Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance is a band that comprises Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. Formed in Melbourne in 1981 and initially based in Australia, they disbanded temporarily in 1998 and have reunited for a world tour in 2005.
After being relatively unsuccessful in Australia, they moved to London where after one year they signed up to alternative rock label 4AD, a legendary label on the alternative music scene, where they became one of the most important bands on the label. They continued to work closely together, until later in the 1990s when they started to grow apart. Lisa Gerrard returned to Australia, while Brendan Perry moved to Ireland, where he bought an old church, Quivy Church, where he lives and works. It is speculated that the distance between the members was an influence in their eventual break-up, although Perry himself said that distance helped in maintaining a certain individual freedom in creativity.
Assigning a musical genre to Dead Can Dance is difficult, as their style was particularly eclectic. However, their early work could be considered "darkwave." In their later work, after The Serpent's Egg, Dead Can Dance would take as sources ancient or foreign music from around the world, with Gerrard singing glossolalia, giving them a very distinctive style (world music). As a result their later albums sound quite different from the first three. They're considered to be ethereal goth and/or dark world music.
The name "Dead Can Dance" is often misleading. Although this group is quite popular among the gothic sub-culture, the name simply means putting life back into something that is dead, or no longer in use. The instruments that are used are either ancient, forgotten or no longer desirable to most musicians. Another understanding of the name is the idea of giving a life to the inanimate, as Perry said:
- The album artwork [of their self titled first album], a ritual mask from New Guinea, attempted to provide a visual reintrepretation of the meaning of the name "Dead Can Dance." The mask, though once a living part of a tree is dead; nevertheless it has, through the artistry of its maker, been imbued with a life force of its own. To understand why we chose the name, think of the transformation of inanimacy to animacy.... Think of the processes concerning life from death and death into life. So many people missed the inherent symbolism, and assumed that we must be "morbid gothic types," a mistake we deplored and deplore... [1]
Discography
Albums
- Dead Can Dance (1984)
- Spleen and Ideal (1985)
- Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987)
- The Serpent's Egg (1988)
- Aion (1990)
- Into the Labyrinth (1993)
- Toward the Within (1994)
- Spiritchaser (1996)
EPs
Compilations
- A Passage in Time (1991)
- Dead Can Dance (1981-1998) (2001)
- Wake The Best of Dead Can Dance (2003)
- Memento The Very Best of Dead Can Dance (2005) (single-disc greatest hits)
Contributions
- It'll End in Tears (This Mortal Coil, 1984)
- Lonely Is an Eyesore (4AD compilation, 1987)
- Baraka (Soundtrack, 1992)
A 1998 follow-up album to Spiritchaser was planned, however the band separated before it was largely realized. One song that was to have appeared on it was fully recorded in the studio and is entitled "The Lotus Eaters." Though the album was never completed, "The Lotus Eaters" was eventually released on the box set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998) as well as the 2-disc Wake.
In addition, many unofficial live bootlegs exist of concerts spanning their career, which contain several rare songs that were only performed live. Though Toward the Within is their only official live album, Dead Can Dance released limited edition recordings of thirteen shows from their 2005 European tour, as well as a compilation entitled Selections from Europe 2005. These concerts were recorded and released by The Show.
Videography
Live performances
- Toward the Within (VHS) (1994)
- Toward the Within (DVD) (2004)
Contributions
- Lonely Is an Eyesore (4AD compilation, 1987)
- All Virgos Are Mad (4AD compilation, 1994)
There also exist many unofficial bootlegged recordings of Dead Can Dance concerts recorded throughout their career.