DVDs

Review: There are few voices in popular music like that of Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard. Perry's is rich and earthy, whereas Gerrard's multi-octave instrument is, at times, downright unearthly. Toward the Within, the audiovisual version of a 1993 concert at Santa Monica's Mayfair Theatre, chosen, no doubt, for its excellent acoustics, is a fine showcase for their unique talents.

Joined by five musicians on keyboards, strings and percussion, Mark Magidson (Baraka) has filmed the proceedings in a straightforward manner, but the music is intricate and exotic enough that no special effects or fancy camera moves are necessary. The songs, which incorporate pop, folk, and world-music influences, are interspersed with interview clips, turning the release into a hybrid between a concert video and a documentary. Highlights include the hypnotic Rakim and soaring American Dreaming.

A Documentary About Gernot Bronsert & Sebastian Szary

Review: An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H5jTMfesCM