Magic neighbor

Lisa Germano

YG39

Lisa Germano’s new album is out now. It’s called “Magic neighbor." Lisa hid herself away for a long while, and I was beginning to despair, then suddenly this beautiful music started coming my way. I think this is one of her best albums yet. The depth of feeling in her words and singing is truly remarkable, and she never fails to tug at my heart. Somehow it’s both sad, wistful, and hopeful, all at once. It's very private, solitary music. In my view it's deeply engaging, and I often stop what I'm doing and drift off with it into its' world when I listen to it - time and troubles disappear for a short while. For some reason her music reminds me of early Disney songs – fuzzy and dreamy. Thinking about it today, I also thought of the great – and neglected – music that Tom Waits did with Crystal Gayle for the movie “One From The Heart.

- Michael Gira / YGR June 2009

Early Review of Magic neighbor, from BabySue.com:

http://www.babysue.com/2009-Oct-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor87455

Reflective strange modern lullabies for people with a heightened sense of perception. Lisa Germano's music has touched us more deeply than any other artist in the twenty-first century. Sometimes music serves the simple purpose of providing entertainment...but in other cases music can go farther than that...much, much farther. In our constant search for music that is unique and genuine, Germano wins the top prize. Her sound is so highly stylized that at this point in time she has no competitors. She operates in a unique genre of music that she herself has created. Magic Neighbor picks up where Germano's last album (In The Maybe World) left off. The melodies are heavenly...strangely hypnotic and trippy. The lyrics come straight from the heart (as always). And music itself is peculiar and strangely absorbing. And at the heart of the songs are those heavenly vocals...strikingly subtle yet amazing vocals that can evoke real emotion in the minds of listeners. Lisa is obviously not making music for money. If she were, she wouldn't be recording these types of albums. It would be a lot easier to just create the kind of simple mindless dribble that appeals to average anybodies. This eleven track album reveals more of what we already knew. This incredible lady's music just keeps getting better and better. Over time, more and more people will look back and realize that Lisa Germano was one of the most important recording artists of this decade. Until that time...her relatively small yet passionately devoted fans will follow her anywhere she chooses to go. Music so decidedly beautiful that it is difficult to describe with mere words. Initial favorites: "Marypan," "Kitty Train," "The Prince of Plati," "Magic Neighbor," "Snow," and "Cocoon." It just doesn't get any better than this...ever. Highly recommended.

Here's a few press quotes related to Lisa's previous releases:

"The exquisite singer/songwriter Lisa Germano often walks that miraculously fine line between breathtaking terror and intoxicating beauty. Chilling seductive and sorrowful but dressed up like a lovely lullaby to mask the tragic core. Lost and found and lost again along the way to oblivion. Magically, there are these glimmers of hope that shine though, and the melodies are so instantly beguiling that you’re swept off your feet, but no matter how scary it gets she’s holding your hand... " - Dream Magazine

“…delves into those bleak hours before the sun comes up, with raw emotion that's calculated to disturb. Stark, gorgeous songs weave a spell of deep-seated loneliness coupled with unceasing introspection; the album is a gut punch from the first hanging, ethereal note. “
– Salon.com

"...Listening to Lisa Germano’s music is a painfully intimate experience, as if a teenage girl were revealing her cutting scars in a cafeteria corner... she has always examined her emotional life with the raw confusion of an adolescent misfit.. beautifully haunted and composed, but almost too claustrophobic to bear... achingly vulnerable and bristling with passive-aggressive anger..."
- NY Times

“Lisa Germano pushes confessional intimacy to unsettling extremes …Unashamed candor often spells dreary self-indulgence. In Germano's insightful hands, it's fascinating and strangely exhilarating.”
- Blender