Dead Can Dance's Spleen and Ideal - by the Velvet Librarian

Spleen and Ideal by Dead Can Dance review, by The Velvet Librarian.
Possibly one of the most cerebral albums to come to my attention. The title was inspired by Charles Baudelaire, and relates to the notion that art serves two purposes, the spleen or that which comforts and the ideal, a pure philosophical concept. Thus, the album juxtaposes jagged synth rock and with stunningly beautiful escapeds into sonic bliss (that Lisa Gerrard's voice is fairly indescribable doesn't help with that vague description). DCD are probably were also probably the only group able to make an accordion sound eerie. There's been a lot of imitators of this style of thing, but no one has really been able to match it for pure originality. As with anything I tend to embrace, its probably an aquired taste, a bit like fine wine.

See the Velvet Librarian's top 10 and review of Portishead - Portishead by The Velvet Librarian.

The Bethanator's Top 10

Where's the Beatles? I thought you loved the Beatles.

1. goodbye country (hello nightclub) - Groove Armada
2. decksanddrumsandrockandroll - Propellerheads
3. Kid A - Radiohead
4. Mezzanine - Massive Attack
5.Tourist - St Germain
6. Live from Mars - Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
7. Propoganda - Sens Unik
8. Synkronized - Jamiroquai
9. Polyserena - George
10. Palimpsest - Palimpsest