Press Quotes

  • “‘Is Love a Fairy Tale?’ uses spoken word and song to tell the story of Aoede the Muse and her search for love in the magical kingdom of Wonderhaven. Along the way she meets and befriends a cast of strange and wonderful characters – Morpheus, Binkle the garden gnome, Albert the ice cream vendor, Amala, and others. The lead vocals, script, and songs are by Lisa Sniderman, aka Aoede. This talented songwriter has a gift for crafting pop melodies and lyrics so catchy you’ll find yourself humming and singing along from the very first listen. Her voice has the unique ability to be simultaneously upbeat and plaintive, a quality that keeps the listener actively engaged. The arrangements are awash in warm harmonies and delightfully quirky, well-suited instrumental choices. The standouts include ‘Make It Up As You Go,’ a buoyant, catchy whistle tune that shows us that anything we can imagine, we can create. ‘Little Things,’ a delightful song about the pleasures to be had from life’s simpler offerings, makes us wonder why the ukulele isn’t used far more often in pop music. And the joyful ‘Reason To Smile’ uses trombone and tuba to great effect in ways that brings the Beatles to mind. As the narrative and musical selections take Aoede through the ups and downs of love and life, an overall philosophy emerges, one that seems to say, ‘love is real, love is life – and life is good.’ Amen to that.”

    Tillywig Toy Awards (STERLING FUN AWARD WINNER)
  • “Through a collage of timeless animation and inspired real-word vignettes, Aoede compels you back to youth and the unshakeable belief in happily ever after… Aoede’s quirky lyrics and fun, catchy hooks laid over well-crafted melodies transport one back to the innocence and magic of childhood. Is Love A Fairy Tale? is a musical journey that, in the end, leaves one tickled and in awe.”

    The Akademia Music Awards, BEST MUSIC VIDEO, BEST ALBUM
  • “What’s striking is that the narrative is written so cleverly that it leaves one wondering whether the songs came first or were written specifically for the latter album. Kudos must go to the story writing and weaving an appropriate storyline around already existing tracks… It is incredibly clever and seamless… The creativity is vast and makes one wonder if Aoede does in fact have a muse.”

    Christopher West, SKOPE Magazine
  • “Taking cue from the magic of imagination and getting lost in a story, Aoede’s ‘Is Love a Fairy Tale’ captures the innocence and dream world so easily forgotten. Aoede’s mesmerizing, almost ethereal vocals transport the listener to a simpler time. While this album, a children’s album, has greater appeal to tweens, the message is still fun and engaging for all ages… This entire album surprised me, and really just put me in a great mood.”

    Melissa Kucirek, Hot Indie News
  • “This new release reaches beyond the audience that she was embracing in her previous work and now she is embracing the older genre, the tweens and teens, as well as young adults… This is a captivating and inviting story shared in word and music. A beautiful piece of art in cd form. The picture she paints through her work is spellbinding and one that you will enjoy again and again. Child and parent alike can enter in to this fairytale world and experience this exciting new realm together.”

    Family Review Center (Gold Award)
  • “If this album were any better it would be on Broadway.. a luscious rainbow of music, story, characters and adventure that will mesmerize children and entertain adults… magical worlds of music, tales, characters, excitement, concern, love and joy. Her albums are ostensibly for children, but really, the music is so sophisticated and the artists she joins with and directs are so talented that adults get lost in them…”

    Patrick O’Heffernan, Vents Magazine
  • “Sniderman and her talented troupe of singers, character voices and musicians gallantly travel through this ambitious undertaking. Listeners will recognize when some of Sniderman’s characters borrow traits from the greats who have gone before–Yoda, Gollum and Dobby, for example. The Dream Sequence reminded some of the playful and witty dialogue from Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element. We applaud the creative effort and hope that Sniderman will work to further home her structure story and develop her characters to carry on in future fantasy adventures.”

    Parents Choice, Recommended Award Winner-Storytelling
  • “Do You Believe in Magic” is one of the most creative musical projects that has come across my desk. It will be featured in my ‘Independent Music Magazine” this September. Singer/Songwriter Aoede glistens & writer Lisa Sniderman delights us with her imagery and writing skills. Bravo!”

    Tom Lambert, The Independent Music Show
    Producer/Presenter

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“Delving back into the Wonderhaven fantasy realm, she creates vividly inventive portraits of fairy and goblin characters prompted by a “nyxmare” to which creative children who spend hours in imaginative play will naturally gravitate. For anyone who listens to children’s music… it’s rare to find something that doesn’t get cheesily boring, irritatingly repetitive very quickly, becoming quite torturous… one could easily imagine how this airy and fantasy-filled album would translate into a children’s TV show or a movie… Hints of indie pop’s Feist, Lisa Loeb , Susannah Hoff and Ingrid Michaelson influences weave in and out like Renaissance festival ribbons on several tracks. There’s even a little reggae on “All This Mess”. During Aoede’s excursion to the underworld to prevent the white witch from winning, children will automatically become invested in how this story ends. For parents who enjoyed the Narnia, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fantasy series, this album falls well within this genre. Will Aoede triumph in the end? The album will keep the audience enthralled enough until the end to find out.”

Carlita, Music Emissions

“Its like watching a musical with parts of speech to tell the tale and then breaks into music and back to the story. I loved the music and the tale.. I kept on smiling how fun it was, brought memories of a  child hood memory of a band I enjoyed which told a story and then begins to sing in each section of the show… When you hear the song and the story that is happening you can close your eyes and imagine this happening. a picture pops in your head of exactly what is going on. I feel as if I can see it happening without it being on TV or on my computer, no image needed. The music and tale gives you everything you need to understand what is going on..”

Natasha Miller, TestTryResults

“This CD is so catchy and unique… My 5 year old likes it… I think I may share this with my best friend who has 4 girls in her house. The music is very fun and engaging and stays in your head all day. I love all fairy tales, and I love greek mythology even more so this is right up my alley. The narration through out really brings the story in the music together. We, well me and the 5 year old, really enjoy this and I can’t wait to share with my friend and her girls and see what they think too. 5/5”

Jenn’s Review Blog

“Aoede’s refreshing vocals that float effortlessly over her uplifting productions bring a smile to every face… Skeletons of the Muse features some undeniably stand out tracks including ‘Love Proof’ and ‘Fairytale Love‘ and contribute to an outstanding production of Music that showcases how different and unique this artist is, a rare talent that has shown consistency and versatility throughout her output paving the way for a bright and expanding future.”

The BizzNiz

“Aoede spreads the inspiration she carries within her to whatever she does… Her radiant soprano voice mingles with her own quirky brand of DIY pop and heartfelt, powerful lyrics.”

Trina Carré, Fourculture: Issue two

“Poppy, upbeat, heartfelt, passion-filled, talented – those are just some words one might use to describe Aoede.”

MarsBands Reviews

“I receive thousands and thousands of submissions for airplay from all over the world, and you were chosen from all of those submissions because I feel that you are one of the BEST independent artists out there right now. Way to go! ”

Christopher Ewing, The Radio Cafe ReverbNation Indie Music Countdown

“Once every blue moon, the universe is blessed with the laughter of an angel. There may be a blue moon for awhile because the musical vibe of Aoede encompasses that angelic sound. Beyond the voice, there is inspirational songwriting and a metaphysical presence within every note… Her story is as compelling as her willingness to share it with the world.”

Independent Music and Media

“In ‘What Are Dreams Made Of?,’ singer/songwriter Lisa Sniderman and her collaborators have created something more than just a unique combination of story and song. They’ve fashioned a fully-formed universe whose carefully wrought details rival those in the fantastical novels so popular with teens and tweens nowadays. In the story, Aoede The Muse sets out to understand her recurring bad dream (a ‘Nyxmare’) that overlaps with events in the magical town of Wonderhaven, where children have been going missing. Along the way we meet a cast of memorable characters – Luk, Morpheus, Goblins, The White Witch – some friendly, some not so much. The audio tracks regularly alternate between spoken word and melody, with songs ranging in tone from catchy pop to darker fare. The rich inventiveness of the characters, storyline, and language flesh out a mystical world into which listeners are drawn, the recording acting as a portal to the deepest levels of our imagination.”

Tillywig Toy Awards (Best Creative Fun Award).

“Congratulations. We have selected your songs” Can’t Stop The Music & Bittersweet” for promotion and airplay on The Airomee Wind Radio Station. “This music needs no one to” compliment it. The music speaks for itself. Aoede’s music is filled with colorful images of life that leave a lasting impression on listeners mind.”

Airomee Wind, The Airomee Wind Radio Station

“I found this collection quite interesting. It was almost like listening to a musical. Each track had some narration and some music but the Is Love A Fairy Tale? CD makes one continuous story. I would say that the story itself is good for pre-teens and would be especially appealing to girls. It talks about a young woman in search of love. She’s not sure what it is or how to find it. She looks lots of places and meets lots of interesting creatures in the mystical land where she lives. In the end we learn that ‘love is whatever you want it to be’ and is ‘the greatest thing of all’.”

Kerrific Online

“Aoede (Lisa Sniderman) has a fizzy, fancy-free persona conveyed with a hint of Brit-ness a la Lilly Allen… charming ukulele fueled Love Proof whose quaint simplicity and deft vocal harmonies recall the Ditty Bops. This artist has a unique spirit.”

Music Connection Magazine

“Easily relatable to anyone with that care-free easygoing love of music…The music of Aoede is purely meant to uplift the soul and put a smile in your heart. It is no wonder that Aoede has been receiving acclaim across the board within the music industry already, because no one should be without a smile in their heart.”

L. White R.S.M Promotions, Skope Magazine

“For AOEDE, you cannot tag her as a single genre artist, in fact, it is much harder to pin her down in one category, because her music is outside any realm of typical categories. Instead, put her in your “Popular” playlist and hit repeat often, because if you enjoy music by Regina Spektor, and Feist, Ingrid Michaelson then you will definitely enjoy AOEDE.”

Mikey Jay, The Great Unknowns Presents

“Once every blue moon, the universe is blessed with the laughter of an angel. There may be a blue moon for awhile because the musical vibe of Aoede encompasses that angelic sound. Beyond the voice, there is inspirational songwriting and a metaphysical presence within every note… Her story is as compelling as her willingness to share it with the world.”

Independent Music and Media

“One of the fun things about diving into a sea of mostly DIY music is “discovering” an unsigned artist who could be the next big thing. At a very least, it’s easy to find more than a few folks who are going to have exciting careers which I will enjoy following. One is San Francisco area singer/songwriter Aoede (Lisa Sniderman, who also has a bitchin’ blog). With a vocal style similar to Feist or Fiona Apple, her songs are more lush and ornate than either.”

Walking on a Wire, Artist of the Week