There are two things I'd like to share with you.

First, this Craigslist ad that Mindy found:



There are no words.

Secondly, I wrote a post on This Recording about Liz Phair. You should read it.

What It Feels Like For A Girl

I posted the following on Tumblr, but since I don't have much else to talk about today, I figured I'd post it here as well. By the way, I am seeing Liz Phair perform Exile in Guyville tomorrow night and I'm already about to pee my pants with excitement.

I’m surprised the Pitchfork review of the Exile in Guyville reissue wasn’t more offensive; I’m glad they gave it a high rating (a 9.6; I still think it should be a 10, but I guess their biggest problem was the reissue didn’t offer more extras, so fine). But, as always, I have an issue with the way Pitchfork publishes its “reviews.”

My big issue is the first three paragraphs:

You break all kinds of unwritten rules when you’re a guy who admires a girl. The white suburban kids who idolize gangster rappers are old news, and the rich kids have always loved to rub elbows with the poor. But when a man tries to identify with a woman, he doesn’t just hit the normal problems of “white male gaze” and “exploitation of the other” and “being a jackass”: There’s also the third rail of male sexuality, where identifying too closely with a woman might make you seem, perish the thought, sensitive. So instead, the guys who dig a girl like Liz Phair have to play up the attraction, the lust, the submission to a rock’n’roll goddess— even when, for many of them, the lust ain’t the main draw.

The other tactic is to take credit for what she’s done. And guys can take plenty of credit for Phair’s early career. Rock critics like Bill Wyman brought Phair to Chicago’s attention when they ranted and raved about Guyville weeks before the thing came out. The Rolling Stones recorded Exile on Main Street, the loose template for Guyville’s 18 tracks— and one of the blues-rock genomes that saved this from being just another singer-songwriter set. And a couple other guys, co-producer Brad Wood and engineer Casey Rice, helped nail the minimalist production of Guyville and its follow-up, the underrated Whip-Smart.

It was the guys like her Johnny or her Joe— the titular guys in the indie boy’s club centered in and around Chicago’s Wicker Park— who preened for her, dicked her over, and taught her how to push back, inspiring her and making it necessary for her to write these songs in the first place. And it was guys who took the piss when she started headlining at venues that were too big for an amateur. Playing a New Year’s Eve show at the Metro as your sixth or seventh gig is a lot to bite off. And if I recall correctly, she bit. But stagecraft and starpower weren’t the point: Those of us who were taken in by Phair loved her because she was— sorry to use the word— real.

I’ve bitched before about Pitchfork’s reviews; I generally just look at the rating instead of reading the actual article because, as in the case of Exile, it isn’t so much about the music as it is about the author writing the review. So here we have this guy who, ironically, is one of the targets of Liz Phair’s album. And he spends the first third of the review talking about how hard it is for him to like the album because he’s a guy?

I think that’s silly, and I could write a whole other essay on the subject of this stupid societal construct of masculinity and blah, blah, blah. I think the point I’m trying to make is that the album is good because it is good, not because it makes you know how it feels to be a girl. Hell, I relate to this album and I don’t think it’s solely about dating guys.

Sure, the “woman thing” has certainly been an issue in how Liz Phair has been received as an artist (I truly believe that is why she is such an outsider in the music industry, because no one knew how to manage her music), but I don’t think all of her music has to come down to that black and white issue. Most of the time, Liz Phair writes and sings in character, not as herself, and in several instances those characters have been men

Naturally as a guy, I can’t speak for what women saw in the record back then, or how young women will take it now. But of all the albums written from a woman’s perspective, this is one of the most accessible to men. It’s intriguing to watch her deal with us— not as a mere revolutionary, but as someone who knows that sex will always be tough, so she always has to be tougher. She’s been tested in ways we never will be, and we understand just enough to admire her for it. Men don’t get what it’s like to be a woman. But spinning this record, you swear that you could.

“Men don’t get what it’s like to be a woman.” You know what? If you put forth a little effort (which doesn’t mean just listen to an 18-song album), you could probably figure it out sometime.

Entertainers bring May flowers.

I have been extremely busy at work for the past two days, so I haven't had time to even think about posting anything, but I DO have an article up on This Recording about Exile in Guyville, and I think you should read / listen to it, especially if you're my friend (which you must be).

Stratford-on-Guy

I think about this song whenever I fly in or out of Chicago.

OMG OMG OMG.

Oh, good news! Liz Phair, who was recently (and silently) dropped from Capitol Records after they completely bungled her career and last two albums (Yes.), has signed to a new label, which is reissuing Exile In Guyville in time for its 15th anniversary (it is currently out of print). And it comes with bonus tracks: a few of her demo recordings, which I already have. But still, it's good news! And a new album in the fall, which will hopefully redeem her last two efforts!

This is all very funny because I have been listening to this album religiously over the past week, as it is still hitting very hard. And I was planning on writing an article (maybe two!) for This Recording about it.

NOW, Pitchfork just needs to add Liz to the lineup for ATO's Don't Look Back and my life will forever be complete.

Also, I was JUST about to post this thought:


That album cover made so many people angry because Liz Phair was 36 when she posed for it.

But this, apparently, is JUST FINE:

I heard the rest in your head.

(Previously deleted, but put back because Jackie bitched about not being able to leave a comment. FINE.)

"That's exactly what lesbians say."

Occasionally, I have nutty GChat conversations with Katy. Sometimes the stuff she says is so fascinating that I want to share them with the world. To know Katy is to love her, but to read transcriptions of her instant messages is to look deeply into her soul.

Today, Katy got all sassy with me about my music tastes, which naturally evolved into a conversations about lesbians. With Katy, it always turns into a conversation about lesbians.


Katy: julia and i had an extensive conversation about who we hate more: john mayer or james blunt
me: oof, james blunt.
Katy: thats what she said
Katy: i tend to agree
me: john mayer at least had a mediocre career for a while that wasn't completely tragic
Katy: the sad thing is that anyone likes either of them
me: i liked his first album
Katy: ugh
me: it really spoke to me when i was 18
Katy: i have hated him since day 1
Katy: radiohead spoke to me when i was 18
me: this was also around the time dashboard confessional spoke to me, so give me a break
me: i was misled
Katy: you and my sister were kindred spirits
Katy: i forget you're of a younger generation than me
me: oh shut up, i'm a year younger
me: we're the same generation
me: liz phair was also speaking to me, and that one stuck
me: at least her first album did
Katy: how are you not a lesbian?
me: shut up, exile in guyville is not lesbian rock
Katy: yes it is!!
me: just because i listened to some indigo girls BRIEFLY does not make me a lesbian
me: NO
me: it is not lesbian
Katy: sigh
me: whitechocolatespaceegg MAYBE
me: exile in guyville transcends gender and sexuality
Katy: i dont even know because i never listened to it
me: it's about all of us, katy. it's about all of us.
Katy: thats exactly what lesbians say
me: i think you're a horrible person sometimes.
Katy: why?!
me: BECAUSE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING.
Katy: you cant take the heat, mister
Katy: i have never preferred female bands or singers anyway
me: that's because you hate women.
Katy: i like my mom
me: that's not a good argument
Katy: i had a roommate that was a lesbian and we were BFFs
Katy: and she was 35
me: what? you had a 35 year old roommate?
Katy: it was during an internship at the place i did therapeutic horsemanship, so we lived together for 3 months
me: how are YOU not a lesbian?
Katy: because i like to be pretty
me: lesbians like to be pretty
Katy: not hannah, my 35 yr old roommate
me: 35 year olds don't like to be pretty, katy.
Katy: angie harmon does
me: just when i think i'm winning, you pull out a law and order reference
Katy: thank you!
me: dick wolf runs your life.