Loreena McKennitt- intresting tunes!

cj · Post by cj » Fri Jan 09, 2004 7:46 am

I love her voice and the creativity of the arrangements in her music. It's very emotional and haunting music, and it's a fascinating blend of different culture's sounds.

Thomas-Hastay · Post by **Thomas-Hastay** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 2:00 pm

I too "Dig" Loreena M., as well as a similar group called ENIGMA. Both of these groups deal with the transition period between the "Old Pagan" and "New Christian" times. My Favorite cut is "Marco Polo" because I like to play my Dumbek and Tabla's with it(oops, my "Old Hippie" is showing).

Brownja: did you know that Loreena's "Mummers Dance" uses the unusual Hurdy-Gurdy as a primary instrument? It is combined with the mono-tone "Whit-Horn" and "Shepherds" reed pipes in several cuts. I love the sound of rare unusual instruments! Like the string drum{tambourine a'chordes}used in the "Zoom-zoom-zoom" commercial.

Hurdy Gurdy
http://www.hurdygurdy.farmcom.net/parts2.jpg

JessieK · Post by **JessieK** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 2:15 pm

I like her version of Greensleeves, and I also like The Lady of Shallot. I used to listen to the album those are on about 10 years ago when I was in a very difficult relationship...I would drive around at night, my heart heavy, and listen to her music.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 2:21 pm

Thomas-Hastay wrote: Brownja: did you know that Loreena's "Mummers Dance" uses the unusual Hurdy-Gurdy as a primary instrument? It is combined with the mono-tone "Whit-Horn" and "Shepherds" reed pipes in several cuts. I love the sound of rare unusual instruments! Like the string drum{tambourine a'chordes}used in the "Zoom-zoom-zoom" commercial.

I never thought of the hurdy-gurdy as unusual. It's just a dulcimer with funny strings, a rosin wheel, and. . . okay, it's unusual. I guess it's not all that common, but I was a little surprised when a bunch of people I thought were reasonably musically literate wondered what that thing was in the Mummers Dance video.

Andy Irvine plays it (presumably he picked it up during his years in Central Europe), and Planxty combined it with pipes on a few cuts.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 3:46 pm

cowtime wrote:My only problem with the Phil Och's version of "The Highwayman" is that it is not the entire poem.

Hmm- I could be wrong here, (I usually am), but if memory serves, I don't think Loreena McKennitt's version is the entire poem either.

I'm pretty certain she leaves out the "fourth verse" of Noyes' poem, the one that mentions "Tim the ostler." That verse to me, is pretty critical to the poem itself, as it seems to be he that "rats out" the Hihgway Man."

Also, isn't there one more verse at the end of Noyes' poem that she doesn't sing about?

I haven't thought about this for a long time, so I could be way off base here, and if so, sorry. Could be I just didn't hear the song correctly. Even if I'm right, it is still a fabulous song, in my opinion.

All the Best, Tom

Cees · Post by **Cees** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 4:02 pm

Hey everyone, thanks for bringing her to my attention...I had heard the name before but never bothered listening to any of her stuff. I enjoyed several of the tracks from her website just now and I'll be ordering some CDs from the library. Thanks!!

Chuck_Clark · Post by **Chuck_Clark** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 7:46 pm

TomB wrote:
cowtime wrote:My only problem with the Phil Och's version of "The Highwayman" is that it is not the entire poem.
Hmm- I could be wrong here, (I usually am), but if memory serves, I don't think Loreena McKennitt's version is the entire poem either.

I'm pretty certain she leaves out the "fourth verse" of Noyes' poem, the one that mentions "Tim the ostler." That verse to me, is pretty critical to the poem itself, as it seems to be he that "rats out" the Hihgway Man."

Also, isn't there one more verse at the end of Noyes' poem that she doesn't sing about?

I haven't thought about this for a long time, so I could be way off base here, and if so, sorry. Could be I just didn't hear the song correctly. Even if I'm right, it is still a fabulous song, in my opinion.

All the Best, Tom

Tom

Right in one! Here's a link to the full poem with the omited verses highlighted

http://www.xs4all.nl/~josvg/cits/lm/lorecd85.html

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:05 pm

I've been secretly enjoying Loreena McKennit's cd's for years. You don't want just anyone knowing that- especially big-mouthed opinionated musical purists either of the ITM persuasion or just haters of new age. (One may be a subcategory of the other...) Some of her older cd's have songs traditional or inspired by. She does a nice version of Carrickfergus with a male singer. And there's a song Standing Stones (?) about a murder and heartbreak on an island. When the lover's heart breaks, the uilleann pipes scream agony.

If you like her music, you should check out Aine Minogue, an Irish harpist with a great voice. She's much more adept at harp playing and does more Irish trad, but sometimes with the newagey strings and electronics in the background. She sings Eanach Chuin in Irish with waves crashing in the background and the tune finishes out with a fading away tin whistle. Hey. I'd recommend Mysts of Time and Between the Worlds, which has a cool version of O'Carolan's Mr O'Connor done on harp and cello. I recently bought her 'Were You at the Rock?' which starts out with King of the Fairies on harp.
Tony

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:30 pm

TomB wrote:
cowtime wrote:My only problem with the Phil Och's version of "The Highwayman" is that it is not the entire poem.
Hmm- I could be wrong here, (I usually am), but if memory serves, I don't think Loreena McKennitt's version is the entire poem either.

I'm pretty certain she leaves out the "fourth verse" of Noyes' poem, the one that mentions "Tim the ostler." That verse to me, is pretty critical to the poem itself, as it seems to be he that "rats out" the Hihgway Man."

Also, isn't there one more verse at the end of Noyes' poem that she doesn't sing about?

I haven't thought about this for a long time, so I could be way off base here, and if so, sorry. Could be I just didn't hear the song correctly. Even if I'm right, it is still a fabulous song, in my opinion.

All the Best, Tom

Your memory is correct Sir! (and mine was faulty- no suprise there)

She did leave out the verse about the ostler giving him away to the redcoats. I had forgotten that one. That bugs me since it seems pivotal to the story with the expalnation of just why the redcoats were laying in ambush for him. And the very last part is not there too, correct again. Actually , in my pitiful defense, I had only listened to this cd on themail route in my jeep, so I was not hearing it real well

. Tonight I brought it in and listened to it while reading the poem.
I should have said the Och's version was even more condensed.

I did have fun playing whistle along with several of the tracks- The Highwayman of course, The Lady of Shallott- my second favorite, and All Souls Night, or whatever the name of that one is....- they were easy to figure out the notes on. I'm gonna try a few more later tonight. In fact these might be good tunes for someone concentrating on learning to learn tunes by ear since most are pretty slow and melodic.

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 9:21 pm

Cranberry wrote:P.S. Lorenzo, is that you in your avatar? You're so hot with that axe, woman.

Hey man, lets not be buttering me up! Otherwise, pleased to turn you on. My wife says it looks like me, but the point is better spoken of...it makes for better persuasion when I'm dealing with the religious RWers, ie, sometime I need help driving the point home with the axe. But I bounce back nicely when I put on Loreena McKennitt's CDs.

Pan · Post by **Pan** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 7:26 am

I LOVE McKennit, one of my favourite artists the latest 3 years.

Lady of shallot got me hooked and I got 3-4 of her records. Can´t wait to add more and for the next release.

/Peter

skh · Post by **skh** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 8:12 am

The hurdy-gurdy has a very alive and rather large scene around it at least in germany and france. The most popular festival featuring it (and all kinds of bagpipes) is probably the one in St. Chartier, France, every summer: http://www.saintchartier.org/. I've never been there, though. The hurdy-gurdy is comparable to bagpipes as it is a torture instrument in the hands of a beginner, and capable of producing some of the most wonderful music on earth in the hands of a master.

Sonja

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 9:03 am

In addition to being a fan of traditional Irish music, I am also (secretly?) a great fan of Loreena McKennitt, even though I don't get around to listening to her CDs as often as I once did. To place me on the fan-o-meter, I do have all her albums and I even took a trip to Berlin once with the sole purpose of seeing her in concert. Great experience, BTW!

Jens

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 12:03 pm

I am a fan of Loreena too, and saw her in concert in Montreal a few years ago. Since her fiance's death, she hasnt done much though, that's sad. "The Visit" is easily my favorite album.

Pan · Post by **Pan** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 2:55 pm

"Since her fiance's death, she hasnt done much though, that's sad."

I´m realy sorry to hear that. Funny, I mean I don´t know her a bit, but the way her music touches me....hmm makes you feel more then you normally would I guess.

Will definately try to see her if she plays in northen Europe again.

/Peter