umkay.
from nytimes:
So she teamed up with the Matrix — the songwriter/producer masterminds behind the teenybopper Avril Lavigne's recent top-40 hits "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi" — in search of a radio hit. The Matrix are now writing songs for everyone from Britney to Ricky Martin, and they're not exactly in the business of making a singer sound more like herself.

wow.

how...................... depressing.

at least i still have 'fuck & run' and ain't nuthin' gonna take it away.

Before I have my say, I should note that the only Liz I've heard prior to this was when I heard Guyville at a party about 10 years ago, so I'm not really familiar with what she used to sound like.

Just having a listen through the new album, and to say it is lacking in originality is perhaps an understatement. I really can't see myself ever craving another listen of this. It's not that it's terrible, it's just too polished and nondistinct. She's one step away from being The Corrs. Well, that might be pushing it, but even Nina Gordon's Tonight And The Rest Of My Life is rough and edgy by comparison.

As far as the image thing goes, let's not forget that Ol' Lizzy is 36, so if she's going for the sex goddess act, she's gotta get in there while the gettin's good.

Would be great to see her sing "Hot White Cum" on the Today Show, though.

Fact alert: Liz Phair is released 10 years and 2 days after Exile In Guyville.

There's an interview with Liz in the new Spin -- after a quite excellent Jane's Addiction oral history -- that puts the whole "new album thing" in much better perspective. Basically she doesn't have another "Guyville" in her and would rather just rock out than attempt to fake that sort of album again.

Of course she says it much better and the interviewer gets kinda snarky with her which is pretty amusing. Hmm, two decent articles in Spin this month...the apocalypse must be just around the corner...

I haven't heard the new album yet, but I had to post a reply because I think the sex/image/sellout part of this thread is interesting.

First of all, I think you could safely say that Liz Phair has always used her sexuality as a marketing tool. Maybe she didn't think about it that blantatly at the time, maybe the photos wern't as glossy, but her image has always been kindof a turn-on and sold well because of it. This is a sexy and mysterious image:



I wish image wasn't so important, but it is. And everybody from The Beatles to Britney, Pavement to Prince, Neil Young to Neil Diamond knows it. Daniel Johnson is about the only songwriter I can think of who is not capitalizing on his image. And even then, he is sort of the anti-image... which is just the other side of the same coin.

I think it's weird that Liz and Jewell did it at the same time. Is this the music biz's version of competing summer blockbusters?

From Yahoo:



Musician Liz Phair (news) poses in New York, June 5, 2003. Phair has set off an extraordinary debate in the rock world simply by making a disc, her first in five years, designed to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Some fans feel betrayed, others are intrigued. (AP Photo/Jim Cooper)

ALSO:

Thread topic changed: Liz Phair's new album // Liz Phair's new image