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Over the course of his quarter-century career, composer Kevin Keller has been known to switch things up from album to album, but this year he took things a step further. In order to challenge himself and bring fresh ideas to his music, he used social media to crowdsource an entire album in 28 days. "I started with no narrative concept, no title, no idea really of what this music would be," Keller explains. Breaking the patterns of his previous twelve albums, he asked his fans for directions and ideas, and then designed new sounds to guide his studio improvisations. The result of this experiment is Shimmer, his first album to be released on both CD and vinyl.
Shimmer contains some of Keller’s most propulsive tracks, bubbling with analog beats while also deploying a multitude of motifs that mesh like clockwork. The opening “Orchards” demonstrates this style immediately with a piano intro that could be Steve Reich remixed for the dance floor. In contrast, “Bridges” recalls the timeless sound of Cluster. The more meditative moments, such as “Ithaca”, “Inverness”, and the closing “Delta,” show off his compositional knack for beautiful melodies and lush textures. The title track and its sister track “Riverbend” combine all of these streams and, like all Keller’s music, evolve their sound, never standing still even when they seem to float weightlessly.
credits
released September 17, 2021
Recorded in February 2021 at Mariner's Gate Studio, NYC
Mastered by Chris Frasco in Nashville, TN
Cover photo by Gremlin
Instruments: Roland FP-3, 8dio Studio Upright, Moog Grandmother, Roland Juno-106, Serum, Omnisphere, Roland CR-78, Spitfire Audio London Contemporary Orchestra, Quantum Leap, Fender Telecaster
Special thanks to Deborah Slater, John Licwinko, Bart Petterle, Dan Leafe, Jeff Menager, Dianna Kessler, Josh French, Kyla Barkin, Gene and Kathy Keller, Steve Holtje, Mark Steensland, and Marta Karamuz for their invaluable input during the RPM Challenge
Album Supporters: Gene and Kathy Keller, Derik Stone, Meri Tepper,
Dawn Daehn, Marta Karamuz, John Lloyd, Ben Glovinsky, Joshua French,
Steve Ornish, Orin Kurtz, Garen Horst, Daniel Leafe, Debbie Khumayyis Foltz, Jen Stencel, Ian Jones, Jeff Sloane, Rachel Amov, Mark Steensland, John Bacsa, Kenneth Corrales, Tina Guerra, Eric Johnson, Frederick Key Smith, Dianna Cuatto, Jay Cathcart, Charlie Blasberg, Steve Holtje, Thomas Zarnek, Justin Latham, Brad Grimm, Paul Rafanello, Ray Sullivan, Chad Levy and Amy Marshall, Tomm Roland, Matthew Ragusa, Jeff Menager, Bill Merrill, Meena Cho, Sheryl Smith, Kurt Anderson, and John Licwinko
All music composed by Kevin Keller, except “Delta”, composed by
Kevin Keller and Rayne Kristine (courtesy of Silver Carpet)
Kevin Keller is an American composer who has worked in the spaces between neo-classical, ambient, and electronic music for
over 30 years.
Often combining acoustic piano, strings, and woodwinds with electronic instruments and effects, his style has come to be called “ambient chamber music”....more
This album will grow on you. Listen in headphones or earbuds. It will blow your mind. Steve has so many amazing textures and dimensions on this release. It's hard to pick a favorite track. Probably in his top 5, if there is such a thing. 53Guitarman
We have the 'Rest Of Life' to think whole truths morally wrong... no amount of gronce will shonky honesty up.. when dissin to depleted lobotomies is not barked back at too smugly.. cones, jugs & pharmacies
"And all the drama got me stressin' like I'm hopeless, I can't cope..
Me and the homies smokin' roaches, 'cause we broke" - 2PAC skitzo-productions
The Iranian contemporary-classical producer’s most comprehensive work yet; movements fueled by personal emotion and Persian history. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 3, 2022
Stunning, Hypnotic, Immersive - I haven't even played the 2nd track yet as I can't stop looping the first - I don't want it to end! Been a lifelong fan & this really is jaw dropping... 10/10 Mat Mckenzie