Question for Dead Can Dance fans

[Jon]

I am completely mesmerized by the Dead Can Dance album "Into the Labrynth". I recently picked up a copy of "Aion", which has not grown on me the way "Into the Labrynth" has.

Can any DCD fans out there recommend other DCD albums I should listen to that might have the same mesmerizing effect of "Into the Labrynth"?

[Pale Blue Ego]

"Toward The Within" might be something you like.

"Aion" was the first DCD album I had, so that one is special to me, but I agree that "Into The Labyrinth" is excellent.

Their earlier stuff is a mixed bag. I like about half the songs on their 1st 4 albums - some are wonderful, some I never care to hear again.

[Harry G]

Can any DCD fans out there recommend other DCD albums I should listen to that might have the same mesmerizing effect of "Into the Labrynth"?

Different music reaches different people differently thus I'm hesitant to say; "since you like Labrynth, I'm sure you'll like......" but I'm pretty impressed by their recent live recordings available from their site: http://www.dcddiscs.com/
The music is emotional and they're nice recordings.

I hear rumour that they're kicking around some of the darker alleys of the net as tagged FLAC files too.

Not really the same thing but the recordings of the Portuguese group Madredeus put me in a similar state of mind.

[eq72521]

May as well get this out now. I'm going to write volumes here. If nothing else, it's a good exercise for me.

DCD are easily in my top 5. I haven't considered the stranded-on-a-remote-island question for some time, but if I did today they may well be my answer, whether for one artist, album, or song. I own and know all of their studio LPs, the 3 disc retrospective, as well as two of the shows (Seattle 09-17 and Montreal 10-02) and the "Selections" from the tour last year. That's 18 discs; 213 tracks according to my SB3. I'm still reeling over the fact (discovered last February) that I've dreamed about a reunion since discovering them in 1996 but somehow missed the news as it was happening in 2005. My only consolations are the recordings (although I'm still bummed that Chicago sold out before I got it, as it's reputed to be one of the best) and the possibility of a new studio album.

Basically, it's all good, but some can take longer to grow on you. You definitely picked one of their best (and most accessible) albums as your starting point. I put in Into The Labyrinth quite often. Their rendition of How Fortunate The Man With None (the studio version) is a favorite of mine. On the other hand, Aion is, with the exception of their self-titled debut, the most hit or miss album to me. But at the very least certain songs will almost certainly grow on you. Listen particularly to The Arrival And The Reunion, The Song Of The Sibyl, and most especially Black Sun.

If my further words here don't convince you to acquire their entire oeuvre, I recommend the following sampling:

1. The 3 disc retrospective 1981-1998, which should also include a DVD of the show at the Mayfair Theatre in Santa Monica in 1994. It is, however, out of print and rather pricey on the used market. Given that, the 2 disc Wake looks like a good distillation at a reasonable price. The single disc Memento is simply too short; it leaves out many gems from their earlier years in its focus on the latter.

2. Toward The Within, noted by Pale Blue Ego. This is from the same show as the DVD I mentioned above, and is excellent. It is something of a retrospective plus some songs only to be found there (particularly good are I Can See Now / American Dreaming). Lisa nailed Cantara that evening, and I enjoy it much more than the studio version on Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun. I could go on about every song though; it's all good.

3. Selections From North America available at http://www.dcddiscs.com/, noted by Harry G. In lieu of collecting all the shows themselves (which not even I have done yet, although I'm still considering), this collection is very good, even if I disagree with some of their choices (They hit on Saffron in an excellent, if raw, way in Seattle on 09-17, but the collection uses the smoother version from Montreal on 10-02). Overall, these recordings are everything the guys at The Show trumpet; I'm glad they're around for discerning artists (only DCD and The Pixies so far unfortunately), as companies like DiscLive and InstantLive are owning this market, whose rhetoric about getting a good mix of a show 5 minutes after it completes is just that. I fear that, having not recorded anything this summer (I was personally hoping for The Flaming Lips), the guys at The Show will get out of the business.

But I digress. If you do decide to delve into all of DCD, I'd recommend the following order of albums. If you go this route, there is little reason to get the 3 Disc retrospective, unless you really want the couple B-Sides and early demos.

- Into The Labyrith. You already have and I've already discussed. Enjoy.

- Toward The Within. Already discussed, get it. :)

- Spiritchaser. This was my first favorite album. They started down a different road with this album, so it's unique among everything eles, but I enjoy it greatly. Nierika, Song Of The Stars, Indus, and Devorzhum are favorites.

- Selections From North America 2005. Already discussed, wonderful set, excellent mix, I wish I had seen all the shows live. The renditions of old material are great and the new tracks, although surprising at first, give great hope for a future studio album. Nierika, Compassion, The Love That Cannot Be, Crescent, Sanvean, Yulunga, Severance, and Hymn For The Fallen are favorites.

- The Serpent's Egg. The Host Of Seraphim is cathartic. Severance and In The Kingdom Of The Blind The One-Eyed Are Kings are also peaks here.

- Spleen And Ideal. They clearly found their way here (see notes later about debut). De Profundis, Mesmerism, Enigma Of The Absolute, and Indoctrination are best. The rest is a little rough, but this was only their sophomore effort.

- Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun. Excellent all around, each half focusing on one of the pair. Anywhere Out Of The World, Xavier, Cantara, and Summoning Of The Muse are best.

- Aion. Already discussed and you already have it. It will grow on you, I promise. :)

- Dead Can Dance. Their debut. Like Spiritchaser, it's mostly different from the rest, but in its own way. They obviously weren't quite sure what they wanted to do here (sounding a bit like early Cure, esp. Pornography), but there are still some great tracks. Frontier and In Power We Trust The Love Advocated are best.


In addition to everything DCD, Lisa Gerrard's solo work is excellent. In particular, check out The Mirror Pool, The Whalerider Soundtrack, her contributions to the soundtracks for both Gladiator and The Insider, and most especially her collaboration with Patrick Cassidy, Immortal Memory. Brendan's solo work is somewhat less inspiring, consisting solely of Eye Of The Hunter, although his contribution to Zoar's Clouds Without Water is interesting, even if that is not my favorite of their albums (which would be their debut, Cassandra).


I know this was a lot to digest, but I hope you found it helpful. If anyone ever wants an excessively long discussion of one of my favorite artists, just mention their name. :)

[Jon]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions ... I especially enjoyed eq72521's detailed commentary. For the moment, I have ordered a copy of The Serpent's Egg, mainly because some of the musical snippets on Amazon caught my attention ... Toward the Within will probably be next (I am typically not a fan of live concert recordings but too many people have listed this one as being worthwhile for me to ignore).

By the way, it is not that I don't like Aion ... just that Into The Labrynth is one of those CDs that is completely mesmerizing for me, even from the first playing, and I am hoping to uncover another that affects me the same way. If I had to pick a "Desert Island" CD, this would probably be it (with Antony and the Johnsons' "I Am A Bird Now" coming in a close second and Prefab Sprout's "Swoon" rounding out third).

[random_tox]

Into The Labrynth is a great start. May not find anything you like better. Toward the Within, A Passage In Time, and Spiritchaser would be my next recommendations. I have most DCD cds, but those are my faves.

I guess the '05 Seattle show is also a fave. If you must explore the 05 tour recordings, selections from Europe or North America are obvious starting points. Relatively, Toward The Within has more of a polished studio sound.

Older stuff is harder to like. Try working backwards cronologically.

1984: Dead Can Dance
1985: Spleen And Ideal
1987: Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun
1988: The Serpent's Egg
1990: Aion
1991: A Passage In Time
1993: Into The Labyrinth
1994: Toward The Within
1996: Spiritchaser

The 81-98 box is an alternative with most essential tracks. The Toward The Within concert/interview DVD is wonderful and intimatly reveals the artist's connection to their work. Worth it just to see the percussionist dance!

And by the way, Ron Fricke who directed the Toward The Within concert video also directed the movie Baraka. DCD is one of many soundtrack artists contributing to an amazing global/audio/visual/spiritual experience. I'd recommend the Barake DVD first. If DCD touches you, Baraka will MOVE you.

[ticalex]

Dear Mrs & Mr

I presume you all already know :

Baraka - a film by Ron Fricke

For the lucky one that have not seen this wonderfull***** movie,
i strongly recommande to see it asap.

PS: Large screen an great stereo required.

One of the most beautifull film ever seen with a superb BO from
dead can dance.

Enjoy , again and again.

And feel free to share your feelings about it

Best regards.

[Pale Blue Ego]

Baraka is an awesome film. Absolutely beautiful.

DCD - I really like the 2 songs on "A Passage In Time" that are unavailable on the other discs ("Bird" and "Spirit"). For me, it was worth it just for those even though I had all the other songs.

[Yannzola]

Those of you who love DCD should give Azam Ali a try. Especially her VAS albums. Great stuff. Highly recommended.

[Wasaia]

If you like Dead Can Dance, you probably will agree with me that Lisa Gerrard's voice is the most important element in their music. I recommend listening to Lisa Gerrard's solo album 'the mirror pool'. I find it very beautiful.
If some of you don't know where Lisa got here inspiration for the way she uses her voice, check out traditional mystic kabbalah-music. Their's a nice album out by 'Ruth Wieder Magan', it's called 'songs to the invisible god'. If you listen to this album, you would swear it's Lisa Gerrard ;)

[DynamicalSystem]

I can only echo Host of the Seraphim from Serpent's Egg.

You could also do worse than look at some of the This Mortal Coil stuff from 4AD. They are (were) a kind of fluid super group made up from artists who happened to be around 4AD at the time of the recordings, and Perry and Gerrard both contributed.

It'll End In Tears is the first album and, while most consider the stand out track to be Song to the Siren with Liz Frasier on vocals, there is an amazing song called Dreams Made Flesh with Gerrard on vocals.

[eq72521]

Dreams Made Flesh was also performed and recorded many times during the 2005 tour. I believe it's the first track on the second disc, at least on the North American tour sets. Excellent song.

[random_tox]

If you like Dead Can Dance, you probably will agree with me that Lisa Gerrard's voice is the most important element in their music. I recommend listening to Lisa Gerrard's solo album 'the mirror pool'.

I find all of Lisa Gerrard's and Brandon Perry's CDs a bit stale compared to their Dead Can Dance collaborations. They're nice, but would be a much lower recommendations.

[Yannzola]

I find all of Lisa Gerrard's and Brandon Perry's CDs a bit stale compared to their Dead Can Dance collaborations. They're nice, but would be a much lower recommendations.

Agreed. Too soft and fluffy for my taste.

[Harry G]

Those of you who love DCD should give Azam Ali a try. Especially her VAS albums. Great stuff. Highly recommended.

Thank you. I guess I'm going to have to check out Ms. Ali. You aren't the only one who feels this way, or did you write the following?

From Amazon, re Portals of Grace:
"When you think of Persian or Indian music, you probably don't think of medieval European melodies. Azam Ali's Portals of Grace is just that, albeit tinged with an Arabic flair. Azam Ali is influenced by Hildegard von Bingen, and her mezzo soprano voice has the sombre, uplifting sound of a prayer. Master drummer Greg Ellis provides wonderful rhythm, and also vocal drones in "Inna-I-Malak".

Azam Ali's music reminds me of Lisa Gerrard, in a Dead Can Dance meets Mediaeval Baebes kind of way. Azam Ali is a musical polyglot, and the songs on this album come from eclectic sources: 12th and 14th century French Provencal, Sephardic, Judeo-Spanish, Brittany, 12th century Latin, 13th century Galician-Portuguese, Sweden, Byzantine, and Arabic.

This album is also great in a musical historical sense. "Lasse Pour Quois" is a tribute to the 12th and 13th centurey Trobairitz, the female poet-musicians who graced the courts of Europe. Most of these women have been forgotten. "A Chantar m'er" is the only extant melody written by one of these women, a Trobairitz by the name of Comtessa Beatrix de Dia. "Known as one of the greatest poetesses of all time, here she bitterly tells the tale of unrequited love for a man other than her husband. The opening line literally translates as, 'I must sing of that which I would rather keep in silence.'"

Unfortunately, Amazon has no sample tracks on line.

You might also look up Hope by Kindness of Strangers, which I believe was made up of some of the same people as This Mortal Coil. If I can find the shiny disc and If I can find one of those boxes that plays it, I could listen and be a little surer.

There was also the American duo, Love Spirals Downwards. A young couple who obviously admired DCD. Fairly close in mood. Just not as talented.

I find it hard to judge Brandon. Not enough output. Lisa's non DCD stuff doesn't grab me enough to buy but certainly works well enough in movies. Kind of a shame but I bet she makes a lot more money now.

BTW: what do you folks use as a genre for this type of thing? I've been using "Dark Ambient" but the term makes me think of high school kids with white faces and greasy ink black hair.

[Yannzola]

Unfortunately, Amazon has no sample tracks on line.

BTW: what do you folks use as a genre for this type of thing? I've been using "Dark Ambient" but the term makes me think of high school kids with white faces and greasy ink black hair.

Try her VAS work... I beleive most have sample tracks on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Vas/artist/B000APATKQ

I use Dark Ambient for scary things like Coil... for DCD,VAS,TMC, etc. I prefer "Ethereal" or "Ethereal Wave" See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereal_Wave

[Harry G]

Try her VAS work... I beleive most have sample tracks on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Vas/artist/B000APATKQ

I use Dark Ambient for scary things like Coil... for DCD,VAS,TMC, etc. I prefer "Ethereal" or "Ethereal Wave" See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethereal_Wave

Thanks for both suggestions. I just told Tag&Rename that Ethereal is a genre. Sounds less depressing.

Surprised I had never heard of Vas. Really lovely stuff. Closer to Indian classical and religious music. Mood-wise reminds me a bit of Ensemble by Maria Farantouri & Zülfü Livaneli. Usually Greeks and Turks don't much like each other but this is a blending of both of their musical traditions with a little modern imagination thrown in. I hoped to include a link but Amazon hasn't heard of it.

Some of this stuff is pretty obscure and hard to find. Is it against forum rules to suggest trading music with other members who have similar musical taste? I believe "Fair Use" includes sharing music with friends.