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Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya
: essential recording:New Age diva Enya first became widely known when her 1988 album Watermark sold 4 million copies and launched the single 'Orinoco Flow.' Her follow-up, Shepherd Moons, was even more successful, selling over 10 million copies despite its slightly lower grade of ethereal enchantment. In 1997 she released Paint the Sky with Stars, an assortment of her best work from these two early albums plus gems from 1995's The Memory of Trees and the soundtrack to the BBC series The Celts. The most melodic and atmospheric examples of Enya's lovely Celtic-flavored ...
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Homecoming
: :Homecoming, pianist Jim Brickman's 16th career release (his third with a holiday theme, joining The Gift and Peace), is an unerringly pleasant, gently uplifting package that delivers what most listeners probably want--a smart-sounding, family-friendly audio backdrop suited for any December gathering. Brickman's mix of nine instrumentals and four vocal tracks (seven are rearranged traditional works) carefully straddles a fine line between sophistication and sentimentality. Happily, other than a few heavily star-dusted moments (the final note of 'I Saw Three Ships' sparkles as though it was touched by Tinkerbell's wand), the schmaltz factor is ...
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A Day Without Rain
: :As each new Enya release has washed over all who have ears to hear, as each heaven-touched work leaves admirers sitting speechless in slack-jawed wonder, questions eventually come to mind: Might her layered, choral-like approach gradually become predictable or stale? Will she ever exhaust her deep reservoir of soul-stirring ideas? Remarkably, A Day Without Rain, Enya's fourth release since her 1988 breakthrough, Watermark, establishes new artistic heights for the gifted Irish vocalist and keyboardist. The project, polished and refined over a five-year period in the company of longtime collaborators Nicky Ryan (producer) and ...
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Watermark
: essential recording:Enya's 1988 recording Watermark achieved landmark success with her groundbreaking use of multi-tracking technology to fuse new age and Celtic themes and instrumentation. The meticulous production defines her sound and achieves continuity even while weaving together tender ballads, piano pieces, massively layered vocal harmonies, and symphonic synthesizer movements. Although Enya's pristine voice isn't especially strong, her lead vocals possess a vulnerability that reflects the lyrics' sense of personal searching. From the ubiquitous, frothy single 'Orinoco Flow' (which was used to hawk Crystal Light on TV) to the hard, bold edge of ...
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Amarantine
:Album Description:The first album in five years from Enya follows the biggest-selling album of her illustrious career, the six-times platinum A Day Without Rain, which transcended all commercial expectations. Having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, Enya is one of the most successful female artists of all time and second only to U2 as the biggest selling Irish artist in history. :From the first blanket of choral voices awash in reverb, Amarantine is instantly recognizable as a product of Enya, the Irish chanteuse who has created a genre unto herself. Although it's ...
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Shepherd Moons
: essential recording:The success of her first international hit, Watermark, confirmed Enya as less a singer or songwriter than a sonic architect: working with producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan, the classically-trained pianist built vaulting cathedrals of sound, framed by luminous piano, shimmering synthesizer orchestrations, and, above all, the seemingly infinite layers of vocal harmonies she plied on every song. The deeply romantic Celtic pop on its 1991 successor, Shepherd Moons, sustains the same spectrum of hushed reverie and surging, rhapsodic releases, as well as its mix of ballads, floating ...
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Indigo Ocean Dreams: 4 Children's Stories Designed to Decrease Stress, Anger and Anxiety while Increasing Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness (Indigo Ocean Dreams)
: :Indigo Ocean Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audio book designed to entertain your child in an ocean setting while introducing them to four relaxation and stress-management techniques. Children follow their sea friends along as they learn to release and manage anger with Angry Octopus, build self-esteem with Affirmation Weaver, implement Yoga breathing with Sea Otter Cove and visualize with Bubble Riding. Designed as the sequel to Indigo Dreams, this CD offers longer stories and expands on the relaxation techniques of breathing, visualizations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. Ideal for older children ages 6-12, ...
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Christmas Dreams
: :Indigo Ocean Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audio book designed to entertain your child in an ocean setting while introducing them to four relaxation and stress-management techniques. Children follow their sea friends along as they learn to release and manage anger with Angry Octopus, build self-esteem with Affirmation Weaver, implement Yoga breathing with Sea Otter Cove and visualize with Bubble Riding. Designed as the sequel to Indigo Dreams, this CD offers longer stories and expands on the relaxation techniques of breathing, visualizations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. Ideal for older children ages 6-12, ...
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Autumn (Windham Hill 20th Anniversary Edition)
: essential recording:The precursor to 1982's commercial breakthrough, December, George Winston's 1980 Windham Hill debut boasts all the lyrical power and poignancy of its follow-up. A simple, clear recording for solo piano, Autumn finds Winston developing simple melodic motifs with studied left-hand underpinning, on hypnotic pieces like 'Woods,' which moves from a brisk rhythmic figure to rubato minor-key runs. Leaving pauses and breaths in all the right places, Winston suggests the play of color and light, the comfortable melancholy, and the encroaching slow-down that characterizes the fall season. Full of memorable themes, sure ...
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Indigo Dreams: Relaxation and Stress Management Bedtime Stories for Children, Improve Sleep, Manage Stress and Anxiety (Indigo Dreams)
: :Indigo Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audio book designed to entertain your child while introducing them to relaxation and stress-management techniques. Four unique bedtime stories incorporate breathing, visualizations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. These are the same techniques recommended for adults but presented in a fun, interactive format that appeal to children. Children follow the characters along as they learn Yoga belly breathing with A Boy and a Bear, make positive statements with The Affirmation Web, visualize with A Boy and a Turtle and relax with The Goodnight Caterpillar. All four of these ...
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