Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Dream

  • Nocturnes

    Nocturnes

    Nocturnes is a beautiful dreamy and rich series of journeys into the world of classical concepts created by Michael King via Dream Cloud Orchestra, which is both enriching and delightful, beginning with the evocative A Twilight Walk which establishes the beauty of the various works on the ten track album.

    Immediately transporting both the mind and emotions into a place of magic is A Twilight Walk followed by the intriguing Night Clock Waltz, a deliciously romantic piece that evokes the subtle, sensual emotions encapsulated within the delicate steps of the dance; dancers swirling and swooping through the haunting shadows of the night.

    King, as a teen involved with musical theatre, was fascinated by the almost immediate lift the addition to a musical performance a live orchestra made, realizing that music alone can tell a story and when added to a story, changes the vibrancy of the storytelling immensely.

    The amazing world of Silent Movies with the accompanying live music, also had a profound impression on King, as these movies demonstrated comprehensively the immense power of music and storytelling.

    As a more mature musician he wanted to explore the ability to tell stories though the many nuances of the orchestra, which has resulted in his debut album full of magic and mystique. Summer Night Wonders captures this perfectly.

    Traversing the Darkness changes the ambience as it a little darker, more hesitant; the shadows of the night everywhere to be seen, the eerie nature of the unknown that is hidden within nocturnal obscurity. The chanting of voices adds to the ghostly layers.

    Each of the pieces is considerably lengthy but none the less, well worth becoming immersed in the music, allowing the story you wish to tell to be woven. A dog lying asleep nestled at your feet, the switching on of the stars in the night skies, the slumber of refreshing sleep and the echoes of times past and still to arrive are all there, yours to enjoy as you drift gently through the night.

    To awake wiser than when having first gone to sleep could be wondrous thing and on occasion can indeed occur; the ethereal Slumber’s Wisdom takes you to this place of profound knowledge allowing you to choose, to enjoy, to relax and let the pieces coalesce into a whole.

    Nocturnes created by Dream Cloud Orchestra began as a project for Michael King and has arrived as a beautiful, fully fledged, in his words, “cinematic neoclassical work (with) a touch of ambience’’ which describes the work to perfection.

  • Garden of Your Dreams

    Garden of Your Dreams

    A practical guide to your best outdoor transformation ever

    Described as a practical, user-friendly guide, Garden of Your Dreams comes with many photos and diagrams as well as explanations. Charlie Albone introduces himself and explains how the love of gardening first overtook him and how he believes that by following the steps he has set out; you can design your own garden. To begin with, Charlie asks, how you want to feel in your garden. Do you want a safe place, a happy place, a private place, or an alive space with features?

    Next you need to decide what you want to get out of your garden. Do you want a pool, a covered dining area or a deck? Then comes the question of budget. Here we are given some precise advice on money. For example, if your house is in the lower end of the market, you should spend 2-3 % of the property value. You should also consider the time you have for maintaining your garden. You can begin in a small way by cleaning and tidying the land, creating an area for gathering. Just use a few plants to begin with.

    From here Charlie looks at a variety of gardens, formal, tropical, drought tolerant or a cottage garden. He describes the design basics for each of these. Next comes the planning, and paper and a scale ruler are necessary. You may also ask for outside help at this stage. As we follow the advice, photos and diagrams, a plan gradually emerges. It is one that you can tailor to your own wants, and one which will suit your needs.

    In Garden of Your Dreams there is a massive amount of information available for the reader to peruse. There is something for everyone, and every garden in this comprehensive book as well as much fun designing, then redesigning your lovely new, gorgeous garden to enjoy for a very long time.

  • Awake to Dream

    Awake to Dream

    Pianist Reis Taylor Dixon was an usher at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham dreaming of performing on the stage there one day. Moving on to 2020 his beautiful, melancholic and inspired work Awake To Dream was released  into a market that was high on anticipation, to see what this pianist, self-taught initially, was to deliver. His first album Words Unspoken was launched at the Birmingham Symphony Hall in 2016 to a standing ovation: his second Awake To Dream was recorded there: Dreams do indeed come true.

    Much emotion has been crafted into the collection, which as he says signifies the point that to be able to dream, to realise those dreams, you need to be awake, to embrace life no matter what it has to deliver; to be able to accept and forgive, both lessons that are difficult and filled with tragedy, despair and eventual acceptance. To this end, the cover of the album created by Mark Grieves, is significant.

    Classical piano forms the basis of the contemporary work which blends the passage of time, healing, forgiveness and creation together in a seamless flow of captivating hauntingly, beautiful compositions which reach out with a gentle hand.

    Having listened to Awake To Dream many times over the past month, by the end of the album the feeling of calm and peace achieved every time is wonderfully enriching. This may not have been the intent of the work but is certainly the result created as the pieces gently unfold.

    Although the compositions may have come from an emotionally dark place, the subtle, healing magic of music has been interwoven in the melody. The intriguing fact with Awake To Dream is it was recorded at the Birmingham Symphonic Hall during the COVID outbreak; a place of great significance in Taylor-Dixons life, as he grew up in Birmingham, and launched his career on the stage with his performance of Ludovico Einaudi’s I giorni.

    In an album of exquisite pieces Clare De Lune Extracts (Claude Debussy)has been tucked away at the end of the original pieces, which portrays the absolute talent Reis Taylor- Dixon has at his command. Awake To Dream was sought after by three recording company’s and certainly does not disappoint.

  • Sacred Gift

    Sacred Gift

    ‘Music is the language of the soul, the bridge between the world of material and ethereal, a universal tool to create beauty on earth. And beauty points the attention to the source’.

    These words are the key to Sacred Gift, the debut album from energy medicine practitioner, musician and businessman Nader Vasseghi, as he offers an ethereal and deeply spiritual healing vibration to touch the soul.

    Based loosely around the ancient and yet modern still very relevant poetry of the great masters Rumi and Hafiz, Persian poets of great note, both in their time and modern day, his work contains much of the mystique of the days when the poets were considered as a great men, their words much awaited, remembered, revered and studied. Performed on a range of instruments the blend is delightfully refreshing, as well as deeply spiritual.

    Fragments of a Dream, formed from the inspiration that came to Vasseghi in a dream, fragments captured here and there, originally played on the on the piano, eventually to be formed into a piece featuring the divine vocals of Silvia Nakkach and skilful performance of Hans Christian on bow and cello, make this the centrepiece of the collection.

    The first section if you like, features a slower, more mystical tempo that seduces and relaxes, whereas the second section is slightly more traditional in intent, featuring piano, ‘cello and viola; a lighter happier and freer vibe being captured and offered for enjoyment.

    Sacred Gift is gentle, catchy and as with all things based in ancient times, mysterious, teasing and intriguing whereas Dance of Waves bounces along, alive and full of life, capturing the light dancing of the ever moving sea, to form patterns of timeless fragmentation.

    First Creek begins the work with a deep brooding and entrancing sound, Flow completes the cycle with once again a mediative piece full of gentle beauty.

  • Celtic Fairy Dream

    Celtic Fairy Dream

    An enchantress calling to all who would listen, is the first thought that came to mind when the beautiful sound of Castle of Dromore filled the air with divine vocals, introducing the much-awaited release from 2002, Celtic Fairy Dreams.

    Originally Randy and Pamela Copus enchanted their audiences with their enthralling compositions ranging from prog-rock, through to more ambient fields over their past twelve albums. With the addition of their talented daughter Sarah, an accomplished vocalist and musician in her own right, a further ethereal dimension has been  entwined within the captivating melodies and words of the ten tracks which make up Celtic Fairy Dreams.

    Is any one track more impressive than another, you may well ask, but no. Each of the pieces are within themselves soothing, calming and unique. The flow of blissful sound segues effortlessly throughout the length of the album, blending into a small moment of time to be enjoyed for exactly what it is, a gloriously timeless musical journey filled with the magic of lullabies, sung or created with harp, flute, guitar and occasionally, a little light piano, which simply enhances the beautiful Irish melodies.

    Sung throughout in the Gallic language, other than the opening piece Castle of Dromore, the beguiling Close Your Eyes (Dun do Shuil), is simply perfection. Although this glorious multilayered vocalisation could be considered as somewhat Enya-esque, the voice of Sarah is young, fresh, and very reminiscent of the younger days of Irish singer songwriter Enya in her solo career and Canadian songstress Loreena McKennitt.  While comparisons are not required, nor sought, in this instance the purity of sound is a continuance of a specific genre begun many, many years ago by Clannad and one that is as unique to the musician/musicians, as it is captivating.

    Filled with a purity of sound, Celtic fairy Dreams is total enchantment which draws to a close with the delightful, Across The Waves (Trasna na d’Tonnta) a traditional Irish folk song to celebrate the welcome return home of a joyful traveler.

    In a time of great uncertainly on a global scale, 2002 could not have selected a more appropriate work to release into a market that is seeking comfort, healing, peace, with a selection of gentle, heartfelt lullabies, to sooth the troubled mind and soul.

    Perfection.

  • Prelude to a Dream

    Prelude to a Dream

    A sense of gentle naivety has been created with the simple and yet skilful use of the piano by talented pianist Shoshana Michel in her third album, Prelude to a Dream. Following on from her previous releases, with her debut album Soul Whispers very well received and her second album, Dancing on the Wind consisting of original music, nominated for Whisperings Solo Piano Radio’s “Album of the Year,” One World Music Radio’s “Solo Piano Album of the Year” and SoloPiano.com’s “Album of the Year” this latest release is certainly one for consideration come award time.

    Coming back from a hiatus of more than 24 years, a period in which she withdrew from composition, her time away from this alchemical art has allowed her to create music that is unique, inspirational, with a delightful freshness that comes straight from the heart.

    Beginning with Wonders, she delicately encourages relaxation, and a sense of almost innocence, as she trips across the keys. Enjoyable and light, it is a piece which welcomes you in, gently leading into the title track Prelude to a Dream, which encourages a continuing sense of the relaxation already commenced. It says let the world go by for just a minute or two, be peaceful, relax and enjoy.

    A Walk in the Rain is something which can be joyful, even though the end result is somewhat damp: the soft, light touch of gentle rain lends a special a magic to the moment when you are at one with the world around you, enclosed in a soft and yet gentle blanket of nature’s making; subtle, different and unique to that time and place: an ephemeral moment Michel has managed to capture perfectly.

    A more upbeat piece is created with Kaleidoscope, where the notes are changed and shifted into an ever-changing pattern, such is life, and such is the power of subtle change; through looking at shifting perspectives, change slowly becomes normal and is absorbed into life.

    On every album there is one piece which resonates a little more and on this one it is Meditation; a piece which is not at all what you imagine it to be by the title; it simply entrances, encouraging a short time of stillness, to refresh in the midst of a busy day.

    Both A Most Precious Gift and a Silent Farewell complement each other; one for the precious gift of life, love and hope and the other reflecting on a life and time spent, a soul passing and the reflection and acceptance that is there in both of these times in life: the beginning of a journey yet to be undertaken, the completion of a journey lived, enjoyed and celebrated, yet again captured through the medium of music.

    Ethereal completes this heartfelt gift and is a delightful, light and reflective piece with what could be considered a celestial touch, so delicate is the melody.  Absolutely beautiful and completely relaxing.

    Definitely music for the soul!

  • Dare to Dream

    Dare to Dream

    In so many ways this glorious album is a tribute to the many people who have offered support and help over the years to songstress Lindsay Gaye Walker through the highs and lows of her life, and that of Sean Michael Paddison, her partner in this magnificent singer-songwriter duo.

    Deep is an introduction to the talent that is encapsulated in this their first release. Lindsay’s beautiful rendition of this piece is reminiscent of the style Loreena McKennitt made significant during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

    The title song ‘Dare to Dream Again’ is a gentle, loving duo created to encourage people to follow their dream, take a change on life and living, to follow what is truly in your heart, to take a leap of faith and celebrate.

    Classic and beautiful, the child’s prayer, Now I Lay me Down to Sleep, penned in the 1800’s, is given an almost ethereal remix in the form of a lullaby, with the addition of harp rhythms featuring the subtle influence of the violin and cello. The mix is perhaps one of the best pieces on the album, which is a tall call, as the other tracks are also something special, so much so that it is hard to isolate one piece.

    Each of the pieces encapsulates an emotion, a feeling, a thought, a hope and a wish, which blends completely into the philosophy of this talented duo, that is to be able to raise human consciousness through the medium of music.

    African influences created by Sean, are used in the backing of A New Day, that changes the soft, gentle, tempo created in the previous works, adding a subtle but specific depth to what could be considered an almost hymn-like piece, which when followed by A Journey Within, introduced with the soft sobbing of the violin, underlines the reverence which has been created in order to give thanks. Like a previous piece Riding the Winds of Change, it is instrumental and showcases the immense depth of talent Lindsay and Sean have within their disciplines.

    Onward to Glory certainly raises the tempo as it is reminiscent of a battle hymn, a call to arms, to rise up, go forth and conquer, which is after all what this majestic piece is all about – standing your ground and defining  your reality.

    Wrapping up this empowering album is an instrumental piece ‘Moonlight Waltz’ which heralds in with the violin played throughout the album by Maria Grigoryeva, one the many special guests whom have added their undoubted talents to the creation of this passionate, emotional and empowering collection of songs.