MP3 Lydia McCauley - Entrances
Lydia McCauley''s long sold-out recording, now available in Digital download only. Rich, powerful, innovative music in HDCD.
11 MP3 Songs in this album (51:58) !
Related styles: NEW AGE: Adult Alternative, NEW AGE: Spiritual
Details:
Entrances
Produced by Kurt Scherer and Lydia McCauley
HDCD recording
Entrances dances through a primeval forest...chants a Franciscan prayer... shares wisdom from a 14th century mystic... sings the sweet sorrow of an Appalachian lovesong... and swells with a blessing from ancient Scotland’s people of the heather.
Following the success of Lydia McCauley’s debut CD release, Sabbath Day''s Journey, Brimstone Music released Entrances in 1999. Long out of print, Entrances is now being re-released in Digital downloads only.
From the original description:
“We booked a major international studio, traveled by caravan north to Canada, illuminated the studio room with 100 candles, played music for two days straight, then recorded vocals for the next two, explains Lydia as she describes the intense time-limits on the actual recording of entrances. One would not be able to tell that this album was recorded so quickly from the lush instrumentation and layered sound. The band was in fine form, and good humor. The candles and music transformed the room into a beautiful space - a mystical space that one can sense throughout the albums ten tracks.”
Entrances is essentially one piece, an album to be played through in its entirety. Lydia’s entrancing songwriting of the past year springs from what she describes as a difficult and contemplative time. Her music is from the poet’s heart and has the power to move one’s soul.
In the title track, Entrances, Lydia takes her listener through the forest in pentatonic tones that reach back in time to a primordial moment. The band''s synergistic approach to improvisation is apparent in the songs instrumental - and it sets the tone for the album.
Hope Grows contemplates hope in a dark place, using lines from Etty Hillesum’s Diaries, written under the shadow of World War II. There is a light/dark quality in both the melody and lyric that is moving and emotional.
Lydia describes Garden Room as a reflection on the fullness of summer, just before the melancholy turn toward autumn.
Preghiera Semplice is a simple prayer of the Franciscan Tradition; a plea to become human instruments of Peace. It leads mystically into The Fire, and dives deeper into The Cloister Within. There is magic here, as Lydia’s intuitive songwriting gives way to vocals that seem to be sung through her. The arrangement has depth and space in its entirety. It pulls the listener inward, inspiriting the soul.
The album reaches its pinnacle in Ashes, a continual chordal cycle that seemingly storms and swirls over Lydia’s voice. Foggy Dew is a fun, rollicking original version of a traditional classic. Come All Ye Fair is a perfect example of the Southern Appalachian wistfulness that is used so often in their lovesongs. The band''s beautiful arrangement has a unified sound, resplendent with strings, and lush recorder.
The last track, Traveling Moorland, is a joyous original song that centers around an ancient Scottish Blessing. It invites and inspires the audience into a universal hope of community.
Lydia McCauley - vocals, piano, keyboards
Frank Olsen - double bass
Frank Jackson - recorders
Phil Heaven - viola, doumbek
Brian Cunningham - acoustic guitar
Kurt Scherer - synth, chimes
Marc Murray - congas, percussion
Recorded at Greenhouse Studios, Vancouver, B.C., Canada and mastered at Oceanview Mastering, Los Angeles, CA, USA
“Once again McCauley intrigues us with new ideas, taking us to musical places we haven’t been before. Through repetitive, prayer-like lyrics set to aloe-soothing vocals, this album plays like one, one-going developing vigil. You can smell the melting wax and flaming wicks of the candles that were set up in the studio for the atmosphere of this music’s recording.” -Nicki Ehrlich, Victory Music Review
“Lydia McCauley’s rich vocals bring the clear, simple truths of her lyrics to the listener with a purity akin to illumination.” -The Every Other Weekly
“Deep passion. Superb!” - Dr. Nina Simone Society