Music in Dreams

  David Arkenstone, Music Inspired by Middle Earth, Vol. II Legend has it that scholar-philologist J.R.R. Tolkien wrote both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings based on the bedtime stories he told to his children. With the creation of the moving pictures, the series has reached millions more worldwide. In the course of creating Middle Earth, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien invented two unique new languages, complete with grammar, vocabulary, and rules of pronunciation, and he provides us all forever with a guided excursion through lands where most things and all inhabitants are called by imaginative names.  What you will hear on David Arkenstone’s new album Music Inspired by Middle Earth, Volume II , is a full orchestra (strings, woodwinds, and percussion, with harp, flute, and lonely whistle) with choirs: lilting hopeful illuminating female choirs and shadowy low pitched scary male choirs. You should know the story by now, a hobbit and his faithful companions must risk everyth...

  Sacred mantras, a gentle spirit, and heartfelt lyrical themes; gossamer dreams swell and fade like the rising and falling of the breath, guiding us to a quiet place in the heart, a place of stillness and light. Popular music chases the dance of the ever-transforming new, focused on the moment that moves the market, while spiritually based  consciousness simply persists. The magic of true stardust is transcendence, moving from worldly delusion to spiritual enlightenment.  Donna De Lory is blessed with the magic of true stardust, she has contributed much to the world of popular music and now she has a new/ancient message in her sound. Since her album Bliss in 1999, she has been bringing a vision of the beauty that is everlasting, having emerged on her own from supporting the likes of Madonna, Carly Simon and Bette Midler with dance and backing vocals. Her voice has enraptured the yoga music community and drawn new ears to the message of calming contemplation and respect f...

  Appearances are deceiving, and no one is just like everyone else. Music is complex, multi-layered, and different for everyone. In reality, it does not fit into neat categories. Some musicians are forever longing to make a real impact, which translates to actively helping others or finding a life purpose that aligns with this desire. People tend to have a very limited, stereotyped view of what it means to be spiritual. John Gregorius has always enjoyed fingerstyle acoustic guitar and ambient, processed electric guitar, and the idea of universal cycles. His music comes to him naturally, growing out of a search for meaning within life's mysteries. His deep love for the guitar intertwines the physical and spiritual, a  combination that seems to flow naturally from one piece to another.  Listening, one might imagine some consciousness of absolute or divine reality hidden behind the natural world and within the music, and sometimes music is such a subjective experience in whi...

  A supreme feminine being awakens after hundreds of years. She emerges from her earthen den deep below, and stumbles out into the smoldering forest… her bare feet are blackened by ash and rock as she awakens. She sees her home in ruin. She falls to her knees and cries. She looks for signs of life and finds none. She cries out in sadness and deep anger… a sound that pierces the planet. She goes deep within herself, and in a moment of purity, calm and true selflessness, she plucks her luminous blue life force from her chest and thrusts it deep into the cracked soil with all of her strength. The ground explodes in all directions and shock waves ripple around the planet. She falls, lifeless and spent, into the cracks… as new life begins to grow all around her. If you now listen to the music of the album IN with this story in mind, you will hear this story as I imagined it played out in the music, exquisitely delivering boundless emotion, a beautiful, soothing escape and a powerful cin...