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Iksion Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: Sep. 2006 Posted: Jan. 28 2007, 15:51 Is there any funs of Loreenas music?? I just get it from my friend and im amazed!!! I woud like to share my opinions with someone if there is someone how listen it -------------- Im crazy old man, Im dressed in red, I drink sky like honey, enough i have said. Back to top

Inkanta Group: Admins Posts: 1453 Joined: Feb. 2000 Posted: Jan. 28 2007, 19:42 I listen to her off and on.  "Mummer's Dance" coincided with the time that I started attending sabbats on a regular basis, and it captures the spirit of Beltane (May 1) so thoroughly that I had to love it. The "Thistle and Shamrock" aired today, a Celtic music-type US radio program on National Public Radio ( http://www.npr.org/programs/thistle ). I wasn't paying a lot of attention, talking to the kids in the car, but all of the sudden I heard something I didn't recognize that sounded like LM. I said aloud, "Wow--that sounds like Loreena McKennit."  And.....it was--something from her latest album, An Ancient Muse. Not sure what, though, but I instantly liked it and made a mental note to round up that CD. (-: -------------- "No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris." Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Jan. 29 2007, 04:56 I used to have 'The Mask and the Mirror' many years ago, and had an odd relationship with it. The first track or two would seem very impressive and mysterious, but then after about 10 minutes I started to find the sound of her voice irritating - and that would then get worse until I switched off thinking 'this is not for me'. But then a year or so later I'd try again, and so on - and the same pattern would always repeat. It was as if she was holding out the promise of something I felt I should enjoy - but somehow I couldn't, quite. More recently I bought the new album - Ancient Muse - and after two or three playings, I just don't know. It doesn't seem as vividly individual as 'Mask and Mirror', but I still get that same feeling - that she's the kind of artist I would expect to like, but somehow don't. Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Jan. 30 2007, 18:33 @ Alan D.: If you find something you don't like in a singer's voice the first time you hear it, then you hear it again and you still find 'that' something in it, there's nothing you can do about that - she (or he) can make wonderful songs, or the most beautiful music you've ever heard in your entire lifetime, but you're bound to never really like her (or him). This is what always happens to me, and I think your case is similar. I don't mind Loreena McKennitt's voice, it's her style that sometimes bothers me - I find it too repetitive. Mike Oldfield is pretty much the only artist I can accept repetitive music from. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

EeToN Group: Members Posts: 845 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: Jan. 30 2007, 20:40 I loved An Ancient Muse since the first moment I heard it. Loreena's music has a very nice "Celtic" feeling, her melodies are very catchy - when I listened to the album the second time it seemed I have always known it -, the arrangements are well-thought, a lot of effort goes to the small variations that makes interesting even the longest tracks, and the whole sounds just very natural. So yes, I'm also a fan of her music. -------------- If I were music, I would be Enigmatism. Back to top

theweightless Group: Members Posts: 604 Joined: April 2001 Posted: Jan. 31 2007, 03:45 i like her music very much    beautiful voice my favourite ones are: Caravanserai Night Ride Across The Caucasus The Bonny Swans The Lady Of Shalott The Mummers' Dance The Highwayman -------------- ASMK Back to top

manintherain Group: Members. Posts: 546 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Jan. 31 2007, 04:47 Loreena´s a favourite to me since her days as a support act for the Tubular Bells II tour in 1993. Have met her twice and I must admit that she´s a very friendly person and real nice to talk to. Will be seeing her live on March 27th in Düsseldorf, Germany and can´t wait to see the footage that was filmed at the magical Alhambra monument in Granada, Spain in September 2006 as part of the forthcoming Loreena McKennitt: Nights from the Alhambra concert TV special. Back to top

Iksion Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: Sep. 2006 Posted: Jan. 31 2007, 07:46 yes her music is very celtic..and yes it is a little repitive :\ but its steel great! I think i like it because thet gothic/celtic style of hers.. My favorites are God Rest Ye Merry,All souls night,Lullaby(my favorite). Hm..yes! In are contry there is a gothic band named Abonos thet remixed one of her songs and its amazing how they did it! They remixed All souls night into the metal/gothic version! Its fantastic! -------------- Im crazy old man, Im dressed in red, I drink sky like honey, enough i have said. Back to top

Inkanta Group: Admins Posts: 1453 Joined: Feb. 2000 Posted: Jan. 31 2007, 21:45 I ended up downloading An Ancient Muse from iTunes, then realised I might have missed out on a nice booklet. Did the CD come with background material or lyrics? I actually really like her latest CD and find her voice expressive. Alan--I know what you mean, though, about singers with voices that you have to work to get beyond. I can't even listen to "Islands." There are a few others I've encountered over the years whom have irritating voices to my ears. -------------- "No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris." Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 01 2007, 01:23 Quote (Inkanta @ Feb. 01 2007, 02:45) Did the CD come with background material or lyrics? I actually really like her latest CD and find her voice expressive. Yes, the 'Ancient Muse' CD is one of those few CD productions that are lovely in themselves, and it plays a part in making me persist with her music. It's beautifully designed, with a folding card sleeve and a booklet in its pocket. I should say that after about 5 listenings now (two more stimulated by this thread), some of the tracks on 'An Ancient muse' are starting to grow on me. The album as a whole seems more gentle and restrained in some ways than 'Mask and the Mirror', and so its ear-irritating potential may be less. I hope so - I would really like to like it! Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 01 2007, 16:22 Well, gosh. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been talking rubbish. ["So what's new?" I can hear you asking.] I've been doing some really careful listening to An Ancient Muse, several times over, and realised I didn't know what I was talking about - not just about the music, but even about my own response to it. So let me say without more ado, that I think there are 3 utterly wonderful tracks on this album, and a fourth not far behind them. And this is very different to my response to The Mask and the Mirror, because I'm not having any difficulty at all listening to her voice on this new album. On the contrary, now I'm starting to know the songs well, I'm finding her singing is pretty well perfect, and very emotionally-charged. The three sure-fire winners in my book are: "Penelope's Song" "Beneath a Phrygian Sky" "Never-ending Road (Amhrán Duit)" The fourth close contender is "Caravanserai". Where I have problems, curiously, is with the (seemingly interminable) purely instrumental tracks. In particular the continual repetition of the little tune in "Sacred Shabbat" has me climbing the wall in irritation. All this is pretty well opposite to what I said earlier, and all I've done between now and then is to keep listening. So what do I know? Back to top

EeToN Group: Members Posts: 845 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: Feb. 01 2007, 17:13 Quote (Alan D @ Feb. 01 2007, 22:22) All this is pretty well opposite to what I said earlier, and all I've done between now and then is to keep listening. So what do I know? Maybe you'll find yourself enjoying even the instrumental tracks next time. Especially 'Kecharitomene' which is one of my very favourites on the album because of its clever build-up adding more and more instruments and its climax part at the end. But... knowing your dislike for such Oldfield tracks as 'In Dulci Jubilo' and 'Portsmouth', I'm not that surprised that it doesn't wound its way into your heart, they have similar characteristic, even if Mike uses shorter format. (Ha! I've just realized that I'm pushing this topic towards Oldfield-McKennitt comparison.) -------------- If I were music, I would be Enigmatism. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 01 2007, 17:23 Quote (EeToN @ Feb. 01 2007, 22:13) knowing your dislike for such Oldfield tracks as 'In Dulci Jubilo' and 'Portsmouth', I'm not that surprised that it doesn't wound its way into your heart, they have similar characteristic, even if Mike uses shorter format. Ah, you know my weaknesses too well, by now!! Yes, you're exactly right. It's the same part of me that can't cope with the simple repetitive Mike tunes. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 08 2007, 03:53 I managed to find my old audio cassette of 'The Mask and the Mirror', and settled to listen to it, quite hopeful in the light of what's been happening to me with 'Ancient Muse'. Ouch! I was surprised by how well I remembered it, and still I struggle with those piercing screechy bits she does. There are some lovely moments on the album to be sure, but there are just too many times when her voice rattles the fillings in my teeth and sends me running for cover. So I'm still likely to have difficulty with that, it seems. I think that (not surprisingly) her voice has mellowed a lot in the intervening years between these two albums. There's none of that early screechiness on the new album at all. And there's a lovely depth to the melodies on the best tracks of 'Ancient Muse' that captivates me in a way that nothing on 'Mask and Mirror' quite manages - even though I'm not completely impervious to the charms of the latter. Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Feb. 08 2007, 17:13 Quote (Alan D @ Feb. 01 2007, 22:22) The three sure-fire winners in my book are: "Penelope's Song" "Beneath a Phrygian Sky" "Never-ending Road (Amhrán Duit)" I'm still not quite getting into 'Caravanserai' (intro is too long, maybe?), but I agree with you about the sure-fire winners. A melody of such sweetness as the one in "Never ending road" is very hard to find in today's 'mainstream' music, so it's a real pleasure to get it from a 'genre' artist like Ms. McKennitt - because, yes, she does definitely belong to a 'genre' that's different from mainstream, but as long as she makes good tunes like these, who cares a f*ck whether or not she's broadcast on hit radio stations! -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Feb. 09 2007, 03:22 Quote (Ugo @ Feb. 08 2007, 22:13) I'm still not quite getting into 'Caravanserai' (intro is too long, maybe?) Yes, I feel like that about the intro, too. As if the song needs either a better intro, or a shorter version of this one. Quote A melody of such sweetness as the one in "Never ending road" is very hard to find in today's 'mainstream' music It's one of the most haunting melodies I've heard in a long time. Surely she must have reached deep into her celtic roots to have discovered such a thing. Back to top

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