sounding layered pads throughout which are perfectly blended with some beautiful guitar work which brings a number of well known guitar players to mind as obvious influences.

There are three tracks on this album as well as a bonus track on the Bandcamp download.

My only real minor gripe with the album is that the two main tracks are perhaps somewhat unimaginatively named as 'Pt 1' and 'Pt 2'. Each has a run time of over 28 minutes so definitely not aimed at those listeners with a shorter attention span who prefer their songs to be no more than 3 minutes or so.

The third track ; sandwiched in between Pt 1 and Pt 2 and aptly named "Interlude" is much shorter at only 3 minutes and is a beautifully structured ambient and delightfully atmospheric short synth piece.

Both of the long tracks are fully action packed with plenty highs and lows and are diverse enough throughout their entire length to hold the listeners attention right to the very end.

The bonus track which comes with the download is named as "Cinematica Pt 2 : Youtube mix and also provides a youtube link to a section of that track which the artist has re-recorded especially for youtube.

In summary ; lovely stuff if you like long instrumentals of a kind of cross genre approach.

After reviewing Kenny's most recent album, 'The Light and The Dark', I am now listening to his 2017 instrumental release, 'Cinematica'. The album title is very much in keeping with the songs on the album, as one can certainly imagine them being used as film soundtracks. The first and last of the three songs are more than 28 minutes in length, sandwiching a three minute ear cleanser and the time given to these pieces really allows Kenny to stretch his musical wings. When it commences, one is immediately drawn to the music of Jean Michel Jarre, as the music progresses (literally) then it becomes far more similar to Tangerine Dream. Here he allows his ambient keyboard soundscapes to mix with floating guitar lines to create something which really allows the listener to drift away.

This is definitely not an album I would recommend playing in the car, as I find that when listening to this I become incredibly relaxed and am drawn into a different world. It can't be treated as background music, but is an album that does demand close attention and time being spent just to play and enjoy the music for what it is. Headphones, a nice large glass of your favourite spirit, and then allow yourself to drift into a quite magical, atmospheric world that still has plenty of dynamics.