Lisa Gerrard
"The Mirror Pool" CD (4AD)
One could say many things about this album - it's ethereal (obviously!), it's like nothing you've ever heard (unless you know her band Dead Can Dance) and its Mediterranean strains are perfectly interwoven into traditional Celtic landscapes. Or you could approach it from a whole different angle - it is the best album you could put on if you are getting ready to go to bed with someone. I know that sounds awful and it inadvertently trivializes this amazing album. But with all due respect, this album takes love making to its most erotic plateau. That probably doesn't mean shit to some little baggy-pants-wearing skater with a can of spray paint in his hand, but there are a lot of other bands out there besides the Offspring. Ooops. Getting a little pretentious there. Sorry. At any rate, "The Mirror Pool" is, like most of Gerrard's past work, an adventurous outing that recalls lands and sounds of distant times and brings them into a timeless whole. Put it next to your box of condoms. (ERIC)