Fumbler's Café

I have been a fan of Loreena McKennitt for several years ever since hearing her song "Bonny Portmore" in the film Highlander 3 and finding out my Dad already owned several of her CDs (he didn't live with us for a few years). To me her music is just magical and invokes everything I love about myth, poetry, pre raphaelite art and folk music in general.

Anyways I got around to buyhing her latest album: The Wind That Shakes The Barley the other week and it is simply wonderful! <3 I love Irish music and Loreena has done such an amazing job on her versions of the songs. I would recomend the album to anyone on here!! :-)

My favourite song on the album: The Star of The County Down <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgtZkK9Lv-M

She's great and her music is very good. I saw her 4 times and she's a really nice person. At a small acoustic gig she did in a music store in Montréal, my sister and I waited in line so she could sign our cds. She refused to take pictures with fans (it would have been too long), but she agreed to sign a poster of the event for me. I was so happy!

Wow, 4 times Karine....amazing.

Loreena is a class act for sure, and while her style rarely shifts (other than a dance remix (not done by her) of The Mummer's Dance which actually made the US Billboard singles chart back in the 1990s), she is one of those dependably brilliant artists with a very loyal fanbase.

One thing I sometimes miss is that mid-late 1990s period when Irish music was very popular - at least here in Australia. The Corrs came into play and were massively popular. The Cranberries also had a solid run. U2 were still popular. But pretty much anything remotely Irish was gold - Loreena, Enya, Clannad hit their peak, and "Riverdance" and "Lord of the Dance" and even "Spirit of the Dance" were constantly playing at theatres. Other artists as diverse as Mike Oldfield and Sting all delved into a celtic sound. Australians, in particular, loved it.

It was a time of discovery for me, and formed a basis for a lot of the music I ended up liking. But it seems unlikely that it ever happened given the current popular music landscape. Nowadays, I sometimes see the tiny range of CDs still available under "New age/celtic" in music stores, and it seems a bit sad. But some artists are still going strong - like Loreena.

Magellan wrote:Wow, 4 times Karine....amazing.

I receive her newsletter and I try to be there when she comes to Montréal.
I was with my sister all these times:
1- at a concert in Montréal
2- at a gig in a music store
3- at a dedication session (I'm note sure if these words are correct, in French it's called "une séance de signature")
4- she was performing for a tv show and we were in the audience when they recorded it. My sister arrived at the studio before me and Loreena passed in front of her, saying "Hi!". When I joined my sister, she almost yelled at me: "OMG, you just missed Loreena, she was there 15 minutes ago while I was waiting for you"!
If only it was the same for Sarah McLachlan!

Magellan wrote:But pretty much anything remotely Irish was gold - Loreena...

Loreena McKennitt is Canadian... but I'm sure you knew this!
It's true that Irish music is very good.

Yeah I knew she was Canadian But still very much creating music that relates to Irish folk music. Even Sarah did that, on the Touch album...a very ethereal album that you could sort of see was a bit Irish.

Great stories about Loreena, Karine.

Magellan wrote: Even Sarah did that, on the Touch album...a very ethereal album that you could sort of see was a bit Irish.

I don't know if you have them, but there are two tracks of Sarah performing with The Chieftains (Drawn To The Rhythm and The Foggy Dew). I'll send them to you if you want.

Here's the video for DTTR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErDWJNEp7hA

You are so blessed to have been able to see Loreena four times Karine! :-) I wish I could have seen her on her last tour but she only went to London in the UK and I live a long way from London.... *sigh*

Writing this topic made me remember that I had yet to buy A Midwinter Night's Dream! So I've ordered the Deluxe Limited Edtion box set with the A Moveable Musical Feast DVD! :-) So looking forward to receving it from Amazon next week so I have all of her CDs!!

One of my favourite songs by her is her musical interpretation of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot. Heres a sadly shortened but never the less beautiful version of the song from the Junos. Karine do you know what year this is from?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_Tn-HxULM

Crazylitstudent wrote:You are so blessed to have been able to see Loreena four times Karine! I wish I could have seen her on her last tour but she only went to London in the UK and I live a long way from London.... *sigh*

Writing this topic made me remember that I had yet to buy A Midwinter Night's Dream! So I've ordered the Deluxe Limited Edtion box set with the A Moveable Musical Feast DVD! So looking forward to receving it from Amazon next week so I have all of her CDs!!

One of my favourite songs by her is her musical interpretation of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot. Heres a sadly shortened but never the less beautiful version of the song from the Junos. Karine do you know what year this is from?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_Tn-HxULM

I didn't find the year on the web. It was surely in the 90's. In 1992, she won a Juno for her album The Visit. The Lady Of Shalott is a track from this record so I suppose it was in 1992.

Crazylitstudent wrote:One of my favourite songs by her is her musical interpretation of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot.

It's one of my favorites too! As well as her interpretation of W.B. Yeats' Stolen Child. Dante's Prayer is definitely my favorite Loreena song of all time.

My definitive Celtic artist used to be Enya, until I heard Loreena for the first time in '99 if I remember correctly. You're indeed lucky to have seen her 4 times K! I'll pay an arm and a leg for a chance to see her in concert!

Jessel wrote:

Crazylitstudent wrote:One of my favourite songs by her is her musical interpretation of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shallot.

It's one of my favorites too! As well as her interpretation of W.B. Yeats' Stolen Child. Dante's Prayer is definitely my favorite Loreena song of all time.

My definitive Celtic artist used to be Enya, until I heard Loreena for the first time in '99 if I remember correctly. You're indeed lucky to have seen her 4 times K! I'll pay an arm and a leg for a chance to see her in concert!

My favorite songs are:
Elemental - Banks of Claudy
The Visit - All Souls Night, Courtyard Lullaby, The Old Ways
The Mask and Mirror- The Mystic Dream, Marrakesh Night Market
The Book Of Secrets- The Mummers' Dance, Marco Polo, Dante's Prayer
An Ancien Muse - Caravanserai