OP8
Country of origin:
U.S. and England
Type of music generally:
Alternative indie pop
Status:
Only release, slush (1997)
See also:
The Official Giant Sand siteThe Ectophiles' Guide entry for Lisa Germano
Comparisons:
Rheostatics, Lisa Germano's solo work, Nick Cave
Covers/own material:
Own and covers
General comments:
OP8 is a collaboration between the band Giant Sand and Lisa Germano.
Recommended first album:
slush only album to date
Recordings:
slush (1997)
slush
Release info:
1997—Thirsty Ear Recordings—thi 57030.2
Availability:
Wide on release in the U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of Lisa Germano or Giant Sand
Group members:
John Convertino
Joey Burns
Howe Gelb
Guest artists:
Lisa Germano
Produced by:
OP8 and Lisa Germano
Comments:
I just can't say enough good things about it. Probably the closest comparison I can think of is the Rheostatics.... It's got a wonderful eerie, floating-in-space quality to it...and you can't go too far wrong with the lines "I guess the roadie broke her heart." Lisa takes herself a bit less seriously too.
The OP8 cd is hard to describe because it is so diverse, multifaceted. I can hear a very wide range of influences on it...the whole indie rock thing is very much there (Howe Gelb's got kind of a Pavement-y singing style). Some of the songs sound a lot like Lisa's solo stuff, with the violin and her mournful (not to say whiny) lyrics and voice.... However, it's all twisted somehow...you're just thinking she's going to drown in her sorrows, when you realize she's mocking herself, and her tendency to take it all soo seriously.
The voices blend well (oh, I don't know if 'blend' is the word I mean...they complement each other well). And a lot of the songs have a definite lounge flavour...one instrumental number could practically be Esquivel. And the sound has such a 'spacious' quality to it (even on my pathetic stereo—it's one of those CDs that makes me want a better sound system. This CD hasn't travelled too far from my CD player since I bought it. (swiebe@callisto.uwinnipeg.ca)Splendid. (kamesan@geocities.com)
I'd *definitely* recommend it if you're a fan of Lisa Germano. I didn't buy it right when it came out, but was in a CD store one day and felt the need to purchase something, so I grabbed it. Surely one of my better impulse buying CD's. About half of the album features Lisa, the songs being more similar to excerpts from a Love Circus than her earlier albums. And she does a couple duets with the male singer of Op8. The singer of Op8 and their music remind me a lot of Nick Cave—slow and kind of brooding (whatever that means), but quite good. (bye@humnet.ucla.edu)
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