This
is the second entry from University
of Texas Press’s
“Matters” series that I’ve read. The first one I’d read, on the Ramones, was a
fantastic effort which filled in gaps and made connections. With that said, I
was already familiar with the band. It’s more difficult to come to these books
without knowing the artist in question: certainly the singer Lhasa De Sela fits
this bill. Prior to reading, I had never heard of her, much less listened to
her music.
Born to itinerant parents, Lhasa’s innate curiosity as a child mixed
with an artistic sensibility, allowing her to easily and seamlessly incorporate
skills into her repertoire. She moved around as she came into her teen years,
flirted briefly with hardcore—before splitting her head in the pit—and settled,
for a time, in Montreal, where she began singing in clubs. Her 1997 debut La
Llorona was comprised of songs full of heartbreak and wisdom that belied Lhasa’s youth, and garnered her attention in Canada. The
record never broke in the States because it was too hard to sell: Lhasa De Sela
was living in Canada
and singing her songs in Spanish. Despite this, she played some high profile
gigs, but felt unsatisfied and at wits end. So, she abandoned her singing
career and joined a circus. Seriously: her sisters were living in France, working
gigs as a traveling circus troupe, and she joined them. Wild, right?
After some years, she settled in Marseilles and began
working with musicians on what would be her next record, 2003’s The Living
Road. Her time off didn’t matter to critics and fans, who received her new
stuff warmly as she toured widely. During preparation for her third album, Lhasa was diagnosed with
breast cancer, to which she succumbed on January 1, 2010, shortly after her
final album was released.
Throughout, Fred Goodman interviews band
members, friends, and family, all of whom provide perspective on the travails
which shaped Lhasa
into the woman and artist she was. Writing an overview of such a bright and
short life is difficult, but throughout Goodman managed to illuminate Lhasa’s motives,
collaborations, and loves with the sort of rhythms and insights that felt more
like a novel than a music biography. Despite the fact that Lhasa De Sela was
completely new to me, I was engrossed though out my reading. Well worth the
time of any music fan out there. –Michael T. Fournier (University of Texas
Press)
DIY punk rock
