Album Notes Lisa Mezzacappa & Beth Lisick The Electronic Lover
The Electronic Lover, created by San Francisco Bay Area composer Lisa Mezzacappa and New York writer Beth Lisick, is a nine-episode serial audio opera set in 1980s chatrooms. The comedic drama features 14 vocalists, a synth-driven power trio, and special guests Del Sol Quartet and the Premier Ensemble of the San Francisco Girls Chorus
The story is loosely based on a 1985 article published in Ms. Magazine that described the thrilling, sordid dramas of an early online community created by a group of women techies who found a way to connect via the nascent chatroom community. Traversing many genres in the service of the storytelling, the music combines chamber art song with jazz improvisation, rock energy and experimental soundscapes. Operatic musical conventions converse with 1980s-era music technologies and pop culture references.
The approximately 4-hour work, originally released as a free podcast series, will be released as nine separate catalog numbers on the lnnova imprint on Friday, May 31, and will be available for streaming and download via Bandcamp, Apple Music, and all streaming services.
Berkeley, CA-based composer, improviser, bassist and producer Lisa Mezzacappa has been an active part of California’s vibrant music community for more than 20 years. Recent projects include Cosmicomics, a suite for electroacoustic jazz sextet based on Italo’s Calvino’s stories about the origins of the cosmos; Organelle, a chamber work for improvisers grounded in scientific processes on micro and
cosmic scales; Glorious Ravage, an evening-length song cycle for large ensemble and films drawn from the writings of Victorian lady adventurers; and Touch Bass, a collaboration with choreographer Risa Jaroslow for three dancers and three bassists. She is a recipient of the Pauline Oliveros New Genres Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), and has been commissioned by the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Del Sol Quartet.
Episode List
1. Episode 1: The Pilot (37’)
2. Episode 2: So Long, QuietLady (26’)
3 Episode 3: T-Rex Steps Out (20’)
4. Episode 4: MizStacks Cuts Loose (21’)
5. Episode 5: Talkin’Lady Drops a Bomb (22’)
6. Episode 6: Cyberwedding (20’)
7. Episode 7: The Silent Circle (27’)
8 Episode 8: Compusex Compumurder Compuwhat! (40’)
9. Episode 9: Epilogue (2000) (33’)
Singers: Karina Denike, Michelle Amador, Katy Stephan, Melody Jeune Ferris, Nikola Printz, Will Adams, David James, Sidney Chen, Lola Miller, Aurora Josephson, Danishta Rivero, David Katz, Shawnette Sulker, and Jesse Olsen Bay
Ensemble: Steve Blum, synth & keyboards; Lisa Mezzacappa, bass; Jordan Glenn, drum set & percussion
US Street Date: May 31, 2024
Catalog Numbers: Episode 1-9: INN 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379
Beth Lisick is a writer, actor and storytelling producer from the San Francisco Bay Area, currently living in New York. As an author, she has published six books including the New York Times best-selling comic memoir Everybody Into The Pool. Beth’s acting credits include a role on the Emmy-winning Amazon series Transparent and lead roles in numerous independent films
screened at Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca and the San Francisco International Film Festival. She does voiceover work for museums, including the Smithsonian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and SFMOMA.
Pre-order link coming soon at: https://bit.ly/theelectroniclover
PR: Steven Swartz – steven@dotdotdotmusic.net & Kacey Fassett – kacey@dotdotdotmusic.net, DOTDOTDOTMUSIC
