Sissel Kyrkjebø

Album review: All the Good Things by Sissel Kyrkjebø

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 1 Comment

From the chorus of the first track : And I’m weightless, falling in love
I am weightless…you know right away that you are in a right journey. The album is richly orchestrated. There are electronic flourishes but they enhance the tracks rather than make them cold.Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø has a kind of voice than can launch a thousand ships…Was it a coincidence that she was made to be part of the Titanic soundtrack? The fourth which is the title track  has that Enyaesque synth sound.

Everything is in place. From one track you never get lost. The second track “Carrier of a Secret “became a massive hit. There’s even a video made after it. The drum loops pulse through every track like pleasant ocean waves. They carry you from one song to another .

The second to the last track “Where the Lost Ones Go” is a duet with fellow Norwegian Espen Lind and became a massive single in the Norwegian charts.

Beautiful and mesmerizing is that I call this album. If you love anything that’s contemporary. If you are into Classical Pop, then this album is for you.

Track listing:

  • “Weightless”
  • “Carrier of a Secret”
  • “Should It Matter”
  • “All Good Things”
  • “Lær meg å kjenne”
  • “Keep Falling Down”
  • “Better Off Alone”
  • “Sarah’s Song”
  • “One Day”
  • “Where the Lost Ones Go”
  • “We Both Know

Getting to know electronic duo EL-VIRA

/ mrbaxteria2008 / Leave a comment

This is a slightly altered version of a review that I originally made in my old blog.But since my site is generating a lot of traffic, I just thought I have to add this here.Beautiful music has to be shared to the world.Thanks Loic.

EL-VIRA is a duo based in Paris and Hamburg s320x240
Germany.Loic the Frenchman(his  monicker) 
is the guy behind the music.He has a lot of  artistic credit 
on his belt(photography is also one of them).
The other half is a very pretty Russian vocalist by 
the name of Elvira ,  a stunning soprano.Lovers of Enya and Enigma

will dig this.

Project  EL-VIRA is a refreshing alternative to
 a lot of chill-out/dance music out there. . 
If there are other groups that could be on the same wavelength
then you can take Delirium and Mono.El-vira’s melodies are filled with 
Scandinavian melancholy and uplifting Euro dance style . It is transporting and
  superbly atmospheric.The production is slick and artfully crafted.

You can take Chopin and Rimsky-Korsakov,then tie them up to Faure,add a bit of acid, stir and then shake a bit of Sarah Brightman doing some glow-sticking…and you get El-Vira.

 

I wish they would go places with their lovely music.Show your
support by visiting the band’s Music Site:

Sissel Kyrkjebø and Howard Shore

/ mrbaxteria2008 / 7 Comments

Been listening to a lot of Sissel Kyrkjebø‘s stuff lately and to be honest I really like the quality of her voice. I also read that she toured with The Chieftains so it’s no wonder that she has been embraced profusely by the Celtic world.She also toured with Howard Shore on his Fellowship of the Ring tour.To be honest I have never forgiven Mr Shore for his poor reception of Enya on the soundtrack recording.

I have read most of the interviews and I could say it is easy to read between the lines.It’s obvious  that he was not please being on the same project as her.It is OK not to like Enya. I mean all of us have our preferences. But to treat your fellow artist like that is just pure insult, not to mention bad taste .Mr Shore is not a gentleman.Though he worked with  many film directors, it’s still a fact that he’s  an A-hole.

Maybe it’s difficult to have an artist on the same project that eclipses even your popularity. Consider this: Enya has sold more than 75 million records and she is not some puppet singer you can just write tunes to and expect she’ll wail for it. No no no, she is a composer at par with  the greatest composers who ever lived.So it must have been a blow to his wimpy male ego to take all these things. Poor Howard. You might be talented but you are no better than the a-holes out there.