From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) To: support-system-digest@smoe.org Subject: support-system-digest V6 #141 Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org Sender: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk support-system-digest Thursday, June 5 2003 Volume 06 : Number 141 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Bowery Ballroom [mollieclarins@att.net] Blender Interview / Review [Juvenilia@aol.com] Re: support-system-digest V6 #140 ["Joce Lyn" ] Denver gig review, Minneapolis album review [robert joyner ] Re: support-system-digest V6 #140 [LULU428@aol.com] Tone & Groove [AWeiss4338@aol.com] festivals [Stephen Griffes ] More ground gained at Hot AC radio [Jase ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 06:02:09 +0000 From: mollieclarins@att.net Subject: Bowery Ballroom Melissa and others, According to the Bowery Ballroom website, the show on August 10th is sold out. I haven't heard about any other shows at that venue being added either. Joselle ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 02:36:19 -0400 From: Juvenilia@aol.com Subject: Blender Interview / Review Someone (I believe it was NDisgize2@aol.com) mentioned Liz's appearance in the current issue of Blender (cover: Jewel). Well, mine came in the mail today and I figured I would scan the pictures and send them to Ken and transcribe the small article/interview and their review of the album. Enjoy! Robbie http://waybelowtheradio.net/mttw/ _ _ _ _ _ GOT MILF? - 'Brainy single mon seeks sex - and a hit song' artist: LIZ PHAIR album: LIZ PHAIR reviewer: ANN POWERS rating: 4 stars When you're female, sexual and 36, snobs are going to call you desperate, no matter how artfully you strut. This is especially true for pop stars, whose attempts to stay current often earn the kind of scorn directed at Botox-stuffed, ex-hotties cruising bars on Friday night. The moves that seemed sexy when a girl got carded can feel distasteful in adulthood. It's been hard to tell if overdoing it is a tic or a strategy for Liz Phair. Her 1993 debut, 'Exile In Guyville,' was one of the great indie feats, all stuck-out chin and lifted skirt, but even then many rock fans found her more irritating than astute. Add 10 years and the desire for a radio hit to the equation, and you have an album likely to repulse the very people who once adored Phair's dirty streak. 'Liz Phair' is described by Phair herself as a "greatest hits" culled from tracks cut with producers as diverse as Michael Penn and the Matrix (the mini-corporation behind, most notably, Avril Lavigne). Phair has pulled out the heavy styling product here, and sometimes it's a problem. But beneath the highlights, she's still a messy troublemaker whose brain is as spicy as the rest of her body. The most obvious come-ons display confidence but not depth; the ode to her man's magic fluid, "H.W.C." (chorus: "Give me your hot, white cum") amuses mostly because it sounds like a deodorant jingle, and "Favorite" is little more than a cute metaphor for well-worn love. Elsehwere, Phair explores the ambiguities of sex unsparingly, with a compassion that never gets squishy. Despite the NC-17 language, plain-spokenness, and not crudity, is the key to her insight. It isn't clear whether Phair knows that audactity as a strategy has diminishing returns; what once shocked now seems like a habit. But the best songs on 'Liz Phair' cut through the bullshit to portray a hot young mom reflecting on lust and guilt. Let's hope people can hear the smarts behind the sheen. LIZ PHAIR'S CURRENT LISTENING: Jesse Malin - The Fine Art Of Self-Destruction Brendan Benson - Lapalco _ _ _ _ _ _ LIZ PHAIR Alt-queen Liz Phair wants stardom. And your "hot, white cum," too. Goodness! by Rob Tannenbaum WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW, AND WHAT CAN YOU SEE OUT OF YOUR WINDOW? I'm in Manhattan Beach, California, in the kitchen, putting Chee-tos in a little container for my 6-year-old ruffian, who's downstairs playing Impossible Creatures on the computer. I can see the ocean, and it's a beautiful day. THAT MUST BE QUITE A RELIEF AFTER LIVING SO LONG IN FRIGID CHICAGO. I'm a summer girl to the core. The minute I can wear shorts, a bikini, and flip-flops, I'm there. Summer's my glory. You can't make it too hot for me. SPEAKING OF BIKINIS, DO YOU SHAVE OR WAX? It's a terrible question - it's a horrible dileema! I'm a waxer, but I can't even tell you how much it hurts to wax. If they can send a rocket to Mars, why can't they fix this? NAME A SONG THAT SIGNIFIES SUMMER TO YOU. I hate to say it, but "Jack And Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp. That was the summer I was in love with my older cousin. Summer shouldn't be highbrow - summer is about blasting a song out of the car to annoy the grownups. WHAT WAS YOUR BEST SUMMER JOB? Working at an outdoor music venue near Chicago and fucking off in the restaurant. I was so shy and incapable of waiting on people. I got demoted to, like, garnish supervisor. IS THERE A SUMMER MOVIE THAT YOU'RE MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? The Matrix: Reloaded. I love Keanu Reeves. He's such a hunk. ISN'T HE A BIT UNCLEVER FOR YOU? That's my problem, really. I feel so bookish, so I tend to like guys who are opposite from me. I find myself very turned on by big and stupid. YOUR NEW SELF-TITLED ALBUM IS FULL OF SONGS ABOUT SEX. THERE'S SEX WITH A YOUNGER MAN. THERE'S CHEATING SEX. SEX THAT YOUR SON WALKS IN ON. AND THEN THERE'S THE CHORUS THAT GOES, "GIVE ME YOUR HOT, WHITE CUM." After AIDS and after the gender wars, you lose the fact that love between a man and a woman should be a gorgefest. After all, that's what our bodies are meant to do. That's my version of feminisn: I want to be free and valuable and respected, and I want to gorge on another person. That song is sort of, like, Take Back the Cum. WHEN YOU WROTE "GIVE ME YOUR HOT, WHITE CUM," DID THE LYRICS COME FIRST, OR THE MELODY? They both came together. It was very fluid. FLUID? So to speak. SOrry. Bad metaphor. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 08:14:37 -0700 From: "Joce Lyn" Subject: Re: support-system-digest V6 #140 >I'm a bit freaked about all the radio play she's getting and (who >mentioned this?) that one station had her song as the most requested that >night. Maybe that was me, here is L.A. It was on this show: http://www.star987.com/top5ride.htmlI haven't caught the show since then, so I don't know if she's won again. -Jocelynhttp://www.geocities.com/moofacehead77 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MSN 8 helps ELIMINATE E-MAIL VIRUSES. Get 2 months FREE*. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 08:54:30 -0700 (PDT) From: robert joyner Subject: Denver gig review, Minneapolis album review Rocky Mountain News Phair showcases new, slicker sound from coming disc By Steve Knopper, Special To The News June 4, 2003 Like Lou Reed, Paul McCartney and countless other rock musicians who made it big early, Liz Phair began her career with a razor-sharp thesis statement. Her first album, 1993's Exile In Guyville, was the Chicago singer's declaration of female power while enduring the loneliness of one-night stands. After that, the Chicago singer-songwriter drifted, occasionally tossing off a song or two that had the power and focus of her first album. Supernova, the closest thing yet Phair has had to a hit, is a funky love album, complete with her trademark naughty words. Johnny Feelgood, from her underrated 1998 CD whitechocolatespaceegg, is a catchy little rock song about unrequited love and misdirected obsession. In a set of less 30 minutes opening for the Flaming Lips - who hit the stage after presstime Tuesday night - - Phair juxtaposed these songs with material from her upcoming album. Liz Phair, due later this month, has received a lot of attention because it's partially produced by the Matrix, a hit songwriting-and-production team known for its work with Avril Lavigne. Many Phair fans, accustomed to the creaky "lo-fi" production of Exile on Guyville, already have started to gripe about the Matrix' presence. But to Phair, she has been struggling for years to land a significant hit without success, so why not beef up the sound into something befitting the radio? Phair introduced a few songs from her new album, including Extraordinary, which she introduced as "the one they didn't pick for the single." It's bold and confident, with a big melody that may eventually sound great after the Sheryl Crow songs on radio play lists. More provocatively, she played a song whose title is completely unprintable in a family newspaper; suffice to say, it's about a particular male characteristic she claims gives her power. It's hard to say whether Phair's loopy new declaration counts as "feminism" - rather than declaring her independence from men, the song explicitly shows how men give her confidence. Then again, it's not meant to be taken too seriously: "I'm gonna get so much (expletive) for that song," Phair declared with an impish grin. "I've been waiting a long, long time for that album to come out so I can give it to my mom." Phair, 36, skipped around her records, smiling and leering behind a big electric guitar. But Phair's set was too soft for a crowd pumped up for the huge, bizarre sounds of the Flaming Lips, and too short for anyone hoping to sink their teeth into her new album. - ------------------------------------------------------- Minneapolis City Pages Review by Christina Schmitt Liz Phair Liz Phair Capitol No big surprise to find Liz Phair writing songs about fucking again. It's been five years since she released her last record, so there's been plenty of time for fooling around. Plenty of time to prettify her voice, to revisit the indie pop of the '90s, to experiment with synths and techno--and also to get a little lazy. There's no urgency burning on Liz Phair--these days, she's just a more mature woman who talks of raising kids and seducing younger men. Fuck and run? Phair looks like she might be up for it, pictured as she is on the record sleeve in fishnet stockings. Sonically, however, she seems like she's more ready to fuck and then climb behind the wheel of a Lexus, driving the speed limit all the way home. The energy change may have something to do with Phair's muses du jour. Exile in Guyville, Phair's classic, was filled with bad boys for Phair to butt heads (and other things) with. Fittingly, the distorted chord metal crunch intro of the new track "Extraordinary" seems to promise a run-in with a fun-loving headbanger. But no, it's Phair who eventually pops in, sweetly singing about the more depressing aspects of love: being bored with each other, fighting over whose turn it is to take out the trash. Phair finds a more exciting man to sing about on the simple power-chord-and-reverbed-drums track "Rock Me"--not a domestic partner, but some boy toy who doesn't have a decent record collection. "He doesn't even know who Liz Phair is," she sings, and this is really sexy to our weary protagonist. Well, no one can expect Phair to remain charged by naughty trysts forever. A woman evolves, as this record shows, even if her development is uneven. Parts of the album are painful to listen to (check "It's Sweet"'s weird Asian synth-pop lead), though Phair is clever and cool on the catchy, new-wave "My Bionic Eyes" and the pretty-little-thing-called-love finger-snapper "HWC" ("Hot White Come," oh my!). It's hard not to wonder, though, if Phair is faking all that hot-young-thing passion. Let's hope not. She doesn't have to be a wild party girl the rest of her life, but growing up could still bring inspired revelations to her music. Such epiphanies don't have to come through fucking, either--but hey, there's really no reason to stop doing it now. ===== - ------------------------------------------------------------ Nashville - A Liz Phair Web Site http://www.geocities.com/robnashville - ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 10:23:03 -0700 (PDT) From: robert joyner Subject: for that Emil Kisko guy... or was it Steve Breton?....anyway here is a link that has the second half of the ice interview out-takes. http://www.icemagazine.com/daily/194/w030526.asp the first part follows right after. later robert ===== - ------------------------------------------------------------ Nashville - A Liz Phair Web Site http://www.geocities.com/robnashville - ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 19:22:14 EDT From: LULU428@aol.com Subject: Re: support-system-digest V6 #140 to melissa who was asking- field day fest is now at giants stadium just on saturday and i did not see liz mentioned at all. but that doesnt mean she's not playing. and the bowery show is sold out- someone mentioned the other day about liz playing somewhere else in nyc besides the bowery- where was it? and when? i couldn't find any info. and yes, I heard why can't I? on WPLJ in NYC and I thought I'd be excited to hear it, but somehow I wasnt. it seemed weird. I am still not sure how i feel about the new album. i like listening to it and singing along to it, but somehow its not the liz i fell in love with 10 years ago. i will accept her for who she is, but i dont love it or think its brilliant like her old stuff. I have enjoyed reading the differing opinions here on this digest. its been really interesting- i have been subscribed to this digest for almost 10 years! pretty crazy. about the new album - i have been back and forth on how i feel. one of these days i'll have my own solid opinion- til then, i'll just enjoy it for what it is and go see her at the bowery show and hope she makes those millions that she's hoping for. Lani i'm sure liz is reading this and loving it! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 20:18:14 EDT From: AWeiss4338@aol.com Subject: Tone & Groove For what it's worth there is a review of the album at tineandgroove.com. Who wrote it-me. Andrea ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 20:18:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Stephen Griffes Subject: festivals looks like Field Day is still on...just one day at Giants Stadium...liz is supposedly still performing. what is with all the festivals havign problems this summer? i am extremely better about the sudden cancelling (postponing--WHATEVER) of all tomorrow's parties LA 2 weeks before the damn festival. now i am pointlessly going to hollywood for a week because i already paid for plane and hotel and have the time off work. at least i'll be able try and meet (stalk?) various Golden Girls...;) i am currently reading "Bitch: in praise of difficult women" by Elizabeth Wurtzel and she seems to really adore liz and thinks she's the greatest thing to happen to music. she's constantly name-dropping her. it was written in 1997. I wonder what ms wurtzel would have to say about liz's new shtick. i bet courtney love would still say liz sounds a potato...one of those frozen microwavable ones that got zapped too long. wonder what's up with her new album anyway. steve. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 22:44:22 -0400 From: Jase Subject: More ground gained at Hot AC radio New chart posted at radioandrecords.com today. "Why Can't I?" got 144 additional spins over the previous week, for a total of 539. The song moves from #32 to #29. Jase ------------------------------ End of support-system-digest V6 #141 ************************************