mp3: Except for the Ghosts

website: http://www.lisagermano.com

I first fell heavily for Lisa Germano around 1998/99. There was a 4AD compilation distributed by Uncut magazine at the time, and while I was already into a bunch of 4AD artists, it set me off on a major voyage of discovery. That year, Germano released her album Slide, which was represented on said comp, and it was to become a major staple in my auditory diet for some time. And like all records you really love, it started my quest to own her whole catalogue, which took an extra year or two. As an aside, Slide, was produced wonderfully by Tchad Blake, who I’ve already mentioned today, so this could be a recurring theme in my posts, but I’ll come back to it another time.

Over the years, Germano has toured with a bunch of artists. I remember her coming to Glasgow once in support of Eels. Actually, she was also part of their touring band at the time, and while I didn’t see the gig, it was a delight to see her playing violin for them on mainstream TV shows, dressed up in silly costumes. In the end, I did see her play live numerous times–maybe five or six–but that was when she was part of Neil Finn’s band around 2001. And at least she was allowed to perform some of her own material.

Since, she’s gone through phases of locking herself away from the public, swearing off songwriting, eventually resurfacing in LA/Largo, and recording a scattering of understated piano-based albums. They haven’t really collided with me in the same way Slide and all that early material did, but it’s still Lisa–melancholic, solemn, pretty, violins, piano and her unmistakable voice. So I do still have a soft spot for her, and for this post, I’ve upped ‘Except for the Ghosts’ from her latest album In the Maybe World. It’s a pretty sparse/basic collection of songs, but it has its moments, and I chose this song because it reminds me of New Zealand. Admittedly I’ve never been to New Zealand, but there’s something about the atmosphere of this track which captures the mood of the soundtrack to the NZ film Rain (2001), of which she also featured on the soundtrack–see how my mind works?

And she does start her European tour next week (including one NL date in Haarlem).

09/11/06 : Tanned Tin festival - Castellon (ES)
10/11/06 : The Cube - Bristol (UK)
11/11/06 : The Luminaire - London (UK)
12/11/06 : Botanique – Brussel (B)
13/11/06 : STUK – Leuven (B)
14/11/06 : Patronaat – Haarlem (NL)
15/11/06 : Gleis 22 - Münster (D)
16/11/06 : Point Ephemere - Paris (F)
18/11/06 : Starclub - Dresden (D)
19/11/06 : Brotfabrik - Frankfurt (D)
20/11/06 : Schocken - Stuttgart (D)
21/11/06 : Palace - St. Gallen (CH)
22/11/06 : Usine Ptr - Geneva (CH)
23/11/06 : L’abordage - Evreux (F)
25/11/06 : L’Entrepot - Toulouse (F)
26/11/06 : Conservatori Superior de Musica - Mallorca (ES)
27/11/06 : La Pedrera - Barcelona (ES)
28/11/06 : Los Picos - Liérganes (Cantabria) (ES)
29/11/06 : Teatro Circo - Braga (PT)
30/11/06 : Teatro Circo - Braga (PT)
01/12/06 : Moby Dick - Madrid (ES)
02/12/06 : Santiago Alquimista - Lisboa (PT)

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