Lizzy Mercier Descloux

Lizzy Mercier Descloux was a pioneering force in avant-garde rock and in the worldbeat genre, chalking up significant achievements in the latter field well before it existed. Tremendously precocious in an artistic sense, Mercier Descloux dropped out of art studies in order to co-manage a punk boutique and record store in Paris with future ZE Records executive Michel Esteban. In 1975 Mercier Descloux first visited New York City and fell right in with the no wave scene, becoming close friends with Richard Hell and Patti Smith, both of whom contributed material to her first book, Desiderata. Mercier Descloux recorded her first ZE Records release in 1978 as Rosa Yemen, a low-key no wave-styled effort that reflects the influence of the no wave band Mars. Little about Rosa Yemen indicated the genius that would soon carry Mercier Descloux through an unparalleled string of four innovative masterpieces to come. In 1979, ZE released Press Color, Mercier Descloux's short debut LP featuring only eight songs. Self-taught as a guitarist, Mercier Descloux revealed herself as a supreme minimalist within the no wave genre, concentrating on spindly, single-note lines combined with wrong-note harmonies and funky rhythms. Mercier Descloux's singing voice, while limited in terms of carrying a tune, was devoted to rhythmic chattering, humming, and chanting lyrics that serve to cheer the music on and to build a quirky sense of excitement. Despite its excellence, Press Color was hardly even distributed in the United States, and practically all copies of the domestic ZE/Buddah LP appear to have a "cut corner." American consumers who wanted the album couldn't even find it, unfortunately establishing a precedent that continued to dog Mercier Descloux throughout her career. Undaunted by the...