Brett Taylor - at his studio Pilgrim Arts, Adelaide Hills, Australia: engineer/producer of half (or more) of Ariel, Alabaster and Apple Pentacle. Brett is responsible for arranging, scoring, programming and editing Louisa's music, also playing various instruments including keyboards, bass, classical guitar and percussion. brett@pilgrimarts.com
Brett Taylor web site
Harry Williamson of Spring Studio, Melbourne, is Louisa's other producer,
who engineered parts of Ariel, Alabaster, Apple Pentacle, and all of Alexandria & Argo. Like Brett he plays many instruments such as
classical guitar, keyboards, paper drum, tiple, auto-harp and charango as well as arranging, engineering, programming, producing and editing.
He is pictured below in Spring Studio: harry@springstudio.com.au
Harry Williamson web site
Louisa also thanks Richard O'Donovan for designing her homepage:
http://www.louisajohnkrol.com.
ABOUT the FRENCH FAIRY LABEL PRIKOSNOVENIE
An introduction to Prikosnovenie
"...six fire-angels came,
bearing me through the air
in a procession"
(text by Frederic Chaplain, from Roi Lune)
From Prikosnovenie's window you see the castle of Clisson, a medieval village of cobbled lanes, stone bridge, 12th century market and buildings jumbled close, white and wine-red, on either side of the river Sevre. For nearly 2 decades around 100 avant-garde albums have been illustrated and marketed by the label described by D-Side magazine as 'petite'. In English that translates as more than small; it also means delicate, ethereal, elfin. The word 'Prikosnovenie' is Russian. It means 'soft caress', a touch so light that it barely brushes the skin.Prikosnovenie web site
Louisa's American label (for collector's edition of "Alexandria") is
Forest of the Fae, a division of Dark Symphonies:
www.forestofthefae.com
Influences
Kate Bush; Bjork; Nick Drake; Bel Canto; Nico; Arvo Part; Gasparyan; Gjallarhorn; Garbarek; Garnas; Respighi; Stephan Micus; Stivell; Mazzy Star; Vox; Joni Mitchell; S. Roach; R. Rich; R. Carty; Alio Die; R.S.Thompson; Vidna Obmana; Stellamara; Voice of Eye; PJ Harvey; N. Cave; P. Gabriel; K. Schulze; Arcana; R. Montgomery; Stoa; Swans; Led Zep; Cocteau Twins; Siberry; L. McKennitt; Clannad; Captain Beefheart; Purcell; Dae Nym; Woodland; Nehl Aelin; Dandelion Wine; Vas; Ataraxia; Pris. Hernandez; Rajna.
Australian artist producing romantic pop/ethereal faerie music. Lyrically, Louisa John-Krol explores mythological themes. Internationally acclaimed, her songs challenge the boundaries of underground scenes that cherish them and even inspired a faerietale "Louisa" by Alyz Tale, published in France.
Louisa is on the French fairy label Prikosnovenie. Her songs of centaurs, birds, seagiants, dragons, psychopomps, sirens and salamanders combine fiery energy with ambience, whimsy and humanity.
"... and all that's printed in roots and long unruly stems she sings in a song ..." Sonnets to Orpheus - Rilke
DISCOGRAPHY
“Djinn”
The new album by Louisa, October 2009, explores the dreaming of cats: ethereal songs shimmer in dulcimer, charango, harp, bowed psaltery, percussion, piano, bass, flute, guitars, chimes and Louisa’s mandolin & voice, with lyrics immersed in feline mythology... and magic of her own rescued cats.
ARGO
Style: Folk-romantique
juin 2000 - 12 Titles -55'
Argo refers to the ship of the Argonauts. In our age of prescribed mysteries, journeying out of bureaucratic realms is an adventure, whether or not we return with the Golden Fleece. The album celebrates Renaissance alchemist Ficino, Sufis Idries Shah and Ibn Arabi, Sumerian goddess Inanna, authors Dunsany, Blake, Kipling, Walter de la Mare and Holderlin, Celtic faerietales and Greek mythology. Recorded with Harry Williamson.
ALEXANDRIA
Style: Folk-romantique
12 Titles -60'
Several editions exist (German label Hyperium used a different cover)
Latest collector's edition is on American label Forest of the Fae:
14 Titles (2 bonus tracks)
Alexandria is a realm of dragons and centaurs. Invisible cities of Calvino and Cavafy come to life, with Louisa's own Madame Alchemier and Valley of Seven Keys. Other inspirations are Milton's "Lycidas", Dante's Limbo (Canto IV) where pagan souls dwell, 15th century music of Baixa dansa Barcelona, and novelists Ramon Perez de Ayala, Dostoyevsky, Max Frisch and Shiga Naoya. Recorded with Harry Williamson.
ARIEL
Style: Folk-romantique
2001 - 12 Titles - 45'
Raised in Australian bushland, Louisa takes inspiration from literature, mythology, poetry and Nature. She studied voice, guitar and piano; mandolin was self-taught. During the nineties she shared a house with artists including Dawn Perry, who introduced her to music of her brother Brendan's duo (Dead-Can-Dance) On Ariel, mandoline, heavenly voices, percussion, flute, cello, string quartet, derbouka... lead us into dreamy worlds. A masterpiece in the field of romantic pop-ethereal fairy music.
ALABASTER
Style: Folk-romantic
References: Loreena Mac Kennitt, Enya, Kate Bush, Emilia Torrini, Bjork
May 2003 - 12 Titles
Bewitching, romantic, ethereal pop: whimsy & energy reminiscent of Emilia Torrini, The Moors, Kate Bush. Fairy voice, mandolin, flute, percussion, table harp, charango, piano, lyre, bass, ocarina, clarinet. Luminosity with bursts of progressive rock, ghostly encounters, a tribute to poet Emily Dickinson, Hamlet's Ophelia, a Renaissance ballad and dark ambience of Sirens. Mythical basis for this album is the union of Persephone and Hades. Featuring neo-classical band Daemonia Nymphe; Lys; Francesco Banchini (Gor/Ataraxia); Oophoi; and Olaf Parusel (Stoa).
APPLE PENTACLE
October 2005 : 12 tracks
Louisa John-Krol is a fantastic artist, with a voice made of purest crystal,
and a fabulous storyteller. Her album "Apple Pentacle" leads us into a fairy world made of stories flowing mostly from Green Man mythology. The Spirit of the Greenwood roves through the ages as Robin Hood, Egyptian Osiris, Arcadian Pan, Dionysus, Tolkien's Treebeard, Vishnu, Puck, Atho and other incarnations. With cinematic lyris and fairy soundscapes, Louisa's music is a subtle mix of modern production with ancestral themes and instruments (viola, mandolin, dulcimer, hurdy-gurdy, harpsichord). The result is dreamy fairy pop music with a beautiful, heavenly voice. Like Kate Bush, she explores diverse feelings in her voice: sensual, sweet, harsh or ethereal, as if her creatures embody her soul. Let's enter her bewitching worlds.
LOUISA JOHN KROL AND OOPHOI -I HEAR THE WATER DREAMING
Style: Ambient - zen - mystique
References: Enya, Sheila Chandra, Vas
2005 - 7 Titles -
Oophoi is famous for his intimite ambient music; he is considered as a Master in his art. Louisa's voice brings a melodic and 'fairyesque' dimension to his music. The meeting of these 2 musicians results in a mysterious, ethereal and oniric ambience reminding Louisa's song "Approaching the island of Sirens" on her last album Alabaster. Bamboo flute, singing bowl, crystals, insects sounds, birds, mandolin, ocarina attract us in an aquatic world populate with Sirens, Sylphids and amniotic dreams.
COMPILATIONS & COLLABORATIONS include Ghost Fish; Fairy World; Love Sessions; L'Odyssee; "Belladonne"...
Australian collaborators & friends:Faraway (Liz Van Dort & Harry Williamson); Brett Taylor; Richard Allison; Asphodel; Ashera; Ikon; Seventh Dawn; Andrew Persi; Jenni Heinrich; Bronwyn Lloyd; Lindsay Buckland; Dandelion Wine; Eden.
Overseas collaborators & friends:Daemonia Nymphe & Nikodemos Triaridis; Gor; Lys; Caprice; Oophoi; Stoa; Mathias Grassow; Stella Maris / Dirk Schlömer & Carsten Agthe & Rüdiger Gleisberg; Keltia & Seventh Harmonic; Mandragore; Hungry Lucy; Arcana; Dirge; Ataraxia; Faire Enough; Nebelhexe (Hagalaz Runedance); Nehl; The Aleph; Alice Marie; Giorgos Christianakis; The Moors; Michael De Maria; Autumn Tears; Caprice; Irfan; Mirabilis; Patricia Hernandez.
Artwork by Laura Pelick @ Fallenlights.net
“Which of these Worlds”, movie by Toby & Brian Froud (Imaginosis / Prikosnovenie), vox-rhythm concept by Olaf Parusel, lyrics & melodies by Mark Krol & Louisa John-Krol, arranged & produced by Brett Taylor, from Louisa’s album “Apple Pentacle”.
i miss you so much also...i have been so busy getting ready for the big show in baltimore...and i have thought of you a million times...i will write you when i am back home again and tell you of the marvelous adventures of the gathering of fae tribes out east :) i get to sing with my darling priscilla again! it's about all i can think of lately...i am also taking her home with me for a week after the show, we will do some recording, photography and are making a video together...i dream of the day we three will make a collaboration....i miss you so much my elf-witch down under...
Wow! Are you really coming to Faerieworlds? I've been looking forward to this fest for months, and my jaw dropped when I saw your name in a recent Faerieworlds ad! I cannot wait to see you perform, hopes and dreams can come true!
Hi Louisa! your concert was wonderful, I was very close from you and it was great. I tried to talk to you after the concert but there was a lot of people^^ Next time I hope!Thank you for this precious moment!
Hello Louisa... just some words to say you, as the others, that i love your voice, your ethereal and wonderful music. this isn't originally, but i needed to say it :-) Take Care and THANK YOU. Ombeline
Hello, your music is wonderful and enchanting. I have got 2 cds of you. I like your voice. We are in the same label (prikosnovénie) I sing and play piano, i like fairy music and i would like to awake fairy and nature with our music. If you like harmonic sing and soothing music, you can listen Crista Galli.
Good continuation ! ( sorry for my bad english, i am french ! )
Thank you for giving me the gift of your friendship, I am honored to be among your top friends my dear, I like it here your space is beautiful and so are you! xoxo
Hello Louisa, My wife and I we are in the fairies kingdom when we are listening your music! All the best to you and yours. Olivier Marchand a musician from Paris
Thanks for the add, Louisa! I discovered your music very recently, listening to your songs in Faerie Radio, and I love them, especially "Oak, ash and thorn". Greetings from Barcelona, Jorge Lamata
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