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Phil Coulter: Lake of Shadows

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Phil Coulter
Title: Lake of Shadows
Released: 2001.09.21
Label: Four Seasons Music Ltd.
Time: 62:24
Producer(s): Phil Coulter
Appears with:
Category: Folk
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2003.08.20
Price in €: 21,99
Web address: www.philcoulter.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Lake of Shadows (P.Coulter) - 5:55
[2] Sunlight on the Water (P.Coulter) - 4:23
[3] Farewell to Inishowen (P.Coulter) - 3:15
[4] The Flight of the Earls [featuring Liam Neeson] (P.Coulter) - 5:48
[5] The Star of the Sea (P.Coulter) - 5:08
[6] The Lough Swilly Railway (P.Coulter) - 3:43
[7] For Those in Peril on the Sea (Traditional) - 4:25
[8] The Lonesome Boatman (Furey) - 4:34
[9] The Year of the French (P.Coulter) - 3:28
[10] The Shores of the Swilly (P.Coulter) [featuring Sinead O'Connor] - 4:12
[11] Back to the Island (P.Coulter) - 4:12
[12] Vive la Hoche (P.Coulter) - 4:04
[13] Prayer for the Fisherman (P.Coulter) [featuring Roma Downey] - 4:36
[14] Take Me Home (P.Coulter) - 4:30

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l

PHIL COULTER - Piano

Personell:
DAVE L. COOKE - Keyboards, Programming, Assistant Producer
FRANK GALLAGHER - Fiddle, Viola, Whistle, Assistant Producer, Low Whistle
IVAN GILLILAND - Acoustic Guitar, High Strung Guitar
BRENDAN MONAGHAN - Bodhran
RORY MCCARRON - Lambeg Drum, Military Snare Drum
CATHERINE MARY CLANCY - Harp

Featured artists:
LIAM NEESON - Speech on [4]
SINEAD O'CONNOR - Voclas on [10]
ROMA DOWNEY - Voclas on [13] AOIFE NÍ FHEARRAIGH - Vocals on [1],[5],[14]
HENRY MCCULLOUGH - Electric Guitar on [8]
DERMOT BYRNE - Accordion on [11],[14]

THE BALLYCLARE MALE CHOIR - Choir on [13]
BRYAN AGUS - Director on [13]

THE COOLEA CHOIR - Choir on [13]
PEADAR Ó'RIADA - Director on [13]

THE NEW AGE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - Orchestra
MIKE DARCY - Leader
LOUIS RODEN - 1st Violin
MIKE HEALY - 1st Violin
GLORIA MULHALL - 1st Violin
GILLIAN WILLIAMS - 1st Violin
SUNNIVA GRANT - 1st Violin
EILEEN MURPHY - 1st Violin
KEN RICE - 2nd Violin
PAUL O'HANLON - 2nd Violin
CAROL QUIQLEY - 2nd Violin
EMILY THINE - 2nd Violin
AOIFFE DURNAN - 2nd Violin
KATE O'CONNOR - 2nd Violin
RICHARD ANGEL - Cello
DELIA LYNCH - Cello
KATE ELLIS - Cello
MALACHY ROBINSON - Double Bass
SEAMUS DOYLE - Double Bass

LARRY HAMBY - Executive Producer
TONY HARRIS - Engineer
DEBBIE SMITH - Assistant Engineer
RAY STAFF - Mastering
DAVE SLEVIN - Assistant Mastering
DAVID GIBBONS - Graphic Design

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2001 CD Windham Hill 11617



Phil Coulter may have made his name way back when as a writer of pop hits, but since then he's practiced his craft on a broader musical canvas. Here the art becomes more intimate, dealing as it does with a most specific place in Ireland, Lough Swilly, and its associations, both warm and tragic, with his own history. In the '80s, the lake claimed the lives of both his brother and sister, but he remains drawn to it, and its pristine memories of his childhood vacations. The musical result isn't a million miles from the neo-classical Celticisms of Peadar O'Riada — who helps out here — but also tinged with sorrow, as on "The Shores of the Swilly," beautifully and sparely sung by Sinead O'Connor, which is the tale of Cyd Coulter's death. There's history in actor Liam Neeson's spoken-word piece, "The Flight of the Earls," and the mournful simplicity of the hymn "For Those in Peril on the Sea." There's also plenty of orchestral sweep to the melodies, evoking the water, which brings some of the album perilously close to new age music. Always, though, Coulter knows when to back off and not let things go too far. Even "Prayer for the Fishermen," with Roma Downey's invocation, never reaches overkill. In essence, this album is a catharsis of spirit and a memorial, and Coulter's touch ensures that it succeeds as both.

Chris Nickson - All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2003 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Pianist/composer Phil Coulter's Lake of Shadows is above all a memorial to a place. Lough Swilly in County Donegal, Ireland -- known locally as the Lake of Shadows - is a site of tragic significance, both to Coulter personally and in Irish history. (He lost a brother and a sister to the waters, and a number of important events in Ireland's troubled past took place there.) True to form, the album is a collection of Celtic-inspired, new age-style pieces arranged in Coulter's signature lush and fluid manner. As in Highland Cathedral and other albums, he brings together an array of traditional Celtic instruments, modern electronics, strings, and evocative vocals -- all supporting Coulter's graceful touch at the piano. But what sets this album apart is the participation of a few of Coulter's famous friends: Liam Neeson, Roma Downey, and Sinéad O'Connor. Neeson provides a sober voice-over in his native brogue on "The Flight of the Earls," one of the historical events eulogized here. Downey narrates the traditional "Prayer for the Fisherman," assisted by the indigenous sounds of the Coolea Choir, and the melancholy "Shores of the Swilly" features O'Connor singing a poignant homage to Coulter's lost sister. Coulter has solo moments, too ("Farewell to Inishowen," "The Year of the French"); his atmospheric orchestrations shine through on several tracks ("Sunlight on the Water," "For Those in Peril on the Sea"); and frequent collaborator Aoife supplies her sweetly lyrical voice on a pair of songs ("Lake of Shadows," "The Star of the Sea"). But the final track, "Take Me Home," brings the whole cast together for an inspirational concluding anthem, a fitting end to this touching album of musical tributes.

E.J. Johnson - Barnes & Noble



Phil Coulter ist eine irische Legende im Musikbusiness: seine Musik genießt quer durch alle Altersgruppen und Schichten höchste Popularität. Dabei hat er niemals die eigenen Wurzeln vergessen, wie seine jüngste CD Lake Of Shadows beweist.

Der Titel des Albums Lake Of Shadows entstand in Anlehnung an ein rauhes Stück Wasser, entlang der zerklüfteten Westküste Donegals in Irland, dem Lough Swilley, der sich zum Nordatlantik hin öffnet: geschichtsträchtiger Schauplatz des Freiheitskampfes seit 1604 und Schutzhafen der British Navy vor deutschen U-Booten im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Bei den Iren wird Geschichte bekanntlich großgeschrieben und findet seit jeher Ausdruck in Musik und Poesie. Mit Lake of Shadows knüpft Phil Coulter in zeitgemäßer Form an diese schöne Tradition an und hat Künstler wie Sinead O'Connor, Roma Downey und Liam Neeson zusammengebracht, die sich in musikalischer Hinsicht hervorragend ergänzen. Ebenfalls erwähnenswert ist der Gitarrist Henry McCullogh, der bereits Rock-Ikonen wie Joe Cocker und Paul McCartney tatkräftig unterstützt hat. Traditionelle irische Instrumente wie Fiddle, Whistle, Harp, Lambeg Drum und Akkordeon, zwei ausgewachsene Chöre, sowie das New Age Kammerorchester und - last but not least -- das eingängige Klavierspiel von Phil Coulter selbst, sorgen für eine entspannende Mischung aus irischen Balladen und hymnischen Klanggemälden, die stellenweise an den Vangelis-Soundtrack 1492 erinnern.

Neben der Absicht, wechselnde Stimmungen dieses Ortes mit musikalischen Mitteln zu charakterisieren, haben Phil Coulter auch persönliche Gründe zu diesem Album inspiriert: Erinnerungen an unvergessliche Kindheitstage und den Schauplatz einiger der glücklichsten aber auch tragischsten Begebenheiten seines eigenen Lebens. Wer sich Ruhe und Zeit nimmt zum Zuhören und Lesen der Erläuterungen zu den einzelnen Stücken im Booklet, wird entdecken, dass es sich bei Phil Coulters Lake Of Shadows um sein persönlichstes und vielleicht sogar schönstes Album handelt.

Andrew Schultz, Amazon.de
 

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