כ"ו סיון התשס"חAlban Heruin 27
The newest haunting addition to my mystical music collection. The Silver Tree by Lisa Gerrard
Editoral Review - "Few artists last long in the rarefied terrain occupied by singer Lisa Gerrard over the last quarter-century. She shares a passion with composers like Arvo Pärt in the unrelenting pursuit of the divine. In fact, Gerrard evokes Pärt a few times on The Silver Tree, her first non-collaborative solo release since The Mirror Pool in 1995. The Silver Tree is an album of ancient echoes, ghostly refrains, and hymns to the heavens. On "Abwoon," she intones the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, orchestrating her own voice in choral harmonies that unfold beneath her like winds on waves. But "Spaceweaver" sends chills through the soul as Gerrard unlocks this peculiar nasal, back-of-the-throat snarl that she only adopts on such tracks, with a menacing blues groove that recalls "Meltdown" from her score to The Insider. You can hear much of Gerrard's soundtrack work mirrored here: "The Sea Whisperer" picks up at the spirit-affirming end of "Now We Are Free" from Gladiator. And I suspect that the 10-minute opus "Towards the Tower" might be her rejected overture for the film Constantine. With Ligeti-like voices, suspended glissando strings, and ominous percussion shifts, it certainly would work in the cinematic context of a supernatural thriller. The album has been available for half a year in Australia (worldwide via digital download), so as a bonus, the American release tacks on a bonus track, "Entry." Its thudding electronic drum loop and sketchy vocal makes for a disruptive exit. But until you get there, The Silver Tree is an embracing experience. Whether singing Aramaic, English, or that language of her imagination, Lisa Gerrard makes the most heavenly music heard on earth--and maybe beyond. --John Diliberto"
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