Search - Loreena McKennitt :: Parallel Dreams

Donna M. from DESTIN, FL
Reviewed on 1/7/2011...

Beautiful evocative new-age Celtic music at it's best!

Fusion music of nuance and mystery!

Brianna Neal | USA | 10/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is with this album that McKennitt's awesome talent as a composer/arranger truly finds that distinctive voice--somewhere in between Celtic, jazz, folk and world music--that is so prominent and beloved in her later work. Most of the music and some of the lyrics as well on "Parallel Dreams" are written by McKennitt in their entirety rather than being arrangements of traditional tunes or poems. There's still a sense of quiet restraint about many of the songs on this album, but this time it's underlain by a pregnant intensity of synth chords and percussion, released into the music just enough to give it an air of mysterious purpose without overwhelming McKennitt's ethereal vocals and nuanced harpistry. Guest musicians include Rick Lazar on udu drum and congas, Ratesh Dasj on tablas, guitarist Brian Hughes, violinist Oliver Schroer, cellist, bass and tamboura player George Koller, mandolin-player David Woodhead, piper Patrick Hutchinson, percussionist Al Cross, and Shelly Berger on pzud. Loreena McKennitt's previous album is "To Drive the Cold Winter Away," and the next one in the sequence, continuing her intriguing development as a composer, is "The Visit." I love everything she's ever done-- she's as true a talent and as creative a genius as you could ever wish for in a musician. But what impresses me most about her is how stirringly and satisfyingly her work has evolved over the years. She just keeps getting better and better! Try also the Celtic / folk / world music stylings of singer and multi-instrumentalist Kate Price and the work of dreamy vocalist / pianist Lydia McCauley.

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