Tag Archives: Liz Phair

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New Shins-Danger Mouse video: Broken Bells

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Video: Broken Bells – “The High Road”

James Mercer dumps his band to hang with Danger Mouse, and they end up making music that sounds exactly like what you’d expect. It sounds good, and Shins fans will certainly not be shocked or disappointed. Despite their claims to the contrary it sounds like a Shins album produced by Danger Mouse.

Anybody else notice that the chorus of this song has the same melody as the coda of a Liz Phair song whose title I’m spacing out on right now? Just me?

From the Broken Bells album, due March 9 on Sony, which seems a little strange since Danger Mouse’s “ongoing dispute with EMI” prevented the release of his collaboration with Sparklehorse‘s Mark Linkous, Dark Night of the Soul, to which Mercer contributed vocals. I guess they resolved their contractual issues.

Broken Bells: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki

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Whatever happened to the Chicago Alternative Class of 1993?

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Chicago Sun-Times pop music critic Jim DeRogatis takes a look back to the promising music scene in Chicago in the mid-90s: The curse of alternative nostalgia: What the heck happened to the Class of ’93? For those of you too young to remember or too otherwise occupied to give a shit at the time, the Class of ’93 included Urge Overkill, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, and Smashing Pumpkins. DeRo checks back after a decade and a half to see where they are now:

“Alternative to what?” we may once again ask, and finally the answer is obvious: “Absolutely nothing.” Like so many rock bands before them, 15 years down the road, the most promising members of the Class of ’93 are treading dangerously close to that sad but true scene in “Spinal Tap” where the aging metal legends find themselves playing at the state fair.

Of course, this is the same conclusion that famously grouchy Steve Albini came to, well, fifteen years ago in his fantastic letter-to-the-editor of the Chicago Reader in January 1994, Three Pandering Sluts and Their Music Press Stooge:

In your rush to pat these three pandering sluts on the heinie, you miss what has been obvious to the “bullshit” crowd all along: These are not “alternative” artists any more than their historical precursors. They are by, of and for the mainstream. Liz Phair is Rickie Lee Jones (more talked about than heard, a persona completely unrooted in substance, and a fucking chore to listen to), Smashing Pumpkins are REO Speedwagon (stylistically appropriate for the current college party scene, but ultimately insignificant) and Urge Overkill are Oingo Boingo (Weiners in suits playing frat party rock, trying to tap a goofy trend that doesn’t even exist). You only think they are noteworthy now because some paid publicist has told you they are, and you, fulfilling your obligation as part of the publicity engine that drives the music industry, spurt about them on cue.

Does rockcrit get any better than the phrase, “Weiners in suits playing frat party rock”? I’m going to incorporate that phrase into my everyday language.

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Liz Phair on Gender Politics

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Liz Phair talks to Billboard about the Exile in Guyville reissue, and what’s changed since then:

Fifteen years ago, things seemed a lot more male-dominated, and now you get women busting out everywhere, so that’s good. But the way they are busting out is still very much within the constraints of what men want them to do. Maybe we don’t need to have as much anger as we did back then, but we still need strong women. I see all these young women on porn sites, all these sorority girls posting pictures of themselves giving blowjobs and thinking that it’s empowering, and I feel like they really missed the point.

The re-release of Guyville is due June 24 on ATO.

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Liz Phair Reviews Dean Wareham

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Liz Phair reviews Dean Wareham‘s memoir, Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance, for the New York Times. Apparently, the frontman of Galaxie 500 and Luna “portrays himself as a surprisingly unsympathetic character.” Frontman:

One of the things “Black Postcards” does so well is shatter the illusion that rock ‘n’ roll is all fun and games. Things pile up. The weight of the accumulated past begins to take its toll. Wareham fights to stay engaged in his creative efforts, sometimes at the expense of the stability of both his family and his band. Sick of rumors, sick of disgruntled fans, bad hotels, bad gigs, he may be writing down his remembrances partly to set the record straight. But his supreme interest is clearly and purely music. It is the scaffold on which he hangs most of the feelings and fragments included in the book.

Jeez, they let anybody write for the New York Times these days, don’t they?

MP3s:

• Dean & Britta – “Singer Sing” from Back Numbers.

• Dean & Britta – “Ginger Snaps (and Sugar Winks)” from Sonic Souvenirs.

Amazon: Black Postcards: A Rock & Roll Romance by Dean Wareham.

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Liz Phair Gets Back to Her Roots

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GuyvilleLiz Phair Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Exile In Guyville with June 24th Reissue on ATO Records

Special Edition Features Four Never-Before-Released B-Sides And Phair’s Exclusive New “Guyville Redux” DVD

Phair Gets Back Into The D.I.Y. Spirit With New Album On ATO Records This Fall

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: It’s been 15 years since the release of the groundbreaking Exile in Guyville – and Liz Phair is marking the occasion by returning to her roots. Phair recently signed with the independent label ATO Records, which will release a special 15th anniversary edition of her landmark debut album on June 24th and her new studio album in the fall.

Exile in Guyville, which was out of print, will be available on CD, vinyl and – for the first time ever – in digital format. The special reissue package will include four never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: “Ant in Alaska,” with Phair simply accompanying herself on guitar, “Wild Thing,” wherein she uses the melody and central line of The Troggs’ 1966 #1 hit as a jumping off point for an otherwise all-original song, “Say You,” which features Phair and a full band, and an untitled instrumental with Liz on guitar. Phair has also just completed a new, 60-minute DVD, “Guyville Redux,” for the reissue.

Continue reading Liz Phair Gets Back to Her Roots →

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Lollapalooza 2005: Day One

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Lollapalooza 2005Holy shit, it was hot on Sunday. I was pretty sure we were all going to die for a while there. But hey, Glorious Noise suffers unbearable heat so you don’t have to.

It’s hard to believe that the first Lollapalooza was 14 years ago. I was a dopey college kid who could barely drive straight when my pals piled into my mom’s Corolla and we drove across the state to see Perry Farrell’s brand new music festival. I was looking forward to seeing Ice T and Jane’s Addiction, but was most impressed by the Butthole Surfers when guitarist Paul Leary picked up a rifle, aimed it right at my face 60 rows back, and pulled the trigger. I swear to god I saw fire shoot out of the barrel and expected to feel the bullet split my skull. Good thing Leary’s a lousy shot.

This year no one fired a gun at me. But I was blown away by a couple of bands that I wasn’t expecting that much from. It’s a much different world now (George Bush, Iraq, economy, etc.), but a few things remain the same: good music still isn’t played on the radio, and young people still love to get half naked and stomp around in the dirt and listen to bands.

Continue reading Lollapalooza 2005: Day One →