Liz Phair
Encyclopedia
Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw
, a member of the band Come
. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there. After being unsuccessful as an artist in San Francisco and moving back to Chicago
, Phair began writing songs and recording homemade tapes under the name Girly Sound, and supported herself by selling her charcoal
drawings on the streets of Wicker Park
. She became part of the alternative music scene in Chicago and became friends with Material Issue
and Urge Overkill
, two of Chicago's upstart bands to go national in the early 1990s, as well as Brad Wood
and John Henderson, head of Feel Good All Over, an independent label in Chicago. (A later attempt at re-recording the Girly Sound tapes failed after arguments between Henderson and Phair.)
, in 1992 and asked him if he would put out her record. Coincidentally, Cosloy had just read a review of Girly Sound in Chemical Imbalance that very day and told Phair to send him a tape. Phair sent him a tape of six Girly Sound songs. Cosloy recalls: "The songs were amazing. It was a fairly primitive recording, especially compared to the resulting album. The songs were really smart, really funny, and really harrowing, sometimes all at the same time. . . . I liked it a lot and played it for everybody else. We usually don't sign people we haven't met, or heard other records by, or seen as performers. But I had a hunch, and I called her back and said O.K."
Cosloy offered a $3,000 advance, and Phair began working on a single, which turned into the eighteen songs of Exile in Guyville
.
Exile in Guyville was produced by Phair and Brad Wood, and released in 1993. The album received uniformly excellent reviews. The album received significant critical acclaim for its very blunt, honest lyrics and for the music itself, a hybrid of indie rock
and pop
. The album established Phair's penchant for exploring sexually explicit lyrics such as in the song "Flower
": "I want to be your blow job
queen/...I'll fuck you and your minions too." By contrast, her trademark low, vibrato
-less monotone voice, sometimes compared to indie folk
singer Quinn Marston
, gave many of her songs a slightly detached, almost deadpan character. Most notable among her detractors, producer Steve Albini
was involved in a public flamewar printed in Chicago's free art and culture weekly, the Chicago Reader. Albini wrote an angry response to an article by Billy Wyman (Hitsville), entitled "Not From the Underground: 1993 in Review", stating his belief that Phair and several other artists had shown an "explicit rejection of much of the insularity that increasingly characterizes underground music". Albini identified the aforementioned artists as "pandering sluts" and said Phair was the modern Rickie Lee Jones
, "more talked about than heard, a persona completely unrooted in substance, and a fucking chore to listen to". Humanities professor Camille Paglia
chimed in on Phair's Guyville era, stating, "I like Liz Phair, but there were these stupid women reviewers who said she's surpassing the [Rolling] Stones. Dream on."
The release of Phair's second album received substantial media attention and an advertising blitz. Whip-Smart
debuted at #27 in 1994 and "Supernova", the first single, became a Top Ten modern rock hit, and the video was frequently featured on MTV
. Phair also landed the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine with the headline "A Rock Star is Born." Nonetheless, the album received mixed reviews, and although it was certified Gold (shipments of at least 500,000 units), it ultimately did not sell as well as expected, as it was hoped the album would introduce Phair to a wider, more mainstream audience. Following Whip-Smart, Phair released Juvenilia, a collection of some early Girly Sound tracks and several B-sides, including her cover of the 1980s song by The Vapors
, "Turning Japanese
".
In 1994, Phair made several live television and radio appearances in an effort to promote Exile in Guyville
and Whip-Smart
, including David Letterman
performing "Never Said" and "Supernova" and Jay Leno
performing an acoustic version of "Whip-Smart". She even performed "Alice Springs" live on 'Good Morning America
.
She also appeared on the MTV alternative rock show 120 Minutes
performing "Never Said", "6'1", "Cinco de Mayo" and "Supernova" live at various times during 1994 and early 1995.
In 1995, Phair married Jim Staskauskas, a film editor who had worked on her videos. They had one child, James Nicholas Staskauskas, on December 21, 1996. The couple divorce
d in 2001. Phair recorded a song called "Down" in response to her divorce. A quasi-stop-motion animation video using photographs was created for it by filmmaker Rodney Ascher (he shot fifty rolls of still photographs in L.A.'s Chinatown), and posted on her official website LizPhair.com. The song was never officially released on any of her albums.
Phair's third album, entitled Whitechocolatespaceegg
, was finally released in 1998 after some delays, which included a disagreement about content; at one point, the label rejected the album as submitted, and asked Phair to write a few additional radio-friendly songs for the set. The album displayed a more mature Phair, and reflected some of the ways marriage and motherhood affected her. The single "Polyester Bride" received some airplay, but the album was no more successful than her previous records. To promote the record Phair joined Lilith Fair
. Phair performed on the main stage along with acts like Sarah McLachlan
, Emmylou Harris
, Sheryl Crow
and Missy Elliott
. She also opened for Alanis Morissette
on her 1999 Junkie Tour.
She portrayed the role of Brynn Allen, opposite her good friend Robin Tunney
, in the film Cherish
.
was released on her new label, Capitol Records
. Phair had not released an album in several years; she had been working on her record, as well as making guest appearances on other tracks (she lent backing vocals to the Sheryl Crow
hit "Soak Up the Sun
").
Initially, Phair worked on several album tracks with songwriter Michael Penn
as the producer. When she submitted the finished Penn-produced album to Capitol, the label gave it a lukewarm reception and was unwilling to release it as submitted. Having already exhausted her recording budget, label president Andy Slater offered Phair more money to record only if Phair agreed to work with the production team known as The Matrix
(best known as songwriters for Britney Spears
and Avril Lavigne
) to come up with some singles for the album. Phair's collaboration with the Matrix resulted in only four songs, but much of the media attention focused solely on the Matrix-produced tracks, which were a departure from her earlier work. The album received many negative reviews, especially from the independent music press, who accused Phair of "selling out
" by making the record very pop-oriented.
Liz Phair provoked a strong backlash from critics and disappointed fans of her earlier work. Many decried her for "selling out", and she became a "piñata for critics." The New York Times
' Meghan O'Rourke
's review, titled "Liz Phair's Exile in Avril
-ville", said that Phair "gushes like a teenager" and had "committed an embarrassing form of career suicide."
The debut single "Why Can't I?
", co-written by The Matrix, did reach the Top 40 charts in North America, and its follow-up, "Extraordinary," was also somewhat successful: it appeared on the soundtrack to the 2004 movie Raising Helen
and was the promotional theme for the 2004 Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament; in March 2007, the song began appearing in Gatorade
television advertisements. Phair continued to flirt with sexually explicit themes, however, as was most evident in a track called "H.W.C.", standing for "Hot White Cum". Phair also offered backing vocals on Jimmy Eat World
's "Work
" track on their Futures
album.
Somebody's Miracle
, Phair's fifth album (and final album with Capitol Records), was released on October 4, 2005. The album returned to a more traditional rock sound, mixing the mood of Phair's earlier work with a more mellow sound. The album received mixed reviews and was not a chart success.
in early 2008 and re-released Exile in Guyville
on June 24, 2008. Exile in Guyville was reissued on CD, vinyl, and in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska," "Say You," and an untitled instrumental. Phair has also completed a new documentary DVD, "Guyville Redux." This DVD features an introduction by Dave Matthews, founder/co-owner of ATO Records, and describes the making of the album, in the male-dominated, Chicago independent music scene of the early 1990s (which included Urge Overkill
, Material Issue
, and Smashing Pumpkins), associated with the Wicker Park
neighborhood where many of these bands often performed.
"Exile in Guyville is miles more complex than the porn-star manifesto it was often considered," said Alan Light
(former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe, and Tracks) in an essay written for the reissue. "Phair spoke for the uncertainties facing a new generation of women, struggling to find a balance between sexual confidence and romance, between independence and isolation. . . . Exile in Guyville sat at the center of a culture in transition."
In May 2009, Phair released a new song "Faith and Tenderness," sold exclusively at Banana Republic.
In recent years Phair has broadened her career by serving as a composer for television dramas. Beginning with the theme song for NBC
's The Weber Show she has also worked on the CBS show Swingtown
, the CW reboot of 90210
, for which she won the 2009 ASCAP award for Top Television Composer, and most recently has been hired on as composer for the USA Network show In Plain Sight
.
. It contains 11 songs, many of which are experimental or at least unorthodox, compared to most of her earlier released songs. The song "Bollywood" was available to stream from the site for a limited time, before Phair took it down. The album download is available for $5.99, in three different electronic forms, with cover art.
As of July 10, 2010, there's a note to her fans posted on her official website of which says the following:
Phair also had an interview with the Wall Street Journal where she explained the falling out with her record label, ATO, after a change in management. "The people who were still there didn’t like, or didn’t know what to do with, the music I was making, so we just stalled out and I asked to leave."
Phair went on tour to promote the album, playing many songs from Guyville and Whip-Smart, along with songs from all throughout her repertoire. The Funstyle Tour ran from October '10 to March '11; the last show being at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
Phair has also been reviewing books, including Keith Richards
' Life. Currently, Phair is in the process of writing a new album and novel, as well as continuing TV scoring.
Chris Brokaw
Chris Brokaw is an American musician, mostly known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine.While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figures on the American indie rock scene of the 1990s, among them Stephen Immerwahr, who formed Codeine with Brokaw, as well as...
, a member of the band Come
Come (US band)
Come was an American alternative rock band from 1990-2001. Come was formed in Boston by Thalia Zedek , Chris Brokaw , Arthur Johnson , and Sean O'Brien .-Band history:...
. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there. After being unsuccessful as an artist in San Francisco and moving back to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Phair began writing songs and recording homemade tapes under the name Girly Sound, and supported herself by selling her charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
drawings on the streets of Wicker Park
Wicker Park, Chicago
Wicker Park is a Chicago neighborhood northwest of the Loop, south of Bucktown and west of Pulaski Park within West Town. Charles and Joel Wicker purchased of land along Milwaukee Avenue in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a park...
. She became part of the alternative music scene in Chicago and became friends with Material Issue
Material Issue
Material Issue was a 1980-1990s power pop trio from Chicago. The band's trademark was pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak, where a number of song titles using girls' first names.-History:...
and Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nash Kato , and Eddie "King" Roeser . Their cover of Neil Diamond's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction, and became a hit in 1994...
, two of Chicago's upstart bands to go national in the early 1990s, as well as Brad Wood
Brad Wood
Brad Wood is a record producer from Rockford, Illinois. He served as a drummer for the band Shrimp Boat. Brad records, mixes and produces records and is based in Los Angeles, California. He began his career in earnest in 1988 with the construction of Idful Music Corporation- a recording studio in...
and John Henderson, head of Feel Good All Over, an independent label in Chicago. (A later attempt at re-recording the Girly Sound tapes failed after arguments between Henderson and Phair.)
1992–2003: Exile in Guyville, Whip-Smart & Whitechocolatespaceegg
After asking Wood who the "coolest" indie label was, Phair called up Gerard Cosloy, co-president of Matador RecordsMatador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
, in 1992 and asked him if he would put out her record. Coincidentally, Cosloy had just read a review of Girly Sound in Chemical Imbalance that very day and told Phair to send him a tape. Phair sent him a tape of six Girly Sound songs. Cosloy recalls: "The songs were amazing. It was a fairly primitive recording, especially compared to the resulting album. The songs were really smart, really funny, and really harrowing, sometimes all at the same time. . . . I liked it a lot and played it for everybody else. We usually don't sign people we haven't met, or heard other records by, or seen as performers. But I had a hunch, and I called her back and said O.K."
Cosloy offered a $3,000 advance, and Phair began working on a single, which turned into the eighteen songs of Exile in Guyville
Exile in Guyville
The album, which was out of print, was again available on CD, vinyl and, for the first time, in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska", "Say You", and an untitled instrumental with Phair on guitar...
.
Exile in Guyville was produced by Phair and Brad Wood, and released in 1993. The album received uniformly excellent reviews. The album received significant critical acclaim for its very blunt, honest lyrics and for the music itself, a hybrid of indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The album established Phair's penchant for exploring sexually explicit lyrics such as in the song "Flower
Flower (Liz Phair song)
"Flower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair from her 1993 debut album Exile in Guyville. The song first appeared on one of her Girly Sound tapes. The song was later covered by Pansy Division on their 1995 album Pile Up.- Music :...
": "I want to be your blow job
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
queen/...I'll fuck you and your minions too." By contrast, her trademark low, vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
-less monotone voice, sometimes compared to indie folk
Indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...
singer Quinn Marston
Quinn Marston
Quinn Marston is an American indie folk singer-songwriter based in New York City. Her music has been featured on TV shows such as One Tree Hill, Ghost Whisperer, and The Gates, as well as being aired on radio stations such as 101.5 FM...
, gave many of her songs a slightly detached, almost deadpan character. Most notable among her detractors, producer Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
was involved in a public flamewar printed in Chicago's free art and culture weekly, the Chicago Reader. Albini wrote an angry response to an article by Billy Wyman (Hitsville), entitled "Not From the Underground: 1993 in Review", stating his belief that Phair and several other artists had shown an "explicit rejection of much of the insularity that increasingly characterizes underground music". Albini identified the aforementioned artists as "pandering sluts" and said Phair was the modern Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards.-Childhood:...
, "more talked about than heard, a persona completely unrooted in substance, and a fucking chore to listen to". Humanities professor Camille Paglia
Camille Paglia
Camille Anna Paglia , is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Paglia, a self-described dissident feminist, has been a Professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1984...
chimed in on Phair's Guyville era, stating, "I like Liz Phair, but there were these stupid women reviewers who said she's surpassing the [Rolling] Stones. Dream on."
The release of Phair's second album received substantial media attention and an advertising blitz. Whip-Smart
Whip-Smart
Critical reception was generally favorable. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic states that "if there are flaws in this generally first-rate follow-up, they mostly arise in comparison with Guyville, a record of such unexpected impact that most anything Phair could have done may have been found lacking"...
debuted at #27 in 1994 and "Supernova", the first single, became a Top Ten modern rock hit, and the video was frequently featured on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Phair also landed the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine with the headline "A Rock Star is Born." Nonetheless, the album received mixed reviews, and although it was certified Gold (shipments of at least 500,000 units), it ultimately did not sell as well as expected, as it was hoped the album would introduce Phair to a wider, more mainstream audience. Following Whip-Smart, Phair released Juvenilia, a collection of some early Girly Sound tracks and several B-sides, including her cover of the 1980s song by The Vapors
The Vapors
The Vapors were a New Wave and power pop band from England, that existed between 1979 and 1981. They had a hit with the song "Turning Japanese" in 1980, which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart, and #36 in the U.S...
, "Turning Japanese
Turning Japanese
"Turning Japanese" is a song released by the English band The Vapors from their album New Clear Days, and the song for which they are known best. The song's lyrics consist mainly of the singer talking about pictures of his love...
".
In 1994, Phair made several live television and radio appearances in an effort to promote Exile in Guyville
Exile in Guyville
The album, which was out of print, was again available on CD, vinyl and, for the first time, in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska", "Say You", and an untitled instrumental with Phair on guitar...
and Whip-Smart
Whip-Smart
Critical reception was generally favorable. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic states that "if there are flaws in this generally first-rate follow-up, they mostly arise in comparison with Guyville, a record of such unexpected impact that most anything Phair could have done may have been found lacking"...
, including David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
performing "Never Said" and "Supernova" and Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
performing an acoustic version of "Whip-Smart". She even performed "Alice Springs" live on 'Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
.
She also appeared on the MTV alternative rock show 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
performing "Never Said", "6'1", "Cinco de Mayo" and "Supernova" live at various times during 1994 and early 1995.
In 1995, Phair married Jim Staskauskas, a film editor who had worked on her videos. They had one child, James Nicholas Staskauskas, on December 21, 1996. The couple divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 2001. Phair recorded a song called "Down" in response to her divorce. A quasi-stop-motion animation video using photographs was created for it by filmmaker Rodney Ascher (he shot fifty rolls of still photographs in L.A.'s Chinatown), and posted on her official website LizPhair.com. The song was never officially released on any of her albums.
Phair's third album, entitled Whitechocolatespaceegg
Whitechocolatespaceegg
Whitechocolatespaceegg is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released in 1998...
, was finally released in 1998 after some delays, which included a disagreement about content; at one point, the label rejected the album as submitted, and asked Phair to write a few additional radio-friendly songs for the set. The album displayed a more mature Phair, and reflected some of the ways marriage and motherhood affected her. The single "Polyester Bride" received some airplay, but the album was no more successful than her previous records. To promote the record Phair joined Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 to 1999, and was revived in the summer of 2010. It...
. Phair performed on the main stage along with acts like Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
and Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
. She also opened for Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
on her 1999 Junkie Tour.
She portrayed the role of Brynn Allen, opposite her good friend Robin Tunney
Robin Tunney
Robin Jessica Tunney is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the television series Prison Break and The Mentalist.-Early life:...
, in the film Cherish
Cherish (film)
Cherish is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Finn Taylor. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 14, 2002 and had a limited theatrical release June 7 of that same year...
.
2003–2008: Liz Phair & Somebody's Miracle
In 2003, her self-titled fourth albumLiz Phair (album)
Liz Phair is the eponymous fourth album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released June 24, 2003 on Capitol Records. "Why Can't I?" and "Extraordinary" were released as a singles...
was released on her new label, Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. Phair had not released an album in several years; she had been working on her record, as well as making guest appearances on other tracks (she lent backing vocals to the Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
hit "Soak Up the Sun
Soak Up the Sun
"Soak Up the Sun" was the first single from Sheryl Crow's 2002 album C'mon C'mon. The song, which features backing vocals by Liz Phair, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and hit #5 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and #17 on the Hot 100 chart...
").
Initially, Phair worked on several album tracks with songwriter Michael Penn
Michael Penn
Michael Penn is an American singer, songwriter and composer. He is the eldest son of actor/director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of actors Sean Penn and the late Chris Penn.-Career:...
as the producer. When she submitted the finished Penn-produced album to Capitol, the label gave it a lukewarm reception and was unwilling to release it as submitted. Having already exhausted her recording budget, label president Andy Slater offered Phair more money to record only if Phair agreed to work with the production team known as The Matrix
The Matrix (music producer)
The Matrix is an American pop music writing and production team, consisting of Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock.-Background:Before her involvement in The Matrix, Lauren Christy had moderate success as a singer-songwriter, releasing two albums under Mercury Records in the mid-1990s,...
(best known as songwriters for Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
and Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
) to come up with some singles for the album. Phair's collaboration with the Matrix resulted in only four songs, but much of the media attention focused solely on the Matrix-produced tracks, which were a departure from her earlier work. The album received many negative reviews, especially from the independent music press, who accused Phair of "selling out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
" by making the record very pop-oriented.
Liz Phair provoked a strong backlash from critics and disappointed fans of her earlier work. Many decried her for "selling out", and she became a "piñata for critics." The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Meghan O'Rourke
Meghan O'Rourke is an American poet, critic, and a contributing writer for the online magazine Slate. She is a graduate of Yale. O'Rourke was formerly a fiction editor at The New Yorker and from 2005-2010 was poetry co-editor at The Paris Review...
's review, titled "Liz Phair's Exile in Avril
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
-ville", said that Phair "gushes like a teenager" and had "committed an embarrassing form of career suicide."
The debut single "Why Can't I?
Why Can't I?
"Why Can't I?" is the first single off Liz Phair's 2003 self-titled album, Liz Phair. It reached number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, Phair's highest-charting single to date.The B-sides are "Jeremy Engle" and "Fine Again"....
", co-written by The Matrix, did reach the Top 40 charts in North America, and its follow-up, "Extraordinary," was also somewhat successful: it appeared on the soundtrack to the 2004 movie Raising Helen
Raising Helen
Raising Helen is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, Spencer and his sister Abigail Breslin and Helen Mirren...
and was the promotional theme for the 2004 Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament; in March 2007, the song began appearing in Gatorade
Gatorade
Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...
television advertisements. Phair continued to flirt with sexually explicit themes, however, as was most evident in a track called "H.W.C.", standing for "Hot White Cum". Phair also offered backing vocals on Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World
Jimmy Eat World is an American alternative rock band from Mesa, Arizona, that formed in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jim Adkins, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind....
's "Work
Work (Jimmy Eat World song)
"Work" is a song by Jimmy Eat World from their 2004 album, Futures. It was the second single released from that album. The song was written by Jim Adkins and features backing vocals by Liz Phair....
" track on their Futures
Futures (album)
Futures is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock/emo band Jimmy Eat World, released on October 19, 2004. Futures was led by the successful single "Pain", followed by "Work" and "Futures"...
album.
Somebody's Miracle
Somebody's Miracle
Somebody's Miracle is the fifth album by Liz Phair, released on October 4, 2005 on Capitol Records. From September 2004 through April 2005, she composed fourteen tracks spanning from lo-fi guitar-driven to high-gloss produced tracks...
, Phair's fifth album (and final album with Capitol Records), was released on October 4, 2005. The album returned to a more traditional rock sound, mixing the mood of Phair's earlier work with a more mellow sound. The album received mixed reviews and was not a chart success.
2008–2010: Exile in Guyville reissue & career as TV composer
Phair signed with ATO RecordsATO Records
According to Our Records was founded in early 2000 by Dave Matthews , Coran Capshaw, Chris Tetzeli, and Michael McDonald as a division of RCA Records...
in early 2008 and re-released Exile in Guyville
Exile in Guyville
The album, which was out of print, was again available on CD, vinyl and, for the first time, in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska", "Say You", and an untitled instrumental with Phair on guitar...
on June 24, 2008. Exile in Guyville was reissued on CD, vinyl, and in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska," "Say You," and an untitled instrumental. Phair has also completed a new documentary DVD, "Guyville Redux." This DVD features an introduction by Dave Matthews, founder/co-owner of ATO Records, and describes the making of the album, in the male-dominated, Chicago independent music scene of the early 1990s (which included Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nash Kato , and Eddie "King" Roeser . Their cover of Neil Diamond's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction, and became a hit in 1994...
, Material Issue
Material Issue
Material Issue was a 1980-1990s power pop trio from Chicago. The band's trademark was pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak, where a number of song titles using girls' first names.-History:...
, and Smashing Pumpkins), associated with the Wicker Park
Wicker Park, Chicago
Wicker Park is a Chicago neighborhood northwest of the Loop, south of Bucktown and west of Pulaski Park within West Town. Charles and Joel Wicker purchased of land along Milwaukee Avenue in 1870 and laid out a subdivision with a mix of lot sizes surrounding a park...
neighborhood where many of these bands often performed.
"Exile in Guyville is miles more complex than the porn-star manifesto it was often considered," said Alan Light
Alan Light (journalist)
Alan Light is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for Rolling Stone and the editor-in-chief for both VIBE and Spin....
(former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe, and Tracks) in an essay written for the reissue. "Phair spoke for the uncertainties facing a new generation of women, struggling to find a balance between sexual confidence and romance, between independence and isolation. . . . Exile in Guyville sat at the center of a culture in transition."
In May 2009, Phair released a new song "Faith and Tenderness," sold exclusively at Banana Republic.
In recent years Phair has broadened her career by serving as a composer for television dramas. Beginning with the theme song for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Weber Show she has also worked on the CBS show Swingtown
Swingtown
Swingtown was an American television series created by Mike Kelley as a summer replacement series for CBS. The show was a period and relationship drama about the impact of sexual and social liberation in 1970s American suburban households, with story arcs involving open marriages and key...
, the CW reboot of 90210
90210 (TV series)
90210 is an American teen drama television series developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS...
, for which she won the 2009 ASCAP award for Top Television Composer, and most recently has been hired on as composer for the USA Network show In Plain Sight
In Plain Sight
In Plain Sight is an American dramatic television series on USA Network. The series revolves around Mary Shannon , a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico office of the Federal Witness Security Program , more commonly known as the Federal Witness Protection Program...
.
2010–Present: Funstyle
Phair had said in an interview that she is writing a book and working on a new album. On July 3, 2010, her official website announced a surprise link to download her new album FunstyleFunstyle
Funstyle is the sixth album by Liz Phair, independently released on her official website on July 3, 2010 by Phair. A CD version was released on October 19, 2010 on Rocket Science Records. It includes a bonus disc containing ten songs from her famed Girly Sound tapes.Funstyle peaked at #181 on the...
. It contains 11 songs, many of which are experimental or at least unorthodox, compared to most of her earlier released songs. The song "Bollywood" was available to stream from the site for a limited time, before Phair took it down. The album download is available for $5.99, in three different electronic forms, with cover art.
As of July 10, 2010, there's a note to her fans posted on her official website of which says the following:
How To Like It.
You were never supposed to hear these songs. These songs lost me my management, my record deal and a lot of nights of sleep.
Yes, I rapped one of them. Im as surprised as you are. But here is the thing you need to know about these songs and the ones coming next: These are all me. Love them, or hate them, but dont mistake them for anything other than an entirely personal, un-tethered-from-the-machine, free for all view of the world, refracted through my own crazy lens.
This is my journey. Ill keep sending you postcards.
-Liz
Phair also had an interview with the Wall Street Journal where she explained the falling out with her record label, ATO, after a change in management. "The people who were still there didn’t like, or didn’t know what to do with, the music I was making, so we just stalled out and I asked to leave."
Phair went on tour to promote the album, playing many songs from Guyville and Whip-Smart, along with songs from all throughout her repertoire. The Funstyle Tour ran from October '10 to March '11; the last show being at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
Phair has also been reviewing books, including Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
' Life. Currently, Phair is in the process of writing a new album and novel, as well as continuing TV scoring.
Discography
- Exile in GuyvilleExile in GuyvilleThe album, which was out of print, was again available on CD, vinyl and, for the first time, in digital format. The special reissue package includes three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: "Ant in Alaska", "Say You", and an untitled instrumental with Phair on guitar...
(1993) - Whip-SmartWhip-SmartCritical reception was generally favorable. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic states that "if there are flaws in this generally first-rate follow-up, they mostly arise in comparison with Guyville, a record of such unexpected impact that most anything Phair could have done may have been found lacking"...
(1994) - Juvenilia (1995)
- WhitechocolatespaceeggWhitechocolatespaceeggWhitechocolatespaceegg is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released in 1998...
(1998) - Liz PhairLiz Phair (album)Liz Phair is the eponymous fourth album by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair, released June 24, 2003 on Capitol Records. "Why Can't I?" and "Extraordinary" were released as a singles...
(2003) - Somebody's MiracleSomebody's MiracleSomebody's Miracle is the fifth album by Liz Phair, released on October 4, 2005 on Capitol Records. From September 2004 through April 2005, she composed fourteen tracks spanning from lo-fi guitar-driven to high-gloss produced tracks...
(2005) - FunstyleFunstyleFunstyle is the sixth album by Liz Phair, independently released on her official website on July 3, 2010 by Phair. A CD version was released on October 19, 2010 on Rocket Science Records. It includes a bonus disc containing ten songs from her famed Girly Sound tapes.Funstyle peaked at #181 on the...
(2010)
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Rock Vocal Performance | "Supernova" | Nomination |
| 1996 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Rock Vocal Performance | "Don't Have Time" | Nomination |
| 2009 | ASCAP Awards | Top Television Composer | "90210 90210 (TV series) 90210 is an American teen drama television series developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS... " |
Won |