My Guilty Pleasure #6 - Beautiful voices

My Guilty Pleasure

For those of you who don't know it, this is Mata Hari - a famous exotic dancer, courtesan and a spy beginning of XXth century. She is the new face of My Guilty Pleasure.

Today I want to tell you about 3 beautiful voices which define huge chapters of my life and to which I always come back when i need some inspiration and respite.

Loreena McKennitt

Imagine mid 90s in Russia, my teen years, when there was absolutely nothing to find apart from mainstream music (as in mainly pop-music and not very good one too). I was studying to be a professional folk dancer and I was desperately craving something different. We had a small black market gathering in the park every weekend, and there I found this middle aged couple who was selling self-made tapes of New Age music... Loreena McKennitt, Deva Primal, Vangelis, Oliver Shanti and many others... I religiously bought them all, but it was Loreena who stayed with me through the years. Her voice is incredible, she brings me to tears and makes me smile at the same time.

Sheila Chandra

Sheila Chandra will always have a special place in my heart. I'm convinced that she made me fall in love with my husband.

Years ago not knowing me well yet he sent me an email with this track...

... and I was lost. Wouldn't you be?

Couple of years later I was organising our wedding and going crazy, not being able to find just the right music for our ceremony, and it was him again who suggested this track, one of our favourites, which turned out to be absolutely perfect.

 Talking about two people attuned to each other!

Lisa Gerrard

Funnily enough I loved Lisa's music for years not knowing who she is simply because this woman is famous for so many gorgeous soundtracks you are bound to hear her voice somewhere. Black Hawk Dawn, Gladiator, Man on Fire, Whale Rider, The Layer Cake and so many more others...

Lisa is absolutely incredible, not only she sings like an angel, most of the time she doesn't use any known language, inventing her own which makes her singing absolutely surreal and ethereal at the same time.

Here they are. Three women who can reduce me to tears at no time and bring me joy.

What about you? Have you got some special music, songs that changed your life in some way?