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New Liz Phair LP Gets Title, Release Date

James Gregory reports:
More details on the new studio LP from Liz Phair have finally come to light. A quick stop by her official website reveals a recent layout overhaul, with the updated news section proudly announcing that the album, now boasting the Celine-worthy title Somebody's Miracle, has been given a firm street date of October 4.

Following 2003's cred-neutering self-titled release, the presence of producer John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Jason Mraz) doesn't do much for our reservations, although Phair recently told Spin to expect a slightly less glossy approach than her previous release. "I wouldn't say it sounds like old Liz Phair," she offered, "But it's definitely more band-driven than pop. The last record had a lot more shebang in the production; this has a lot more emphasis on the songs."

And speaking of songs, a full tracklist has yet to surface, but fans wanting a preview of the upcoming album can head over to radio news site FMBQ, which is offering a stream of the first single, "Everything to Me", which is expected to hit airwaves on August 1. Other tracks said to be in contention for the final release have also surfaced online in the past few months, including "Everything To Me", "Giving It All to You", "Part of Me", "Lost Tonight", "Stop By", "Table for One", and the title cut, "Somebody's Miracle".

In related news, a handful of new dates have recently been added to Phair's previously announced late-summer tour in support of the new LP. The 15-date trek is been billed as an acoustic-only affair, with the first show kicking off in Boston this week. And while we're happy the formerly stage-wary Phair has amped up her touring duties as of late, the reviews for her recent Lollapalooza performance have been less than kind, driving ChartAttack's Noah Love to declare it, "No question the most embarrassing set of the afternoon." But hey, soccer moms need concerts too, so don't let that discourage you! Enter the matrix:

07-26 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
07-27 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
07-29 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
07-30 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
08-01 New York, NY - Joe's Pub
08-02 New York, NY - Joe's Pub
08-04 Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
08-05 Alexandria, VA - The Birchmere
08-10 West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour
08-11 West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour
08-12 West Hollywood, CA - The Troubadour
08-16 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
08-17 Portland, OR - Douglas Fir Lounge
08-18 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
08-19 San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Hall

* Liz Phair: http://www.lizphair.com/

_______________

Shall we give her another chance?

The Infidel

Kick ass! Liz is my goddess.

Matt

Compared to the five years it took between WCSE and the last album, this one is coming out lightning fast, so that's a good thing. I've lost a little faith in Liz since the last one, but I don't see any mention of The Matrix, so I guess that's a good thing, too.

Elldubtoo

Somebody's Miracle In Stores October 4th
Somebody's Miracle, produced by John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Jason Mraz) and John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak, Melissa Etheridge), will be released by Capitol Records on October 4th. Phair recorded the album at The Village Studios in West Los Angeles.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fielding Mellish

As is standard with any Liz Phair post:

:nopics:

CRM114

Liz Phair is dead to me. I saw her plastered on the wall at The Gap too.

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Spiderbite

Nice. More please!

dolphinboy

Is that why you took so long in the changing room?

The Infidel

I think I just released my H.W.C.

Osiris

Manual release?

Buford T Pusser

She once told me my lens was big and we partied until early morning. She's a big tease but I still like her.

I'm sure some of you have read my story about meeting her, hanging in the studio, etc. so I'll save you the boredom.

Spiderbite

I haven't. Link? (I'm lazy)

Rypro 525

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...ighlight=phair
the pics in that thread (as well as this thread) are dead, but maybe buford would be nice and repost them since they were amazing (and those "other" pics would be nice as well)

Buford T Pusser

Thanks Rypro! I was about to do a search. If I remember what disc those pix are on I'll post them again. I still haven't found the negatives of her nude shots that were projected in concert. Or the ones I shot of her with Material Issue in the studio that I referenced in the story from the other thread. They are in a box in the basement that I haven't seen since moving six years ago.

Buford T Pusser

Watching "I Love the 70's" right now and they were talking about Candies shoes.

They showed Liz and she said "and I learned then that as long as your shoes were hot you'd be okay."

True words and as I said in the other thread, she loves to buy shoes.


Not Liz, but another Chicago blonde:

Buford T Pusser

From today's NY Times




The Independence of Liz Phair


By DAVID CARR


Liz Phair, former crown princess of indie music, has news for all those who
wish she would go back to opening up a vein so listeners can feel her pain.

She does not feel theirs.

"I don't remember that time as fun or happy," she said, recalling the days in
1993 after she released "Exile in Guyville," a gender-bent song-for-song
retort to the 1972 Rolling Stones album, "Exile on Main Street." The CD was
hailed
as a revelation, but since then, she has steadfastly refused to live down or
up to her early reputation as the coolest girl at the party. Ms. Phair has
made four CD's since "Exile," and the latest, "Somebody's Miracle" - due out
in
October - will do nothing to quiet critics and fans who suggest she traded
mesmerizing musical idiosyncrasy for a more common, commercial sound.

"If you are an old fan and it doesn't fit what you need, don't buy the disc,"
she said with firmness, but no rancor. "People hang their hopes on you
fitting into their CD collection in way that they have made a space for, but
I'm
playing a longer game than that."

Ms. Phair, 38, who has spent the past few years as a piqata for critics, is
nonetheless in a very sunny mood. She is in the midst of a lo-fi, nine-city
tour with her boyfriend and accompanist, Dino Meneghin. Sitting on Pier 25 in
Lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon before playing at Joe's Pub last night and
tonight, she had to be persuaded to sit down at a picnic table rather than hop
in a nearby kayak and paddle into the Hudson. The duo is doing three songs a
night from the new record and then mostly winging it, grabbing requests
shouted
from the audience and playing B-sides and oldies as whimsy indicates.

"Every night we play a challenge song, which is one we might have rehearsed
and then one hack job where we just do our best," she said. With its acoustic
setting and reach-back into her oeuvre, the tour should be a crowd pleaser,
which is something Ms. Phair has not been spending much career time on. Her
last
record, self-titled, but radio ready, drew particularly visceral criticism.

"Hating, I can understand," she said. "I hate stuff too. I can get with
that. But some of it is personal and weird. I don't like being approached by
people who look at me too intensely, who needed something from me that I
didn't
have. I don't represent anything. I am just like you and everyone else. I am
trying to live my life as best I can."

Ms. Phair is a fickle cult figure, who was surprised by the adoration when it
was forthcoming and seemed mystified by the disappointment that came behind
it.

She jumped up to take pictures of passing boats and sipped on a half-caf iced
soy latte - "I tamper with everything, including coffee," she said - seeming
relatively self-aware, if not as self-involved in a way that made for
compelling songwriting in the past.

"Am I coasting on some early success? Yeah," she said. "It was a good lucky
break for me. But I would rather earn my way back again than simply conform to
what people are expecting."

In the one version of Ms. Phair's career, she took all her early promise and
squandered it on her last album with a production team that confected Avril
Lavigne. She pointed out that the record did pretty well, not huge, but enough
to keep her and hers - she has an 8-year-old-son - in food and shelter.

Ms. Phair said the record's singles, a particular genre of music, required
plenty of compromises. "I would argue with the producers and listen and then
say, 'Yeah, take my guitar off the record, because you know you want to.' I
fought for the songs I wanted and cared about and tried to piece it back
together
in a way that was meaningful to me."

Her label, Capitol, put major juice and money behind the singles, and she
trudged from morning show to morning show, plugging it with whatever wacky
guys
happened to be sitting in front of the mics. But it was not a strictly
commercial undertaking, she added. The mostly nude cover art and a one-song
ode to the
health effects of semen meant Wal-Mart and Starbucks were not much interested
in "Liz Phair" by Liz Phair. The fact that the project was self-titled only
doubled the rejection.

Ms. Phair pointed out that she never signed with a major label to begin with
and has tried to make the most of what has happened: Matador, the indie label
she signed with, made a deal with Atlantic, and a later deal with Capitol
Records, and so on.

"I figured if I was going to float, I would have to find a way to navigate
these waters and still maintain what I like to do," Ms. Phair said. "I like
doing the photo shoots, the interviews, the videos, but the bottom line is
that I
like to sit in my bedroom and write these little songs. I am still making
records and still have a measure of control over my music, and that is not
easy
to come by."

But, she added, "I think what I do is still pretty identifiable. I think I
have a quirkiness and a melodic sense that you won't confuse with anyone
else."

Tiny, with a bustier framed by an overlay of white blouse and a skirt that
demonstrates motherhood has not changed her penchant for showing some casual
leg, Ms. Phair would be hard to mistake for someone else. Her do-me feminism
and
frank sexual lyrics may be part of what put the mostly-male rock criticism
community in a tizzy to begin with.

Ms. Phair has lived her life in opposition to whatever has been placed in
front of her. "Exile" was a bitter, compelling retort to both the Rolling
Stones
and all the snotty girls in her suburban neighborhood.

The gesture of "Somebody's Miracle" is more complicated. Conceived as another
song-by-song response - this time to Stevie Wonder's 1976 album, "Songs in
the Key of Life" - it tacked away from that concept to become an album that
gives solace to whoever shows up. There are singles, throwaways and full-on
confessionals - enough to satisfy or embitter various parts of her fan base,
depending.

Which is just about pleasing to Ms. Phair, who might be seen as a diva
without portfolio or a sly genius, depending.

"After all, I'm not sitting in an office telling someone that their
insurance policy doesn't cover their chemotherapy," she said. "Theoretically,
I am
trying to make a piece of music come to life, to try and bring joy and meaning
to
people's lives. That's a pretty good deal."

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Phair unplugs new songs in rushed New York show
By Jonathan Cohen
Tue Aug 2, 9:36 PM ET

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Liz Phair unveiled three tracks from her forthcoming album, "Somebody's Miracle" Monday during the first of two shows at New York's intimate Joe's Pub.

Backed only by guitarist Dino Meneghin, Phair opened with the new song "Table for One" and also played the title track, the single "Everything to Me" and "Closer to You," which didn't make the final cut for the 14-track set.

"I'm getting into the whole supper club thing," Phair said with a laugh. "I could have a fallback career." Later, she quizzed the audience, "Are you guys enjoying your dinner? Are you having fish?"

Because another show was booked in the club later in the evening, the artist was forced to rush through the last portion of the set, which clocked in at less than an hour. As fans began to shout out requests, Phair committed to playing "Everything to Me," telling the crowd, "Come on, come on, I love my single."

The show featured such older favorites as "Divorce Song," "Supernova," "F*** and Run," "Never Said" and "Polyester Bride," as well as the rarity "If I Ever Pay You Back" and "Extraordinary," an oft-licensed track from Phair's 2003 self-titled album.

"Somebody's Miracle" is due Oct. 4 via Capitol. In support, Phair will tour North America with a full band beginning around the release date. Her current acoustic jaunt will wrap with an Aug. 24-26 stand at Blue Orchid in her Chicago hometown.

REUTERS

auto

and since someone mentioned that other pic was gone:

dolphinboy

We a concert dvd from this tour.

Buford T Pusser

Rypro 525

there was a concert on comcast channel 8 (music choice) from the last club tour, and it was shot in widescreen, so mabye a dvd is coming soon.

Buford T Pusser

Sounds good!

Buford T Pusser

Well I haven't actually heard it but I'm guessing it sounds good.

I mean good if it comes out.

Matt

Bumping for next week's release. . .

Anyone heard any of the new stuff yet?

I haven't, but a guy in the local paper wrote a little blurb on it and from what he said, it sounded promising. . .