Dead Can Dance - Rakim (1994)

This is the first song off of their incredible 'Toward the Within' live album. This is psychedelic-strength album but not in the usual ways of distorted vocals or guitar feedback, Dead Can dance is a weirder beast, I've heard it called 'world music' and 'modern medieval', I've never been able to classify it. It's that fabled beast, a "new age" album full of ancient sounds and rhythms that actually evokes the spiritual. From the stillness of the opening bell to the final roar of applause this is the real thing.

It is one of those albums that I appreciate more and more as I grow older. Unlike most American stuff this is not commercial product that "contains trace amounts of rendered art by-products", this is music that was recorded live and commercially distributed. I'd recommend listening to the whole album if one sitting if you can but you might need to carve out a proper headspace to go on the trip with them. Its music of serious melancholy, quiet idealism and flute notes calling across the great darkness of history, this is not about "america's dreaming" but humanity's.

This entire album is a treasure. So glad you introduced me to it so many years ago. Timeless. The show is still scheduled for April 17, 2021 and really hoping it happens.