Often appearing on small labels with distribution problems, Lisa Germano hasn’t had as much luck as a solo artist as she has as a first-call fiddling side person. Her forthcoming release No Elephants makes the case for seeking her out again.
Here’s a sample of this terrific new project, an exclusive stream of “… And So On” courtesy of Badman Recording Co., which is due on February 12, 2013.
Germano, if you haven’t discovered her yet, made important contributions to hit albums like 1987’s The Lonesome Jubilee and 1989’s Big Daddy, both by John Mellencamp; 1990’s Nomads Indians Saints by the Indigo Girls and The Globe Sessions by Sheryl Crow, while working with Iggy Pop, Crowded House’s Neil Finn, David Bowie and Jewel along the way.
[SOMETHING ELSE! REWIND: Lisa Germano’s dimly lit ‘Happiness’ didn’t sound anything like her days with John Mellencamp. Instead, it was enigmatic, tough and then tender, a wonder of small epiphanies.]
She started a tandem solo career with 1991’s self-released On the Way Down From the Moon Palace, and the lo-fi effort helped Germano to a brief stay with Capitol Records — which released the superlative Happiness in 1993. The follow up, 1994’s Geek the Girl, was named one of the top albums of the decade by Spin.
Germano added a song to the 1995 compilation Red Hot + Bothered, and produced the full-length Excerpts from a Love Circus in 1996, having switched to the Warner-distributed 4AD. By the time Germano released the Tchad Blake-helmed Slide, however, 4AD had gone independent again. Germano toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in support of their project Adore, and subsequently worked with Bowie and Finn.
Germano wouldn’t return in earnest to her solo career until 2002, but since she’s been on a creative tear. Lullaby for Liquid Pig, featuring Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Modest Mouse), Finn and Wendy Melvoin, followed — though that album’s label home also subsequently shuttered. Germano then switched to Young God Records, run by Michael Gira (Swans), and issued In the Maybe World and Magic World, her two most recent efforts.
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