Liz Phair

  • New Haven, CT
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  • Rock
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  • 1991
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About Liz Phair

Official Site: http://lizphair.com/ | @Liz_Phair | facebook.com/lizphair


Growing out of the American underground of the late '80s, Liz Phair fused lo-fi indie rock production techniques with the sensibility and structure of classic singer/songwriters. Exile in Guyville, her gold-selling debut album, was enthusiastically praised upon its 1993 release, and spawned a rash of imitators during the following years, particularly American female singer/songwriters. For her part, Phair wasn't able to fully break into the mainstream, even with the support of the press and MTV. Whip-Smart, her second album, was heavily promoted upon its 1994 release, yet despite its relatively strong chart positions, it was viewed as a disappointment, and Phair's momentum declined steadily during the mid-'90s, as she took several years to record her third album.

Phair was born on April 17, 1967, in New Haven, CT. She was adopted by wealthy parents who raised her in the Chicago suburb Winnetka and later send her to Oberlin College in Ohio, where she studied art. At Oberlin, she became fascinated with underground indie rock and eventually became friends with guitarist Chris Brokaw, who would later join the alt-rock outfit Come. Following their college graduation, Phair and Brokaw both moved to San Francisco, where she tried to become an artist.

Eventually, Brokaw moved out east and Phair headed back to Chicago, where she began writing songs in earnest. She also started releasing homemade tapes of these songs under the name Girlysound. While she supported herself by selling her charcoal drawings on the streets of Wicker Park, she became entrenched in various portions of the Chicago alternative music scene; in particular, she struck up friendships with Urge Overkill, a drummer named Brad Wood, and John Henderson, the head of the Chicago-based indie label Feel Good All Over. Henderson and Phair tried to re-record some of the Girlysound tapes with Wood, yet the pair had a falling out during the sessions, leaving Wood as Phair's only collaborator. Brokaw, who had by then joined Come, was still receiving Girlysound tapes, and he eventually gave a copy to Gerard Cosley, the head of Come's record label, Matador. By the summer of 1992, Matador had signed Phair and she began recording her debut album in earnest.

Adapting its title from an Urge Overkill song, Exile in Guyville was released to strong reviews in the summer of 1993. Many articles focused on Phair's claim that the double album was structured as a response to the Rolling Stones' classic Exile on Main St. Over the course of the year, the record slowly built a dedicated following in America, both among critics and alternative rock fans. At the end of the year, it topped many Best of the Year critics polls, including The Village Voice and Spin. With all the attention focused on Phair, many indie rock figures -- particularly members of the Chicago noise rock scene like Steve Albini -- were developing a resentment toward her and launching an attack at the singer and the heavy media attention Exile in Guyville received. The criticism couldn't halt Phair's progress, though, and in early 1994 she launched her first tour, which was plagued by her stage fright. Around the same time, MTV began airing "Never Said" and, as a result of all the hype, the album briefly appeared in the charts in February. By the spring of 1994 it had sold over 200,000 copies -- a remarkable number for an independent release. It eventually sold over 500,000.

By that time, Phair had begun work on her follow-up record. Matador had signed a distribution deal with Atlantic Records in 1994, and her second album was going to be one of the first to be heavily promoted by the alliance. Indeed, Whip-Smart was released to a whirlwind of media attention -- including Phair, dressed only in negligee, on the cover of Rolling Stone -- and debuted at number 27 upon its fall 1994 release. "Supernova," the first single from the album, received heavy airplay on MTV and alternative rock radio, becoming a Top Ten modern rock hit. However, Whip-Smart received mediocre reviews and never developed into the hit that it was expected to be, although it still went gold. Phair didn't tour to support the album and was slow to deliver a second single. By the time the title track was released as a single in the spring of 1995, the album had disappeared from the charts.

Phair quietly retreated from the spotlight during 1995, marrying Jim Staskausas, a Chicago-based film editor who had previously worked on Phair's videos. Later that summer, she released the Juvenilia EP, which was essentially the "Jealousy" single amplified with the first official release of Girlysound material. During the summer of 1996, she released "Rocket Boy," a single pulled from the Stealing Beauty soundtrack that received little attention. For much of 1996, Phair worked on her third album with producer Scott Litt, but she remained unsatisfied with their sound and had officially scrapped the sessions by the time fall came around. Toward the end of 1996, Staskausas and Phair announced she was several months pregnant. On December 21, 1996, Phair gave birth to her first child, James Nicholas Staskausas. Her long-delayed, much-anticipated third LP, whitechocolatespaceegg, finally appeared in mid-1998.

Five years later, Phair returned with a controversial self-titled album. Liz Phair, which appeared in June 2003, and found her working with singer/songwriter Michael Penn and the Matrix, the latter of whom had risen to prominence in the pop world by launching artists like Avril Lavigne. Jimmy Chamberlin, Wendy Melvoin, and Pete Yorn also contributed to Phair's newly slick sound. When Liz Phair appeared, though, it was panned by purist rock critics and militant Liz nerds who felt she'd sold them out with the record's pop star sensibilities. Phair stood up for her work in typically brash fashion -- at times, it seemed like she even invited the fan boy ridicule -- and the album was a decent hit, with the leadoff single "Why Can't I" peaking at number 27 on the Billboard charts. Another album, Somebody's Miracle, appeared in fall 2005, but its relatively soft sound resulted in the slowest sales of Phair's career.

After reissuing Exile in Guyville in 2008, Phair began working on a number of offbeat, highly unconventional songs, many of which dealt with her recent departure from Capitol Records. Tired of working with record labels, she chose to release the material herself. Funstyle was appropriately released on her own website in July 2010, with the bhangra-influenced "Bollywood" becoming the album's first single; a physical release of Funstyle, paired with an EP of Girlysound demos, appeared in the fall. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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Music

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  • Why Can't I? (Unplugged)
    liz-phair
    Video
    Why Can't I? (Unplugged)
  • Jealousy
    liz-phair
    Video
    Jealousy
  • Why Can't I?
    liz-phair
    Video
    Why Can't I?
  • Supernova
    liz-phair
    Video
    Supernova
  • 38140
    SoundStream
    SoundStream
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    All the music you want, just 10 bucks a month. Try it free.
    • Why Can't I
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/3/0/6/5/105456039.mp3
    • Extraordinary
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/5/9/1/2/1/105312195.mp3
    • Supernova
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/3/6/8/0/2/105420863.mp3
    • Polyester Bride
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/1/3/3/0/4/105640331.mp3
    • F*ck And Run
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/3/7/7/9/3/991939773.mp3
    • Never Said
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/9/9/8/9/3/991939899.mp3

Interviews & Exclusives

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  • Meeting Liz Phair
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    Meeting Liz Phair
  • Regina Spektor On Liz Phair
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    Regina Spektor On Liz Phair

Photos

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  • Liz Phair poses for photos before performing a concert at the Hudson Theather to kick off the Mabelline Chicks With Attitude tour, in New York.
    Liz Phair
    Liz Phair poses for photos before performing a concert at the Hudson Theather to kick off the Mabelline Chicks With Attitude tour, in New York.
    David S. Holloway/Getty Images
  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair
    Liz Phair
    publicity
  • Liz Phair
    Courtesy of Capitol Records
  • Liz Phair

News

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  • Liz Phair
    The 100 Greatest Songs Of the '90s
    VH1 Tuner
    May 23, 2013
    From the decade that brought us hits by Beck, Bell Biv Devoe, and Britney Spears, VH1 lists the 100 Greatest Songs of the ‘90s . Seattle’s grunge...
    Read More
  • Liz Phair
    Billboard Bits: U2, Liz Phair, JCPenney
    www.billboard.com
    in the United States.As previously reported, expanded reissues of U2's first three albums, "Boy," "October" and "War," will arrive Tuesday (July 22).-...
    Read More
  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair Feeling 'Natural' On New Album
    www.billboard.com
    Although it's still without a title or track listing, Liz Phair's new album is in its final recording stages. "This I can tell you: all my sloppiness ...
    Read More
  • Liz Phair
    Rocker Liz Phair serves up sloppy new album
    music.yahoo.com
    Although it's still without a title or track listing, Liz Phair's new album is in its final recording stages ahead of a fall release. "This I can tell...
    Read More
  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair Contributes Awful New Song to Banana Republic Compilation
    www.pitchfork.com
    Question: Where do you have out after the show? Liz Phair: I'm sorry to tell you that I go home ;). Or back on the bus. :):) I always say, "You can't ...
    Read More
  • Liz Phair
    He Said, She Said: How Liz Phair Took the Rolling Stones to 'Guyville'
    www.rollingstone.com
    version. Most women don't spend their lives sitting in bars maybe going home with people, but we often ... He Said, She Said: How Liz Phair Took the R...
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  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair: New Album "Lost Me My Management and My Record Deal"
    www.pitchfork.com
    article, Phair elaborates a bit on her break with ATO Records, Dave Matthews' label, which reissued her classic Exile in Guyville in 2008. In an email...
    Read More
  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair Finally Releases Girlysound Tapes
    www.pitchfork.com
    Before releasing her landmark 1993 debut album Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair recorded three mysterious demo cassettes as Girlysound. These tapes made P...
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  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair Brings Her 'Funstyle' to New Album, New Label | Billboard.com
    www.billboard.com
    Two years ago, Liz Phair did a round of interviews announcing a new deal with powerhouse indie label ATO and stating that she felt creative for the fi...
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  • Liz Phair
    Video: Liz Phair Remembers ‘Exile in Guyville’
    www.rollingstone.com
    for release October 19th (on Rocket Science), but was in Vegas to reconnect with old friends, including the Matador art director who wandered into the...
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  • Liz Phair
    Liz Phair: WTF
    www.pitchfork.com
    totally unexpected over the holiday weekend: Offering up a new album on her website. A batshit weird new album. Funstyle, the first new Liz Phair albu...
    Read More

Discography

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  • Funstyle (2010)
    Liz Phair
    Funstyle (2010)
    Rocket Science Ventures
  • Somebody's Miracle (2005)
    Liz Phair
    Somebody's Miracle (2005)
    Capitol
  • Liz Phair (2003)
    Liz Phair
    Liz Phair (2003)
    Capitol/EMI Records
  • whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)
    Liz Phair
    whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)
    Capitol/EMI Records
  • Whip-Smart (1994)
    Liz Phair
    Whip-Smart (1994)
    Capitol/EMI Records
  • Exile in Guyville (1993)
    Liz Phair
    Exile in Guyville (1993)
    Capitol/EMI Records
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