Reviews of Laurel MacDonald's CD Luscinia's Lullaby
Produced by Philip Strong • Improbable Music, 2005

"stellar... spine-tingling... wide and wonderfully eclectic"
- Jason MacNeil, AllMusic Guide

"a masterpiece... absolutely stunning"
- Marni Portman, Stylus

"magnificently subtle... this album is one to check out"
- Jeff Gardiner, The Ontarian

"an electrifying mélange... harmonious, integrated, multi-dimensional"
- Dianne Wells, WholeNote

"stratospheric audio adventures... producer Philip Strong takes her versatile voice and wide-ranging musical curiosity and hits the frappe button"
- Stephen Cooke, The Chronicle Herald

"This spiritual stepchild of Eno and Laurie Anderson
has crafted yet another haunting and haunted disc...
Laurel MacDonald's name on this album is synonymous with a complete aural vision"
- Bob Klanac, Scene

"This wondrous highlight of only her third album in ten years
exists at the stylistic nexus of Laurie Anderson and Jane Siberry.
Which is to say, it is less to be listened to than immersed in."
- John Sakamoto, The Anti-Hit List, eye Weekly

"anything but typical... Luscinia's Lullaby is the kind of creative album
that many dream of making but never realize...
a brilliant alternative to alternative music"
- Justin Stoller, The Medium

"you won't find a vast philosophical difference between
MacDonald's Song for This Child and Brian Wilson's Our Prayer from Smile
in terms of harmonic complexity, melodic twists, and spiritual depth...
Luscinia's Lullaby weaves its world music influences, smooth arrangements,
and MacDonald's voice into a kind of waking dream."
- Bob Tarte, The Beat

"another strikingly original work...
MacDonald is one of Canadian music's little-known treasures"
- Nicholas Jennings, Inside Entertainment

"an amazing piece of work, worthy of much praise and acclaim...
From the opening track (the beautiful, haunting Nenia Sirenes)
through to the meditative closer, this is music that flirts with that solemn,
pretentious thing New Age has going on, but never crosses the line.
Sombre without becoming pompous, beautiful without becoming ostentatious...
this is a winner from one of Canada's best kept musical secrets."
- Todd Lamb, View Magazine

"The third disc from Canadian singer/composer Laurel MacDonald, Luscinia's Lullaby, offers a delirious mix of auditory atmospheres and world music stylings,
and as such, is one of the more interesting offerings
to come from a Toronto-based artist in recent history.
MacDonald not only sings, she experiments, whether this be with chant-style lyrics
or seductive repetitions or simply melancholy musings.
Backed by seven equally talented musicians, the arrangements
organically follow suit, the beds of sparse but melodic instrumentation
set the stage to showcase and bolster her exceptional talents.
These are sometimes very rhythmic and modern, while at others
they are slow, musty and full of the feeling of a smoky late night jazz club;
and yet at others still, seemingly from another place on earth/in history.
A heady world of diversity that would probably seem strange and forced
on another artist's CD, but on Luscinia's Lullaby the transitions and explorations
translate into something completely natural -
a progression between different but complimentary musical points.
The mix is near-perfect - MacDonald and producer Philip Strong's
background in film scoring is clearly evident here.
A genuinely rare local treat for anyone who enjoys the unexpected.
This CD will stir you."
- Monica S. Kuebler, Exclaim!

• TOP •