dead can dance: glossolalia with rhythm

dead can dance have been in existence for over twenty four years. led by lisa gerrard and brendan curry, the group was initially associated with a quasi gothic sound incorporating gloomy keyboard washes, tribal drumming, lyrics that verged on despair at times, and albums that featured gauzy victorian 4ad label artwork. over the course of their time together, the group evolved dramatically, incorporating more world music influences and broadening the range of gerrard’s vocals such that while maintaining the lyrical glossolalia the group is so well-known for, there also appeared songs with discernible lyrics and a more upbeat and positive presence.

i cam across them by chance in the nineteen eighties while scanning a magazine that has sadly disappeared named trouser press. some of you may remember it. the description of the group was appealing and led to me purchasing several vinyl renderings of their music and then the cd versions of their later releases. as you will find if you explore their music, the work of dcd veers wildly from tribal rhythms with soaring vocals to slower dirge-like pieces. it is the extraordinarily high-standard of musicianship that is uniformly present in all that they do that will astonish you.

the three videos below are taken from the dvd "toward the within" which documents a live concert interspersed with informative and colourful discussions with band members.

as with all of the videos featured on this blog, the sound and graphic quality is necessarily poor as the technology to maintain the clarity of the source document just isn’t available to the blogger. however, sit back and enjoy these, my three favourite pieces from this disc.

dead can dance rakim


dead can dance desert song


dead can dance oman