Thanks to its distinct, downright catchy single "Orinoco Flow," which amusingly referenced both her record-company boss Rob Dickins and co-producer Ross Cullum in the lyrics, Enya's second album Watermark established her as the unexpected queen of gentle, Celtic-tinged new age music. To be sure, her success was as much due to marketing a niche ...
No surprises here, of course -- Enya didn't achieve new age superstardom by challenging anyone's expectations. This album is every bit as hushed, lovely, and soulless as everything else she's ever done; like a perfect angel food cake, it's sweet, soft, and utterly lacking in nutritive substance. There's nothing the matter with angel food cake, of ...
Michael Crétu's attempt at fusing everything from easy listening sex music and hip-hop rhythms to centuries-old Gregorian chants couldn't have been more designed to tweak the nose of high art, a joyously crass stab straight at a mainstream, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. The result is something that shouldn't exist, but in its own way ...
Calling Shepherd Moons a near carbon copy of Watermark puts it quite mildly. Like Watermark, Shepherd Moons opens with the title track, a calm instrumental, has another brief instrumental titled after a Dora Saint book smack in the middle ("No Holly for Miss Quinn"), and concludes with a number incorporating a striking uilleann pipes solo, ...
Originally advertised on television and then released to stores, Pure Moods could be subtitled "New Age's Greatest Hits." Certainly, it has everything that the mainstream pop audience could construe as new age -- atmospheric synthesizers, chants and haunting sonic textures. More importantly, it has all of the songs, from Enigma ("Return to ...
Canyon Trilogy represents a return to the simplicity of Carlos Nakai's earlier albums such as Changes and Journeys. There are no additional instruments here, no rattles, and no chanting, just his haunting flutes, either solo or multi-tracked. The "trilogy" in the title refers to the three sections of the tape -- "Dawn's Mirage," "Dreamscapes," and ...
Second only to U2 as the most successful Irish recording artist of all time, Enya has built an empire out of multi-tracking her beautiful voice over the same keyboard patches that appeared on her post-Clannad debut since 1987. It's an empire that has progressed at a slow burn, peaking in 2000 and 2001 with her chart-topping ballad and unofficial ...
LSD: Love, Sensuality and Devotion gathers over a decade's worth of Enigma's definitive tracks, including the song that started it all, "Sadeness, Pt. 1." "Return to Innocence," "Beyond the Invisible," and "Cross of Changes" are all featured as well, and though the collection ranges from the rock-tinged "I'll Love You...I'll Kill You" to ...
Deepak Chopra teams with Australian new age musician Adam Plack on The Soul of Healing Meditations: A Simple Approach to Getting Younger, which features eight guided meditations set to gentle, world music-inspired instrumentals. The appropriately airy synth washes of "Breathing Meditation" lead into the rhythmic, tabla-driven "Heart Meditation" ...
Of all the CDs designed to accompany the healing energy of Reiki, Reiki: Hands of Light, by Deuter, is one of the best, if not the best. That is no surprise, because Deuter always ascends to the top in whatever style he chooses. His releases are always diverse, with many different applications. This CD is perfect for use in the healing arts. It ...
Depending on the mood you're in, this compilation album will make you dream, smile, or cry a nostalgic tear. It is a typical Windham Hill sampler: wistful, joyful, lush, and lovely. Most songs stick with piano or string instrumentation, and none of them could ever be classified as up-tempo. A few of the tracks, including "The Gift" and "Sung to ...
Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya is an excellent 16-song overview of Enya's career, containing 14 selections from The Celts, Watermark, Shepherd Moon, and The Memory of Trees -- including "Caribbean Blue," "Anywhere Is," "Marble Halls," "Book of Days," and, of course, "Orinoco Flow" -- as well as two previously unreleased songs ("Only If ...
A Thanksgiving recording? That's what the folks at Windham Hill have proposed. Whether or not the theme truly makes sense is quickly made irrelevant by the beautiful performances. Of particular note is the stunning performance of "We Gather Together" by Paul McCandless, Philip Aaberg, and Michael Manring. The entire set is a consistently beautiful ...
From the opening track's mournful oboe, cor anglais and uillean pipes it's obvious this will be an excursion into a Celtic evening. But what starts out engaging enough, with David Arkenstone's artful blending of synthesizer and pennywhistle to the vocals of Triona Ni Dhmohnaill and Lisa Lunne's Celtic harp, soon turns dark. The tunes conjure ...
Be warned -- this is an album that will grow on you very quickly. Jesse Cook is a Canadian flamenco guitarist who took the world fusion route at some point, basing his playing against a wonderful mix and match of percussion, synthesizers and samplers. It's easy to spot some of the artificial elements, but many more of them have been blurred into ...
A Meeting by the River can best be described as a spontaneous outpouring of music, unhindered by convention or form, brought into being by musicians so supremely capable that the music is never labored, the technique of their craft always subservient to the final product. Cooder and Bhatt are genuine masters of the guitar and mohan vina, ...
With Enigma 3: Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi, the group continues to phase out the dance elements of their music, moving toward lush sonic landscapes, informed by both electronics and worldbeat. The result is a fascinating, intriguing listen, especially for listeners already attuned to Enigma's idiosyncratic take on new age. ~ Rodney Batdorf, All ...
Barcelona Nights: The Best of Ottmar Liebert, Vol. 1 gathers the nouveau flamenco guitarist's early career highlights, including the title track and "Heart Still/Beating," both from his 1990 debut Nouveau Flamenco, as well as Borrasca's title track and "Dancing Under the Moon." Other highlights include "La Rosa Negra," "Bullfighter's Dream," "In ...
R. Carlos Nakai has been at the forefront of Native American artists since the mid- to late '80s (around the time of release of this CD). On Earth Spirit, his acoustic reveries are direct and true. Each of the 15 compositions comes from Nakai's heart and goes to listeners' hearts. Two of the compositions are for the "eagle's bone whistle," the ...
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