By far the most intriguing and notable feature of this group in my opinion is Lisa Gerrard, an ethereal and powerful vocalist who in comparison makes Enya sound like a squeaky door hinge. Born in Ireland, she met up with Brendan Perry in 1981 in Melbourne, Australia a year after his formation of Dead Can Dance. The group subsequently moved to London and began what has been a very successful collaboration, using instruments such as the hurdy gurdy, uillean pipes, and Chinese dulcimer, among others.

This year, Brendan Perry released a unique and wonderful album, Eye of the Hunter, where he delves into his own personal life and musically explores themes such as personal loss, addictions, anger, and soul-searching with his unique instruments and vocal talents. These kinds of issues are explored by all artists to some extent because that is the nature of music, to bring to the forefront the thoughts and experiences that bubble just under the surface, putting a tune to the junk you just can’t form into words. The popular music that I hear every day seems to oversimplify these themes in the name of appealing to the masses, and to paint a picture of the singer as an idol to be looked up to and emulated. This tends to irritate me, because I prefer to make my own judgments and I don’t look to MTV to tell me who to hear and what to think.

I believe the difference between how popular music and DCD represent themselves is that they don’t try to explain away or glorify their own lives. They simply paint a vibrant musical picture and offer it to their listeners, and in doing so without any fluff or hype, they give their fans the freedom to make of it whatever they wish. A perfect example of this is when I saw DCD play live in Portland in 1996. They came out onto the stage, did not introduce themselves, and played for hours. They performed several encores and the only time any one of them spoke a word was when someone behind me hollered “Lisa, I love you” and she said “thank you” back to him. They did not promote themselves but simply let the music speak for itself. I appreciated that immensely and will continue to support them as artists, whether as Dead Can Dance or in solo projects.

What is being played nowadays is soulful at times (Alicia Keys), wonderfully moody (Dido), extremely groovy (Beyonce), and often great to dance to (Outkast) but there are very few popular artists I like in regular doses. Not to say a person such as Britney Spears isn’t talented, but I think that she is over hyped, over-exposed and allowed to get away with it by the teeming masses that scoop up her latest and greatest. Listening to what is

Some topics in this essay:
Dead Dance, Eye Hunter, Britney Spears, Lisa Gerrard’s, Serpent's Egg, Middle Eastern, Lisa Gerrard, Mali Africa, Floyd Santana, Alicia Keys, dead dance, popular music, brendan perry, lisa gerrard, music substance, lisa gerrard’s,