From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) To: support-system-digest@smoe.org Subject: support-system-digest V8 #140 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 Wednesday, October 19 2005 Volume 08 : Number 140 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Unpaid Rock Critic) [Kenneth ] [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (OC Register) [Kenneth Lee ] [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Harp Magazine) [Kenneth Lee <] [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Salt Lake Tribune) [Kenneth L] [support-system] The newest and the oldest [Derek Donovan Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Unpaid Rock Critic) From Unpaid Rock Critic: (http://unpaidrockcritic.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/10/liz_phair_someb.html) Liz Phair: "Somebodys Miracle" (Capitol 2005) 4 stars (out of 5) Not sure why critics are dissing this one, too. I guess that this is Phairs adult move, a quieter, more introspective record, and maybe this puts people off. Or maybe folks are still reeling from Phairs last sellout CD. On the opening track of "Somebodys Miracle", Liz wants to make a leap of innocence. On the next track, shes tired of climbing mountains. On the title track, Phair wonders how some married couples can stay together so long and wants to learn their secret. Im not sure what to make of this "mature" release. To me, mature means that Phair occasionally sacrifices those wonderfully wild lyrics ("Yeah, I drive naked through the park / And run the stop sign in the dark [] I am just your ordinary average everyday sane psycho Supergoddess") and wicked themes (having a fling with a guy whos so young that he plays Xbox on Phairs floor) for the safe and sometimes banal. And I want to get lost tonight with you Let me know if it's alright that I do Cause I want to get lost tonight with you What you've got is what I'm running to (Lost Tonight) You can count on my love And I'm bright out when it's raining When you feel your hope is fading You can count on my love (Count On My Love) Still, Im perhaps not to be trusted since Im a pretty big Liz Phair fan, and even a safe record from her rates pretty highly in my book. I also liked 2003s "Liz Phair", a terrific record that critics trashed because Phair had the audacity-gasp!-to hire The Matrix as producers and shoot for radio-ready pop tunes. I thought that "Liz Phair" was an outstanding release. Phairs lyrics were as sharp as ever, and the sellout catcalls (like Pitchforks 0 rating) were ridiculous, a slap that indies darling would dare make a move toward commercial success. Phairs always been a pop singer -- a quiet, understated pop singer but a pop singer nevertheless. I suppose "Somebodys Miracle" is something of a retreat from "Liz Phair", a concession to critics and fans that she can return from the pop brink, although "Somebodys Miracle" is still a highly polished effort. Me, I liked the pop brink, and Id like to see those wry and cutting lyrics appear more. Only on Cant Get Out Of What Im Into and the Stones-ish Why I Lie does the wry Phair poke her head out. But after several listens, I believe in Phairs banalities. I like how Wind in the Mountains starts out pessimistic (You wanna roll in the grass / Kick your shoes off / Have a laugh / But sometimes I am too tired) but ends on an optimistic note (You're gonna sing another song / You're gonna right another wrong / And sometimes I am inspired). I find the drinking song (Table for One) sad and moving. I believe that Phair wants to get lost within the arms of the guy whos right for her (Lost Tonight). In short, I believe that these arent banalities at all but the honest emotions of a woman who does indeed say from time to time that shes too tired. Songs to Download to Your iPod: Just buy the damn CD - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 21:32:34 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (OC Register) From The Orange County Register: (http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/music/albumreviews/article_703250.php) Album reviews: Liz Phair By BEN WENER Liz Phair, "Somebody's Miracle" (Capitol) - With this, the commerce-craving transformation begun with 2003's self-titled extreme makeover is complete: The dead indie-rock skin that formerly housed this once-risqui, now merely flesh-baring songwriter has been scraped away to reveal a Sheryl Crow clone in a miniskirt. The problem isn't that Phair has adopted a slick adult-alternative sound; "I'm supposed to grow," she has complained to her detractors, and despite lapsing into teen pandering her evolution from minimalism to Big Studio Production has made some kind of sense. What torpedoes her ambition, then, are her lousy lyrics, which no longer have bite, and her reed-thin voice, far too flat for such gloss. Somehow, she wrongly convinced herself that growing up meant getting predictable, when unpredictability was her forte. Grade: C+ - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 21:40:30 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Northern Star) From Northern Star: (http://northernstar.info/articles/?id=11993) Liz Phair: "Somebody's Miracle" C- Liz Phair never should have changed. In the early '90s, she had to separate herself from the other indie artists. Now she has to separate herself from the likes of Sheryl Crow and Fiona Apple. There's not quite the market for the indie chick rocker there was a decade ago. Why did she have to go and grow up, and who said mature music has to be pop music? "Table For One", a moving song tackling the subject of alcoholism, was well written, the chorus says, "Oh I want to die alone with my sympathy beside me/ I want to bring down all those demons who drank with me/ Feasting gleefully on my desperation." The song goes into detail of how alcoholics feel, from the shaking of the kitchen in the morning to the humiliation and depression they feel. The album is pretty similar to her last self-titled album and still has the pop sound, but there's no edge it. "Leap of Innocence" is a good example of how her voice stretches too much when she sings, "but everyone was dropping off like flies/ I had so many friends in rehab/ A couple who practically died," and her voice goes flat. It makes one cringe. The first single, "Everything To Me," is a pretty melodic song, with angry lyrics. "You never gave a damn about all those things I did to please you," she sings softly. If you haven't gotten into Liz Phair yet, don't start with this album. Stephanie Szuda - Staff Reporter - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:43:29 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Flagpole Magazine) From Flagpole Magazine: (http://flagpole.dreamhosters.com/articles.php?fp=5674) LIZ PHAIR "Somebody's Miracle" Capitol In 2003, Liz Phair took a risk, and released a self-titled album that utilized producers like the Matrix to make a mainstream pop record. But her new record "Somebody's Miracle" is a tasteful retreat into adult contemporary: warm lap steel, chiming electric guitar, drums blending smoothly into the mix. In other words, a total snoozefest. This is not to say it's bad, or even wholly mediocre. A few tracks are good, generally the ones that sound like the Rolling Stones: the guitars on "Can't Get Out of What I'm Into" ape Keith Richards's horn imitation on "Satisfaction", and "Why I Lie" recalls "Honky Tonk Women." But a few good tracks do not a listenable album make. I'm one of the few people who actually loved Liz Phair, both the Matrix's giddy radio-pop and the propulsive pop-rock of the other tracks. Phair's gift had always been for lyrics, and on that album the music rose to the occasion, too. But on "Miracle", numerous tracks are basically "Divorce Song" without interesting lyrics or structure - and that's not much at all. Phair took a lot of flak from fans for Liz Phair, while also not selling enough to truly have a hit. And so she backed off from the teen-pop thing, to win back the newly-relevant indie nation while simultaneously maintaining a pop sheen that allows her songs to sit comfortably next to Sheryl Crow's. Who to blame for this? I blame you. You, the cowardly, narrow-minded little shits that constitute the oxymoronically-named "listening public", who heard Liz Phair and turned up your noses, who saw the half-naked press photos and exclaimed, "How can she do such things, when she has (gasp, faint) a child to think of?" Well, now she's made an album that won't embarrass anyone, and guess what? It's as interesting as baby food. It seems antithetical to the dictates of art to ask someone to make music that isn't disreputable, that won't bring shame upon their family, that doesn't challenge past "integrity", but that's what was requested, and Phair delivered. So keep it up, kids, keep raising your voice in indignation when an artist ventures outside your tiny circle of acceptability; keep it up, and we'll get more shit like "Somebody's Miracle" -more boring, boring, boring music. Michael Barthel Liz Phair is playing at the Roxy in Atlanta on Monday, Oct. 10. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:15:25 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (London Free Press) From The London Free Press: (http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Music/2005/10/15/1263322-sun.html) CD Reviews By Darryl Sterdan, Special to the Free Press "SOMEBODY'S MIRACLE" LIZ PHAIR; CAPITOL/EMI We want to like Liz Phair. Honest we do. But she doesn't make it easy with her consistently inconsistent ways. In 1993, on her indie-rock debut "Exile in Guyville, she sounded like she wanted to be Patti Smith. Two years ago, on her self-titled set of Matrix-produced teen-pop, she sounded like she wanted to be some older version of Avril Lavigne. Now, on her fifth studio album, "Somebody's Miracle", she sounds like she wants to be Sheryl Crow. So the guitars jangle and shimmer, the melodies are rich, the grooves are mellow and the blandly commercial production polishes everything to a generically shiny semi-gloss. That might work for a lot of artists, but it doesn't do justice to Phair's waifishly (and endearingly) thin vocals or the stark, confessional songcraft of "Table for One", "Why I Lie" and "Leap of Innocence". Though perhaps it does balance her endless mood swings; one minute she's achingly pining for the titular miracle of long-term monogamy, the next she's flippantly dismissing the notion for the next guy who comes along. It's all a shame, really, since "Somebody's Miracle" offers some of Phair's most compelling, personal and likeable work in years. But if she could figure out how to pick a stance and stick with it, we'd like her a lot more. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:28:07 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (CT Now) From CT Now: (http://www.ctnow.com/music/hce-sound1006.artoct06,0,3822898.column?coll=hce-utility-music) MUSIC Eric R. Danton Like It Or Not, Phair Is Changed There's no other way to put it: Liz Phair's new album, "Somebody's Miracle," is a guilty pleasure. That's a terrible, wholly pejorative thing to say - even worse, really, than just saying something stinks. There's no two ways about "bad", but "guilty pleasure" implies that it might be good, if only it was a little cooler. Which pretty much describes "Somebody's Miracle". Yes, it's ridiculous to gauge music's worth on how cool it is - if you like it, why is your pleasure guilty? - but it's hardly uncommon. There are plenty of people who hate country music, but secretly like Shania Twain or Kenny Chesney. The difference here is, Liz Phair used to be cool. Her early lo-fi albums, starting with 1993's "Exile in Guyville," were full of funny, subversive and sexually frank songs that appealed to as many smart young women as libidinous rock-geek men. Then, in 2003, she released a slick self-titled record that sounded more like Avril Lavigne than the Liz Phair of old. Cries of "sellout!" echoed through the rock press; Lavigne, after all, is not cool to people who aren't 14-year-old girls (or the guy from Sum 41, who's engaged to her). Phair defended herself with aplomb, particularly in an interview with "Spin" magazine's Chuck Klosterman, who more or less accused her of deciding to sell out. "It wasn't a decision. Those songs just aren't there anymore," Phair told him. "I can't make a 25-year-old's record at the age of 36. For me, it boils down to this question: Do I want to seem authentic, or do I want to feel authentic?" "Somebody's Miracle", then, is presumably Phair's latest statement of authenticity. And it's not cool. But boy, is it catchy. "Why I Lie" glides on an irrepressible melody and nasty slide-guitar licks, and she gets all downhearted on the acoustic "Table for One". "Got My Own Thing" is practically a pop song template: big bright guitars and a stick-in-your-head melody sung with just a bit of coquettish moxie. Got her own thing? Yes, she does, like it or not. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:44:46 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Lumino Magazine) From Lumino Magazine: (http://www.luminomagazine.com/mw/content/view/447/27) Hoppin' new Phairy tales from Liz Written by JACKIE LEE KING 4 stars Once upon a time there was a little girl (5'2) by the name of Liz Phair who wanted to be a rock star, but found herself exiled in "Guyville" (Chi-Town?). So this whip smart girl called upon her Phairy-God-Person, a rolling stone, for guidance. She was goosed with a myriad of experiences and finally produce a "whitechocolatespaceegg" catalogue of music worthy of her namesake. In the process she learned that you can attract the masses by pursuing the F word; Frogs. (Get your mind out of the gutter, this is a Phairy Tale). With the eyes of an inginue she set about kissing them till one took her back to his pad, but alas this Phair maiden was restless and took her tadpole and moved to a bigger pond. Transcending her woe full days many hometown villagers wanted to hear about the same dank pond of her origin. She is now ready to release a new pack of tales spawning from the land of Lost Angels where the sun shines and dreams can come true. Her current release, Somebody's Miracle is collection of 14 tales has Phair Liz reminiscing of her tales in the pursuit of happiness. Climbing the mountains of the music industry she and her merry band had succumbed to the obstacles upon the way, like in Leap of Innocence and Lazy Dreamer. Liz is saying 'nay' to the naysayer's and goes to her happy place. The songs Count on my love and Stars and Planets are the wide-open joyful songs that make this singer songwriter an annual addition to the pop charts. You just can't help but pull your top down, (the car's top) and turn the radio up. These songs are more than radio friendly; they're down right neighborly, thanks to producer John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Jason Mraz) and John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak, Melissa Etheridge), and recorded at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles; a land of many tales. Not all of her songs are of sunshine and bunnies, because 'real life aint that fucking funny.' A bunny tale of another sort finds a fellow frog pondering what the want out of life in lieu of what they do for money in Can't get out of what I'm into, and another song tells another frog's alcoholic humiliations in the song Table For One. Little Liz stays the course and discovers her own happily ever after, because as she states in the song Wind in the Mountains, 'There are days when you find your answer.' It's all about being true to the muse from wherever it comes from. This collection of songs conveys a seasoned songstress, similar to what Carole King achieved with her Tapestry so many moons ago. She gives the pop star princess of the kingdom a run for their money for they are stuck in Disneyland and Phair comes from a more Grimm landscape. Phair's music is not intended for surface listening, but lands nicely on the ears. Her pop hooks hop up and grab you to listen closer. Her lyrics are what really give you insight on Phair, or more importantly something in your own life. She's no tadpole new to the music biz pond. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 01:59:45 EDT From: DCLinPA100@aol.com Subject: [support-system] remove remove ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 00:30:29 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (INsite Magazine) From INsite Magazine: (http://www.insiteatlanta.com/music.asp) On the Dean's List LIZ PHAIR - "Somebody's Miracle" (Capitol) CLASS: Still not the indie-rock queen. By John Davidson Liz Phair took a lot of heat for her last album, the self-titled effort that found her bidding for radio stardom. Record doctors like the Matrix (Avril Lavigne, etc.) helped her write songs, and her record label pimped her hard as a chart darling, all to the utter disgust of the independent music community who'd brought her to light in the mid-'90s. So while her single "Extraordinary" brought her a new audience, it probably also killed off part of her core audience. "Somebody's Miracle" confirms that Phair is set on mining the middle-brow territory of her radio peers, but that's not news to anyone who's followed her career since the zeitgeist of 1993's "Exile in Guyville". She's always wanted to be a pop star, and songs like the title track and "Stars and Planets" show that her writing chops are on par with anyone else. Her vocal idiosyncrasies (see: the classic wavering in her upper register on "Wind and Mountain") don't obscure her lack of range or technique, they give her welcome distinction. And the lack of contrived obscenity that dragged down her last album gives Phair freedom to be the sexy, middle-aged mom that she is. Her M.I.L.F. status and lack of ground-breaking material will continue to inspire cynicism from the hipsters who resent her crusade to find a wider audience. But "Somebody's Miracle" is easily her second-best album ever full of good-to-great songs that could only be written and performed by Phair. May she find continued success in the mainstream, which needs more like her. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 00:44:42 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Journal News) From The Journal News: (http://www.journal-news.com/features/content/shared/oh/go/reviews/hjn1014goCDreviews_1.html) Liz Phair "SOMEBODY'S MIRACLE" Liz Phair is a 38-year-old single, working mother with a wild-child past. She doesn't deny nor necessarily regret that past, but she's not interested in staying there either. And if her resignation as indie-rock's poster girl wasn't finalized in 2003 with the professional polish of her last album, a self-titled effort partially produced by singer-songwriter Michael Penn, then her status as a full-fledged adult is clear in the new "Somebody's Miracle". The 14-track disc places Phair among an elite crew of white female singer-songwriters of a certain age who use their personal lives as lyrical fodder, but turn to rock and pop - rather than folk - riffs to carry the messages along. People like Jill Sobule, Amy Rigby and Aimee Mann (who's married to the aforementioned Michael Penn), who are not so much musical diarists as chroniclers of contemporary life, whether personally experienced or acutely observed. It's a club worthy of aspiration. Grade B iPod picks: It's all worth a listen. - - CAROL SIMMONS - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 05:53:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Jennifer Luu Subject: [support-system] NYC October 17 The show last night was extraordinary, once again. She played: 1. Stratford-on-Guy (acoustic) 2. Uncle Alvarez (acoustic) 3. Leap of Innocence (acoustic) 4. Baby Got Going (acoustic) 5. Shitloads of Money 6. Rock Me 7. Glory 8. Lazy Dreamer 9. 6'1" 10. Cinco de Mayo 11. Fuck and Run 12. Girls' Room 13. Polyester Bride 14. Mesmerizing 15. HWC 16. Bionic Eyes 17. Supernova 18. Everything to Me 19. Hurricane Cindy 20. Help Me Mary 21. Divorce Song **encore** 22. Flower 23. Extraordinary 24. Chopsticks This show was so incredibly good-- par for the course. The crowd was really into it and started chanting Fuck and Run after Cinco de Mayo, so Liz said, "if you want me to play that now, I will, but there goes your encore. You'll regret it later." She's still sticking to the main outline of a setlist she has planned, but playing little songs here and there as she feels the whim. For Stratford-on-Guy, she listed songs for the audience to choose from, and the cheers were overwhelming for that one. Hurricane Cindy was an audience request. Sigh. There's not much more to say. I'm not going to keep going on and on about how amazing it was, but damn. It was. Jennifer __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:53:58 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Harp Magazine) From Harp Magazine: (http://harpmagazine.com/articles/detail.cfm?article_id=3564) Liz Phair "Somebody's Miracle" Capitol By Mia Quagliarello You didn't like her last album? Liz Phair doesn't care. She got what she wanted: "I don't have to say what I'm thinking cuz/Everyone's radio is on/And they've heard my latest song." Anyway, it's time to move on, and even Phair seems to have progressed-a bit-past her blatant commercial makeover in 2003. Now she has producers John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer) and John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge) on her side, and they've safely ushered her out of Avril Lavigne territory and into the same general airspace as innocuous adult-alternative artists like Sheryl Crow. That said, Phair's clearly, and proudly, young at heart, and while there's no mention of "hot white cum" on "Somebody's Miracle", she does pine like a school girl all over the album, even resorting to oh-come-on lyrics like, "Each frog has a prince just waiting inside of him." You don't have to love this highly produced music, but you do have to admire Phair for not caving in to critics who wish she'd time-travel back to Guyville. - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 16:44:35 -0700 From: Kenneth Lee Subject: [support-system] Somebody's Miracle review (Salt Lake Tribune) From The Salt Lake Tribune: (http://www.sltrib.com/healthscience/ci_3126609) LIZ PHAIR, "Somebody's Miracle" Grade: C- Liz Phair: For fans who hated her last, self-titled album for its blatant effort to generate pop hits, the Liz Phair of "Exile in Guyville" is officially lost to you. "Somebody's Miracle" has a few strong moments, but it's a similar batch of slick mid-tempo rockers and ballads that drove me to jot down "boring" repeatedly as I took notes while listening - not good. - - Dan Nailen - -Ken kenmlee@ix.netcom.com MeSmErIzInG - AnOtHeR LiZ PhAiR WeBsItE http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/2471/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:47:25 -0500 From: Derek Donovan Subject: [support-system] The newest and the oldest Hi folks, I'm one of those who go back to the very beginnings of this list, I think. I unsubscribed (rather testily) at what I thought was unnecessary behavior over the last record, though I've continued keeping up with the archives for the most part. Anyhow, I'm as old-school a Liz Phair fan as they come, and I like Somebody's Miracle. I think a lot of the production is too mushy and generic, but I love the songwriting. A few points: 1. If she was singing these exact same songs in her old stoner (pre-vocal lessons) voice and the production were more angular, it would be vintage Liz for the most part. I'd love to hear what Brad Wood would have done with the exact same material -- though he has said that the two of them felt they'd explored all they could together. 2. I'm glad the redo of "Gigolo" (AKA "Can't Get Out of What I'm Into") didn't make it into the final tracklisting. It's OK, but only as a curiosity. That's my favorite Girlysound song, so I prefer it in its original version. 3. I still think people misunderstand Liz's intentions from the very beginning. Yes, the slick production of some of the last two records might seem jarring, but I contend she's been trying to do these very same kinds of power-pop songs from the start. Don't forget that Exile was promoted with "Never Said," the least representative song on the album. And what are songs like "Supernova," "What Makes You Happy" or even "Rocket Boy" other than attempts to get played on the radio? As I've grown older, I'm actually finding myself pulling even further away from records that are "pleasant" listens, and Exile is still one of my top three albums of all time. But I simply can't knock Liz for continuing in a different direction, and purposely NOT trying to recapture the past. She was a stoner outsider back then, and she isn't now. You also simply can't underestimate how much Brad Wood had to do with the "classic" Liz sound and attitude. It's like comparing the Tony Visconti Bowie records with the Nile Rodgers ones. Liz, like Bowie (and the Beatles, Nirvana, U2 or any number of other extremely influential acts), is an artist whose work is shaped immensely by her producers. I find the new album far more honest and entertaining than watching the hideously embarrassing antics of acts like the Stones, trying to appear hip, angry and relevant while they're appearing on soap operas and mortgage commercials at the very same time. The old stoner Liz is gone. And in case you hadn't noticed, so is '90s indie rock. Luckily, we still have those CDs in our collection, and we can visit any time we want. ;) Now, on to MY question for the group. It's been a long time since I've heard a discussion of this topic, and I might be behind the times. Has anyone ever cleaned up the Girlysounds better than those terrible Bliss and Fetish boot CDs from the late '90s? I own some of the lowest-generation cassettes of anyone I know, and I do a lot of audio production. If there's a need/appetite for more modern and optimized transfers, I'd be happy to do it. Trust me: I know what I'm doing with this stuff. There are many places in the Girlysounds where tape hiss will be far preferable to the digital noise reduction that makes the Bliss and Fetish version totally unlistenable to my ears. But if someone's already done that work, could you please let me know so that I don't waste my time? I know GS discs show up on Ebay constantly, but you never know what you're getting (and some of them are clearly the Bliss and Fetish ones). I oppose strongly selling these recordings, but I'd certainly trade and/or work out an old-fashioned "tape" tree. Ciao, Derek ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:30:24 -0500 From: "Bill Callahan" Subject: [support-system] Battle of the Alt Rock Stars? I forgot to mention this in my annual post last week but.........in the latest Harp issue(w a/Liz interview) there is an article of Not so Great moments in music. One of the entries is of an ABC Battle of the Alt Rock Stars(Indies vs. majors) in homage to the old Battle of the Network Stars. Apparently Roone Arledge(head of ABC) wanted to capitolize on the Alt rock boom started by Nirvana. Participants included Billy Corgan, Chris Cornell, Bob Pollard, Henry Rollins, Krist Novaselic and 1 Ms. Liz Phair among others. Apparently Ms. Lizzie got her ass kicked by Ani DiFranco in ping- pong.(Who was the major in 1995?) Did anybody ever see this? Or tape it. Would love to see that competition. I guess I'm the only 1 though. It drew 82,000 viewers and is the lowest rated show in TV history. Ouch! There were going to be more shows but the ratings stopped that. Did see Liz at the Avalon in Boston this past Friday. Won't give a review but it was pretty good. Not really liking the way they've changed some of th e old stuff. No little guitar solo in Mesmerizing? In contrast to someone's review of the Philly show.....audience was pretty dead. She even commented on it at some point. She looked great in just jeans and a nice top. Much more conservatively dressed that in many past shows. See you next year, Bill in CT ;-) ------------------------------ End of support-system-digest V8 #140 ************************************