Sounds

Today’s Sounds

by Lorraine Carpenter

Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard are locked in time, on many levels. This is a comeback for the Australian duo, who haven’t collaborated in 16 years, yet they move together as fluidly as ever, their elegant compositions as awesome and imposing as an immaculately maintained ancient tomb. Their style has a timeless, universal quality, not just because it taps into traditional Chinese and Middle Eastern instrumentation and vocalization – it’s as if it channels some dark mysticism, or (if you’re not into the whole metaphysical thing) exists in a meditative state an inch away from death.

Record:

Dead Can Dance, Anastasis (Pias)

 
Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard are locked in time, on many levels. This is a comeback for the Australian duo, who haven’t collaborated in 16 years, yet they move together as fluidly as ever, their elegant compositions as awesome and imposing as an immaculately maintained ancient tomb. Their style has a timeless, universal quality, not just because it taps into traditional Chinese and Middle Eastern instrumentation and vocalization – it’s as if it channels some dark mysticism, or (if you’re not into the whole metaphysical thing) exists in a meditative state an inch away from death.

Sounds grim, doesn’t it? Well, what were you expecting from a band called Dead Can Dance? (Actually, I suppose that moniker could just as easily be a douchey hipster DJ name.) But while they’re perennially dark, the vivid beauty built into their songs acts as a barrier between your emotions and the barrel of a gun. Remember the angels in Wings of Desire? Perhaps Brendan and Lisa have their hands on our shoulders as we listen to their music.

Dead Can Dance play the Bell Centre on Aug. 24.
 

Track:

The Coup “The Magic Clap”

Take a dose of upper-consciousness via this Oakland hip hop crew, who borrow a page from punk rock on this first track from their next album Sorry to Bother You, out Oct. 30. on anti-.
 

 

Video:

Peaches “Free Pussy Riot!”

A new track from Peaches is always welcome, especially when it’s a protest tune about the Russian anti-Putin punk band facing three years in jail (the verdict comes down on Friday). The video features a whack of music stars, albeit obscured by colourful balaclavas.
 

Posted in Sounds

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.

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