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 ...
Enya's first full-length album of new material in five years (and her fourth in 12 years) will have a familiar sound to the millions who have followed her career so far. As usual, the slow songs sound like "Silent Night" being performed in a cathedral, and the less slow songs are paced by rhythm patterns that would be called pizzicato passages if ...
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 ...
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, ...
Winston's impressions of the fall season are full of slow chording and sudden melodic runs on his acoustic piano. He captures the mixed feelings of the season, both its final flaring of life and its gradual retreat. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Initially released simply as Enya, The Celts shows that the style she became famous for on Watermark was already well under way. With production and lyrical help fully in place thanks to her husband-and-wife gurus Nicky and Roma Ryan, Enya's combination of Celtic traditionalism and distinctly modern approach finds lush flower here. All the ...
Yanni's latest is another extension of his creative spirit and stirring passion for life. Focusing on piano as his primary instrument, Yanni infuses his "signature" style with timeless, eloquent themes and plenty of romantic energy. No longer are rhythm and dynamic currents as vital to his sound, since he seems to have stopped fueling his music ...
The album that launched a thousand wind machines, Reflections of Passion established Yanni as the face of contemporary instrumental music. While 15 of its songs were culled from earlier releases, it was nevertheless the pianist and composer's popular breakthrough. It propelled him onto the world stage -- literally, since he performed concerts in ...
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 ...
Chakra Suite is a reworking of Steven Halpern's debut CD, Spectrum Suite. He has added an ethereal texture to the original set to create an absolutely chilling effect. Halpern has a lot of people fooled; they try to write him off as new age fluff and a Muzak maker. Indeed, some of his more lightweight stuff deserves the brush-off. But when he's on ...
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 ...
Secret Garden is Norwegian composer Rolf Loveland (piano, keyboards) and Irish violinist Fionnula Sherry. The album, however, offers much more than this duo; it is awash in orchestral strings (real ones), a choir (real one), and as many percussionists, harps, fiddles, keyboards, and whistles as are needed. Songs from a Secret Garden, a chart ...
Pianist William Joseph's debut album, Within mixes instrumental pop, classical compositions, and reworked rock tunes into an atmospheric mélange that seems to be aimed at a middle ground between classical and new age. Most likely appealing to fans of lite-classical artists such as Josh Groban and Jim Brickman, Within features Joseph at the piano ...
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 ...
Halloween is further proof that Chip Davis and his American Gramaphone outfit plan to provide and market proper musical accompaniment for all holidays, themes, and moods. Davis and his Mannheim Steamroller hit that categorical trifecta in 2003 by releasing three discs within months of each other: Romantic Melodies (mood), American Spirit (theme), ...
A Windham Hill Christmas celebrates the season as it should be -- crystal clear and elegant in its simplicity. It brings together Windham Hill's original roster of artists, including Will Ackerman, Alex de Grassi, Liz Story, George Winston, Barbara Higbie, Michael Manring, and the Celtic band Nightnoise. A Windham Hill Christmas is the perfect ...
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 ...
It's no surprise that Yanni is most identified with this amazingly powerful experience (also presented as one of PBS' most popular concerts ever), because it seems like the musical project he was most destined to make. After making millions stateside, he returns to the historic ancient Acropolis of his Greek homeland to share his sweeping music ...
If you prefer your contemplative Christmas music with a Celtic/folk undercurrent rather than a jazz/new age one, then Windham Hill's Celtic Christmas series is a dependable choice. As an added benefit, you can bathe in relatively obscure traditional Celtic airs rather than yet another collection of the hoary carol standards. The second volume ...
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
![Celtic Christmas, Vol. 2 [Windham Hill]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/e03165tfcrn_t.jpg)
![Celtic Christmas [Windham Hill]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/d60528183ti_t.jpg)
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide or All Movie Guide. © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide and All Movie Guide are registered Trademarks of All Media Guide, LLC.