By Laura Mojonnier
The last time Liz Phair figured so prominently in the critical discourse was back in 2003 following the release of her self-titled collaboration with the Matrix. While Phair retained her trademark sexual frankness on the disc and even produced a hit, "Why Can't I," the album rendered her fans utterly apoplectic.
What happened? Phair had been slowly moving in the "adult contemporary" direction for years - but the Matrix? The duo that produced Avril Lavigne and Christina Aguilera? If any one had lingering doubts as to whether or not the '90s were over, this album was the fourth horseman.
With the reissue of her classic debut, 1993's Exile in Guyville (Matador/ATO), slated for June 24, Phair is back in the spotlight. This time around, the questions she's provoking about how music has changed since she arrived on the scene are tempered by a healthy dose of nostalgia. Newly signed to Dave Matthew's ATO Records, Phair seems more comfortable than ever, even telling Billboard that she's feeling "creative" for the first time in 15 years and is working on a new album scheduled for the fall.
Good for Phair - but what about us girls? Some of us were learning to tie our shoes back in the early '90s and weren't able to experience all that riot grrrl glory in real time. Maybe her new release will be great, but Phair is in her early 40s at this point, and I'm not yet able to relate to songs about being an alternamom. Where are all the young, overprivileged suburban brats with boy troubles these days - can't they ask for a guitar at Christmas?
But perhaps Guyville has never been successfully re-created because it's the hardest kind of record to make. It's an album about not having the guts to stand up to all the things that piss you off and make you sad, about biting your tongue and learning to "memorize their stupid rules," as Phair sings in "Help Me Mary."
The aforementioned is made abundantly clear in the reissue's Exile Redux DVD and its sometimes-cringe-inducing Phair-directed documentary covering the Chicago scene that produced the recording. When Phair tells the guy from Urge Overkill that she had a huge crush on him and may have written a large portion of the disc about him, she buffers his douchey demeanor with flirtatious giggles and a hug. Guyville has become known for its sexual and emotional candor, but if you really listen, it still sounds like Phair is singing under her breath.
LIZ PHAIR
Performing songs from Exile in Guyville
Mon/23, 9 p.m., $25
Fillmore
1805 Geary, SF
(415) 346-6000
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Comments (1)
she put out a group of good songs, a long time ago. let's face it...
Posted by aldo Von fedonstein V | June 23, 2008 10:56 PM