Topic: New Age Music / Movie Soundtrack....Recommendations & Comments

[Jerry]

Tried the sample tracks off Michael Hoppe's Solace....pretty good. I was mesmerised with that guitar track, Beloved. Think I will pick this up.  

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008PXA0/ref=br_music_nn/104-8413984-4470331?v=glance#product-details

[Jerry]

Check out Secret Garden's latest...



The track "You Raised Me Up" is already worth the price of the whole album!

Amazon's review:
A mature and at times moving work, Once in a Red Moon fortifies Secret Garden's stature as a marquee New Age act. The duo of Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and pianist-composer Rolf Lovland here refine their specialty of making classical/contemporary/Celtic mini-epics in small orchestral and choral settings. Moreover, each piece elicits reflection, celebration, or atonement with the divine. Red Moon's mood of melancholy is stronger than usual--"Invitation" and "Fairytale" are the disc's only propulsive tracks--though there's an undercurrent of lamentation and reverence. Highlights include the gospel-fueled, Josh Groban-like "You Raise Me Up," sung by Brian Kennedy (Riverdance) and fittingly conducted by Steven Mercurio (musical director for Andrea Bocelli). And a riveting, slow-building plea for peace, "Elegie," features the voices of Anuna and a forceful, concluding piano chord--a composite of 66 C chords submitted by fans worldwide in response to an online invitation from the group. --Terry Wood

Sample the tracks here...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000060O30/qid=1050834591/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-8413984-4470331?v=glance&s=music

[Mackie]

On New Age, here're my personal favourites:

1.Kevin Kern


2. Chris Spheeris


3. Hilary Stagg


4. Suzanne Ciani


Just to name a few.  

[hotbird]

2. Chris Spheeris

Just to name a few.  

One of my favorite artistes too, have his entire collection, and I have 2 versions of Enchantment, the original pressing under the now defunct Music West company, and the re-pressed Essense records. Quality-wise, the Music West pressing is the audiophile one, just like Enya's first pressing of Watermark (the newer pressings sound very watered down).

It's not quite fair to say that the Enchantment album was his entire solo effort, as he had lot of help from his good friend Paul Voudouris, a fellow Greek born in Libya
Both Chris and Paul started out together as a vocal duo group whose music was a blend of rock, folk and jazz (Paul did most of the singing).
Take a look of their old pics from their first 2 albums, do you know who the 2 hairy folks are, which is Chris and which is Paul?



Btw, lest some people are mistaken, Paul is already married with a baby girl while Chris still remains, I think, single  
Greeks are very warmth people, the bond between friends are as thick as blood, and they make very loyal friends. So you always see in the credits, always thanking their fellow brothers  

[hotbird]

3. Hilary Stagg

Only have one of Hilary Stagg's album, Feather Light, as I preferred a few other harpists over him such as Andrea Vollenweidner (who incidentally is listed in one of Stagg's CD as his primary musical inspiration), Roberto Perera, Micheal Deep and Vincenzo Zitello. Incidentally Hilary Stagg passed away suddenly in 1999 after a short illness at a rather young age of 42.
"Hilary Stagg was an electrician, when in his mid-twenties he attended an Andreas Vollenweider concert. He was enthralled and so inspired that he purchased a small harp. It was a delightful challenge for him to use his knowledge as an electrician in amplifying the instrument and his custom amplification was superb. He tried formal lessons but quickly decided he would learn to play the harp a different way. Hilary believed in and practiced lucid dreaming and developed a way of dancing with the Muse in his dreams, a way of exploring and composing music in his "sleep" that became the core of his compositions. As he experimented, Hilary developed a gentle, yet powerful, melodic style that gave new meaning to soothing and relaxing music".

[Transworld]

I'm not sure if they can be classified as such, but these are a few soundtracks that I did take note of...

Black Hawk Down
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Patroit Games
K-PAX

Hi Liquid.S.D, May i know where you bought your Black Hawk Down soundtrack? Me had been searching high & low for it.

[hotbird]

4. Suzanne Ciani

One of the earliest artists whose whole works I collected but stopped in recent years, when Rock Records licensed to release her albums in Asia (very bad quality recordings of symphonic Ciani). However, did buy her US pressed Pianissimo Vol 3 at Borders a year ago.
My favorite album of hers was Neverland. If you have the original now defunct Private Music label version, the recording on that is audiophile standard.

[Jerry]

Check out Secret Garden's latest...



The track "You Raised Me Up" is already worth the price of the whole album!

Amazon's review:
A mature and at times moving work, Once in a Red Moon fortifies Secret Garden's stature as a marquee New Age act. The duo of Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and pianist-composer Rolf Lovland here refine their specialty of making classical/contemporary/Celtic mini-epics in small orchestral and choral settings. Moreover, each piece elicits reflection, celebration, or atonement with the divine. Red Moon's mood of melancholy is stronger than usual--"Invitation" and "Fairytale" are the disc's only propulsive tracks--though there's an undercurrent of lamentation and reverence. Highlights include the gospel-fueled, Josh Groban-like "You Raise Me Up," sung by Brian Kennedy (Riverdance) and fittingly conducted by Steven Mercurio (musical director for Andrea Bocelli). And a riveting, slow-building plea for peace, "Elegie," features the voices of Anuna and a forceful, concluding piano chord--a composite of 66 C chords submitted by fans worldwide in response to an online invitation from the group. --Terry Wood

Sample the tracks here...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000060O30/qid=1050834591/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-8413984-4470331?v=glance&s=music

Just picked up this album and I have to say this album is absolutely gorgeous! One of their best and a must-buy for fans of Secret Garden and New Age music alike.
As mentioned, the song "You Raised Me Up" is gonna move u to tears and the last entry to the album, the ethereal "Elegie" is gonna enthrall u.

[Jose]

One of my favorite artistes too, have his entire collection, and I have 2 versions of Enchantment, the original pressing under the now defunct Music West company, and the re-pressed Essense records. Quality-wise, the Music West pressing is the audiophile one, just like Enya's first pressing of Watermark (the newer pressings sound very watered down).

I've loved this album since I got it few years back. However, I got the re-pressed Essense cd. Is there a big difference between the two pressings? Is the original pressing still available?

[Jerry]

Finally got this today!



1. One Summer's Day    
2. Road to Somewhere    
3. Empty Restaurant    
4. Nighttime Coming    
5. Dragon Boy    
6. Sootballs        
7. Procession of the Spirits        
8. Yubaba        
9. Bathhouse Morning        
10. Day of the River        
11. It's Hard Work        
12. Stink Spirit        
13. Sen's Courage        
14. Bottomless Pit        
15. Kaonashi (No Face)        
16. Sixth Station        
17. Yubaba's Panic        
18. House at Swamp Bottom        
19. Reprise        
20. Return        
21. Always With Me        

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Despite an enthusiastic cult following, the talents of master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki have yet to gain the sort of mainstream acceptance regularly afforded American feature animation in the artist's own country. But Hollywood sponsorship of Princess Mononoke and this new Miyazaki anime masterpiece is an encouraging sign. To create the musical soundscape for his phantasmagorical adventure, the director has again tapped Mononoke composer and longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi, and the results are another distinctive triumph. Effortlessly blending ancient Japanese modalities and percussion with Westernized influences (pastoral string and piano flourishes, snarling brass, and gentle woodwinds), the composer evokes the gentle lyricism of Sakamoto in one movement, the pulse-quickening action and suspense of Williams the next. The collection ends on the warm note of Youmi Kimura's gentle, neo-baroque song "Always with Me." While American feature animation scores have frequently been preoccupied with pop star career burnishing, Hisaishi has again reinvented and refined an instrumental language that powerfully evokes all the magic of Miyazaki's fantastic images. --Jerry McCulley

[hotbird]

I've loved this album since I got it few years back. However, I got the re-pressed Essense cd. Is there a big difference between the two pressings? Is the original pressing still available?

Music West was the original company that released Enchantment but it became bankrupt in the same year that Enchantment was released (1992). Chris and Paul managed to buy off the remaining stock of the Music West pressing at a good price and opened Epiphany Records to distribute directly themselves. Once the Music West stock sold out, they started pressing Enchantment under their own label which was renamed  Essence Records later. So unless you bought your copy some ten years ago, you will not be able to find any more Music West versions. The Music West version has a much richer sound in bass and treble details copied to the current release. It's like the Cai Qing famous Orange CD compared to the other versions  
Perhaps the only way to find for Music West version is to hunt around in 2nd hand CD shops now. Music West then had many good artists and recordings under them, such as Ray Lynch, James Asher, Mark Sloniker, all of whom were New-Age BillBoard bestsellers during those days.

[marshal99]

Finally got this today!



1. One Summer's Day    
2. Road to Somewhere    
3. Empty Restaurant    
4. Nighttime Coming    
5. Dragon Boy    
6. Sootballs        
7. Procession of the Spirits        
8. Yubaba        
9. Bathhouse Morning        
10. Day of the River        
11. It's Hard Work        
12. Stink Spirit        
13. Sen's Courage        
14. Bottomless Pit        
15. Kaonashi (No Face)        
16. Sixth Station        
17. Yubaba's Panic        
18. House at Swamp Bottom        
19. Reprise        
20. Return        
21. Always With Me        

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Despite an enthusiastic cult following, the talents of master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki have yet to gain the sort of mainstream acceptance regularly afforded American feature animation in the artist's own country. But Hollywood sponsorship of Princess Mononoke and this new Miyazaki anime masterpiece is an encouraging sign. To create the musical soundscape for his phantasmagorical adventure, the director has again tapped Mononoke composer and longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi, and the results are another distinctive triumph. Effortlessly blending ancient Japanese modalities and percussion with Westernized influences (pastoral string and piano flourishes, snarling brass, and gentle woodwinds), the composer evokes the gentle lyricism of Sakamoto in one movement, the pulse-quickening action and suspense of Williams the next. The collection ends on the warm note of Youmi Kimura's gentle, neo-baroque song "Always with Me." While American feature animation scores have frequently been preoccupied with pop star career burnishing, Hisaishi has again reinvented and refined an instrumental language that powerfully evokes all the magic of Miyazaki's fantastic images. --Jerry McCulley

Got it from amazon then as i didn't see the soundtrack on sale ? Did u get the R1 dvd as well ?

[Mackie]

Only have one of Hilary Stagg's album, Feather Light, as I preferred a few other harpists over him such as Andrea Vollenweidner (who incidentally is listed in one of Stagg's CD as his primary musical inspiration), Roberto Perera, Micheal Deep and Vincenzo Zitello.

Hotbird:

Can U recommend some of Andrea Vollenweidner's albums?  I saw a 2-disc concert disc at Gramophone (capitol building), is that worthy of a buy in terms of content and recording?

[marshal99]

I've been an ardent fan of New Age music from the heydays of Narada and after Enya broke though the commercial barrier with her success. I don't know how many New Age fans are out there in XP but I'm gonna start a thread informing on new New Age releases anyway. And since movie scores can affect you in the same way as most New Age music does, I've combined both in one thread. Members please feel free to add on your recommendations and comments. Thanks!  

I actually came across Enya's music from a Steve Martin movie "LA Story". I fell in love with her music then and  went to look for her albums the next day.

Anyone here a fan of Adiemus ? No idea what they are singing about but I find their music strangely uplifting. Here's something for Farscape fans - A farscape video to the theme of Adiemus , very nice. Serve as something nice for farscape fans & a introduction to adiemus music.

http://www.birgitsvids.com/rm/adiemus.zip

[Jerry]

Got it from amazon then as i didn't see the soundtrack on sale ? Did u get the R1 dvd as well ?

I got the CD at Sembawang Music Centre. Was surprised to see it in the shop so I grabbed lor.
Yeah, I got the R1 DVD as well. So now I have 3 versions: Jap R2, HK R3, US R1.