Haunting music

After nine years, Dead Can Dance has reunited for a North American tour. Dark and moody, with incomparable soaring female vocals, this band helped provide the record label 4AD with it's signature sound in the early '80s (along with the likes of the Cocteau Twins). Their blend of international folk styles, medieval, rock & electronic influences makes for an ethereal combination:

You may not know the music, but you'll never forget the name of the band or the ghoulish images that skitter through your brain the first time you hear Dead Can Dance. The band is the partnership of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, composer-songwriters whose sound spans continents and centuries to bring forth moody music that echoes cultural influences from Ireland to the Middle East, from the 12th century to the present day. DCD makes music that could belong to any or all cultures.

And did I mention the dark aspect of their music? If you like traditional music, you'll probably like DCD; if you like medieval music, you'll probably like DCD; if you like shoegazer music, you - well, you get the idea. Personally, I couldn't imagine my internal soundtrack without them. This past Sunday, I had the privilege of seeing them live for the first time, and I was blown away. Live was orders of magnitude better than CD - and I love their CDs. There were a few false notes in Sunday's show, as could be expected from the second night of their tour, but by-and-large I spent most of the show in awed bliss. Metroblogging Seattle has another concert-goer's account here - while I found a few things with which to disagree in her assessment of the show, by-and-large she's spot-on. If your musical tastes run to the dark side of things and you haven't heard this band before, I hope you'll give them a listen. If you're already a fan, I hope you can catch them live if they pass through your area.