The Mirror Pool

The Dead Can Dance chanteuse ditches her partner, Brendan Perry, for this solo outing. Mixing middle-eastern drones, Balkan stringed instruments, Chinese percussion, and the European classical tradition, it's a singularly beautiful and mesmerizing album that occupies a genre all of its own. File next to Chant and Jan Garbarek, and be sure to alert progressive-minded classical buffs. --Jeff Bateman