Regular Columnists

Artist: Band: Kenni & Co.
Album: Shine- Shine- Shine
CD Review: I’ll support anyone who is brave enough to open a cd with a song in 5/4. (I’m a big fan of this time signature.) Kenni has a lovely voice backed by beautiful acoustic guitars and back-up vocals, bass and percussion. This is a real folk disc, with the title track “Shine, Shine, Shine” as the standout. What I wouldn’t give to be at a camp-fire in the middle of August, pickin’ at an acoustic and playing that song. Seriously! You can’t help but sing along. Great lyrics. The arrangement of this track works – so Kenni & Co., you can learn something from yourself here. As I said, I’m a 5/4 fanatic, but this opener (called “Five Points of a Star”) lasts for 5 minutes and nothing lifts the chorus, no shakers or tambourines or anything. During the intro before the 2nd verse, put in a catchy guitar riff – like you did in “Shine”. It’s so important that music moves along and arrives on a recording, especially on the first track. That’s your chance to say, “Here I Am.”

I also like the lyrics on “You Did A Number On Me”, which flow well over the jazzy chords and rhythm. Again though, I feel like something is missing in the production, like a clarinet dancing around the vocal or some kind of keyboard like a Wurlitzer or a b-3 to give it a little more color and perhaps even mystery. A less clean guitar would have been awesome here as well. Same with “My Mistake”. Here’s a song about an attempted rape and a gun, and it’s all very clean. That’s some pretty edgy, nasty, angry stuff. Make it sound that way! If not that, try a more haunting atmosphere. Perhaps this is just my New York edgy grit getting the better of me.

I like Kenni & Co. The music is well performed and there are a lot of wonderful moments and lyrics. For me though, I’d love to hear this ensemble dig a little deeper and hit a little harder.

For more info: http://www.kenni.com