Loreena McKennitt

[bill@psych.toronto.edu]

Hello all, another Lurker coming out of the woodwork... here's
something I thought might interest KaTe &/or Enya fans in the
U.S. :
 
  Loreena McKennitt has just signed a deal with an American
  company to distribute her work.
 
  She sings (nouveau-)Celtic style, sometimes accompanied by her
  harp and other instruments. Some few of her pieces tend toward
  a KaTe- or Enya-like richness and depth of arrangement:
  comparisons could be made with tracks like "Jig of Life" from
  _Hounds_. About half the material is traditional, the rest is
  settings of poetry (esp. impressive is her setting Tennyson's
  _Lady of Shalott_), and instumental music of her own
  composition. Some pieces incorporate Karnatic (classical East
  Indian), and Huron Indian elements.
 
  She has published four albums (Quinlan Road Productions, R.R.5
  Stratford Ontario Canada N5A 6S6, is her business identity -
  until now she has been sole manager and distributor)
 
     _ELEMENTAL_, 1985, Quinlan Road Productions #101.
        Features the traditional song "A Blacksmith Courted Me",
        and a setting of Yeats' "Stolen Child".
 
     _To Drive The Cold Winter Away_, 1987, Q.R.P. #102.
        Includes the Wexford & Stockford carols, and an
        assortment of other midwinter-ish music.
 
     _Parallel Dreams_, 1989, Q.R.P. #103.
        More "folk-y" than the first two. Contains music composed
        for the film "Remembering the Goddess", and a fine
        traditional arrangement of "Annachie Gordon".
 
     _The Visit_, 1991, WEA 17 51514.
        A complex & challenging album. Moods range from the
        exultant (_Samhain Night_) to the melancholic (Henry the
        VIII's _Greensleeves_).
 
  I like Loreena for many of the same reasons I like KaTe, Enya &
  Jane Siberry. She has a unique voice capable of expressing a
  wide range of emotions, and is not afraid to portray the
  cooler/darker ones. There is an aura of mystery, the message is
  subtle and multi-layered.
 
  Some of her music has a religious dimension that may appeal to
  New Age people, pagans & neopagans, and mystics of every
  stripe (yes, even Christian mystics!).
 
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  bill@psych.toronto.edu  Bill Pusztai  B7 f+ t++ w++ g+ k- s+ p