Just found this short note on Liz's new album which they now say is due in 2009 and has Jeff Trott ( Sheryl Crow ) and John ( fucking )Alagia again ( Somebody's Miracle, Dave Matthews ) doing production along with what it says are several other producers. GOD!! I hope this album doesn't turn out like Sheryl Crow meets SM. Alagia's production on SM was THE biggest problem with that record!! I hope I'm wrong, but I have become less optimistic about this album with the mention of Alagia. here's the link: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/inde...rses-liz-phair/

Yeah, I hear ya. Sheryl Crow's records have always had pretty quirky arrangements, but just the mention of those names... it's as if someone said, 'Despite Phair's best efforts to keep the atmosphere loose and sloppy and full of her signature sounds, there's still a really good chance that the album will turn out to be another generic snoozefest!'

But the fact that it's on ATO, combined with her insistence that she's totally in control and feeling really creative... I'd say there's still reason to stay at least guardedly optimistic about it.

OK Jeremy, I'll keep the faith. If Liz says its "sloppy" and she is in total control, I'll try and stay positive. I actually do like alot of Sheryl's stuff, I just don't want our girl sounding like Sheryl or someone else for that matter. I want her sounding like LIZ FUCKIN' PHAIR!! Keep it "messy" Liz!!

let's just expect the worst. hahaha.

no, but seriously. we have no reason to believe that it will ever be guyville or whip-smart quality. hell, even wcse quality. let's just not expect that because it will end in tears. but i'll just keep on believing that the songs will probably be in the same quality of the best somebody's miracle and the self titled had to offer.

anyway, i miss her. so i'll take anything.

I don’t know why people continually poo poo WCSE, it’s her best completely realized record to date.

you are correct. it also happens to be her best record. it's my favorite of hers. i don't see why it ranks so low among people's lists of best liz phair albums.

I knew we were in trouble when I heard the new live song. My prognosis was negative then, but now, with these same production people? I don't think Liz got the message, but even more than Fub, I don't care, I miss her.

Why would Liz be working with John Alagia again? Didn't she say recently she was unhappy with the production on Somebody's Miracle?

Remember, though, that SM and LP had Capitol overseeing everything and steering. Hopefully left more to their own devices these people will do a better/less modern tin-pan alley job.

Listening to SM right now.

WCSE is my 2nd fav after EIG.

John Mayer: (Produced and Mixed)
Room For Squares: Billboard Top 200 peak - #8
Any Given Thursday: Billboard Top 200 peak - #17
No Such Thing: Top 40 singles peak - #5
Your Body is a Wonderland: Top 40 singles peak - #3
Why Georgia: Top 40 singles peak - #8

Jason Mraz: (Produced and Mixed)
You and I Both - Top 40 singles peak - #15
Waiting for My Rocket to Come: Billboard Top 200 peak - #55
The Remedy: Top 40 singles peak - #4

Dave Matthews Band: (Produced and/or Mixed)
Concert in Central Park - Billboard Top 200 peak - #14
Busted Stuff - Billboard Top 200 peak - #1 (Mixed)
Grey Street - Top 40 singles peak - #18 (Mixed)
Listener Supported - Billboard Top 200 peak - #15
Live in Chicago - Billboard Top 200 peak - #6
Live in Fulsom - Billboard Top 200 peak - #9

OAR: (Produced and Mixed)
In Between Now & Then - Billboard Top 200 peak - #54
Hey Girl : Top 40 singles peak - #26

Liz Phair : (Produced and Mixed)
Somebody's Miracle - Billboard Top 200 peak - #46

Rachael Yamagata: (Produced and Mixed)
Float On - Billboard Modern Rock peak - #1

Josh Kelley: (Produced and Mixed)
For the Ride Home: Billboard Top 200 peak - #159
Amazing: Top 40 singles peak - #8

Evermore

* Dreams (2004) - ARIA certified Platinum
* Real Life (2006) - ARIA certified Platinum

Lifehouse

* Self-titled (2005) - Gold

Mandy Moore

* Wild Hope (2007) Billboard Top 200 peak - #30

Vertical Horizon

* Running on Ice (1995)
* Live Stages (1997)


So much for that.

yamagata shows hope.

Well that’s disappointing

as much as i thought the new song (Ding Dong) when I saw it in Chicago was a step in the right direction - (lyrically - heads and tails beyond almost anything on her last two records) - the voice she used...unsettled me. It wasn't awful...but it stuck out like a SORE THUMB - especially after hearing her use "Old Liz singing voice" all night.
She proved on stage that she can STILL sing like the Liz we love.
She proved on stage that she can STILL play like the Liz we love.
I think Brad Wood said it best in that documentary about Guyville...there is a moment when Liz says - "Now that I have learned how to sing..." and he kind of interrupts her and says: "Oh you always sang just fine!"
and she did!
lo fi is Liz at her best, hands down.
"Don't give a fuck" vocals - and bare bones instruments. Bass. Guitar. drums.
Sure - layer up the vocals. Throw in a few Whitechocolatespaceeggy production-warbles here and there...but slick and polished?
(Sorry..dead horse, I know).

My point is - I was worried that with the self-titled and Somebody's Miracle, maybe Liz just didn't "have it" any more. but she swung "it" like a cherry in front of us on the Guyville tour... and i hope that wasn't just a mean tease.
I hope she delivers - and when i say "delivers" - I hope she "relaxes".
if it's about money - her work w/ 90210 and Swingtown must be generating her some decent income...if she wants to make "art" - she should make exactly that. otherwise, why the "F" even bother???
It's not like her last two records were solid gold heads. They "WHy Can't I" fans have picked up a brand new swatch for this season.

I am not putting too much hope in this record... I hope it surprises me. It started out sounding...decent, but I still had that little twitch on my forehead that had my eyebrow raising...
it was a hunch, and I hope i am wrong.

If she really is working w/ the dork who produced Somebody's Miracle...yuck. I mean, at least the self-titled was so blatantly awful it was laughable. I could play tracks like "The Underwear Song" or "Rock Me" or "Extraordinary" or (Insert ANY song here) and say: "Can you FUCKING BELIEVE this is the same woman??!?!?!"
but Somebody's Miracle? That was just boring.
Interesting points, sure...but not enough to carry it.
I actualy melted both albums down into 1 album, and that's all I listen to as far as any of the 2003-2005 songs go.
And even that compiliation is still not all that great.

For a while - I tricked myself into believing that Giving It All To You was a decent song. "Supernova was poppy too!" I tried to convince myself, with a shakey smile.
Of course, much like a two-year old who didn't get what he wanted, my smile quickly quivered, upper lip stuck out and I began to cry.
It sucks and sounds like nothing more than the sad echo of the barrel being scraped for the last time.
The shit. The residue. The crap that you usually leave at the bottom of the glass to be dumped down the sink by the bartender.
Oh, Henry...
Sad, but true.
Everything Between Us was cool. Coulda been on Spaceegg. Wind in the Mountain, sure. Even Leap of Innocence was ok.
but those bland, polished nu-Alanis songs - like - do they really think the audience is going to buy them as "mighty"?

It's like ...wannabe arena-rock, but in really shitty drag.

yuck.

Fingers crossed. Eyebrow raised.

Upper rat lip, snarling.

Dan

I personally like Giving It All To You. Sure, it's got some goofy lyrical moments.. But love makes one goofy, and that's how I rationalize. I'm looking forward to the next record. Hopefully she recorded some "awful" stuff by awful standards, and won't allow too much "refinement" to creep in.

Art for art's sake. That's what I say.

Doesn't anyone remember the thread about Liz's original singing voice? I really don't think anyone but the Cheryl Crowe listeners want her singing like an LA barbie doll, and yes, I guess I was probably just completely dismissive of the new song because of her damned voice, maybe if she'd kept singing in EIG mode I would like it.

she does not sound all that good in the new song, perhaps because it's a live performance. there's a shakiness that's appealing but a bit mortifying. it will sound better recorded properly, i think. even with the sheryl crow voice. sheryl has a really nice voice, you know. her last album was surprisingly, a return to form.

blah stop defending cheryl crowe! and no i don't think any difference in recording is going to get rid of that "voice" she's using unless she bloody stops it!

I have to admit, when I read this news my heart sank a little. It was very unexpected. Frankly, I think Liz should've produced the album herself, or in my dream world, Brad Wood would've done the honors.

I just don't see why Liz would need to turn to producers like Trott and (especially) Alagia. However, I haven't forgotten everything Liz has said during recent interviews about her newfound creative freedom and the messy, underproduced sound of the new material. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. She doesn't deserve anything less. Ultimately, if the songwriting is good, who produced what songs shouldn't really matter in the end. Liz has got the final say on the finished product.

Here are some quotes to remember when you're feeling doubtful about the new album:

Liz talking to Billboard in June:

"This I can tell you: all my sloppiness is in there," she tells Billboard of her ATO debut, due this fall. "I fought all the way through, and I'm not letting anyone take it to a perfected style.

"It's not going to be '[Exile in] Guyville' again, but I'm using all my tools," she continues. "I keep pulling it out of producers' hands, before they can do anything."

The best way I can describe it is 'natural,'" she says. "It has mistakes in it. It has layered background vocals of mine that just make an overall slop, but it's perfect slop."

Liz speaking to Pitchfork in July:

It sounds a little unleashed. I have more vocals behind myself. It's sloppy, but it sounds good. I've been working with dub, and I'm all about less is more at this point. I stop the minute they're at that magic demo level and I won't let anyone touch anything. Everything has to be open and clear, and I think once I get my nine or 10 songs I want to do, I'll go in and layer. Some of them are very pissed off. There are a few touching ones about the vulnerability you feel as you start to open your heart to somebody. And there's sort of a sexual one, I guess. I only have six that I know for sure for sure are going to be on there.

I love Liz Phair. I'm still VERY excited about the new disc.

dub?

is say you a taste test?

The voice...shit, i missed that thread - but i think i would have been all over it.
mind you, liz has experimented w/ "voices" in the past...
when i first heard "Beginning to See the Light" - i have to say - while the lyrics and guitar are cool - i thought: "YUCK".
The falsetto thing - while she has used it well in the past (Johnny Sunshine / live Emotional Rescue at end of Divorce Song) - I was never a fan of Beginning to SEe the Light. All i can think whenever i hear that song is: "Why is she singing like that?!?!? It's FAAR too high for her range!"
It distracts me from the actual song.
layered vocals are cool - like in the Girlysound days... I am just praying she stays away from vocal enhancements. I can taste those like asparatame. Seriously. I think nothing ruins a song like vocal enhancements.
but..if it is sloppy, i am assuming this means she is not going in that direction.
i think a Chicago producer would be a GREAT idea... what about Jim O'Rourke? shit...if Liz made an album that sounded like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I'd be shitting gold.
but nevermind the stupid, pointless Chicago comparrisons... I think production does matter...very much so.
A) She needs ONE hand in the pot and that's it. Someone who gets her sound. Not a hit-maker. ONE hand. Whitechocolatespaceegg had a few too many hands in the pot - and I have ZERO problems with that record - none - I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE that album - but - it is choppier than the others with regard to style and flow...you can tell there were a few different producers on there - and there is the slightest (but pleasant) tug of war going on - during that record, and that little "tug of war", so to speak - just did not exist on the first two.
I know it will NEVER be Guyville...ever. But wouldn't it be great if it was another "Fuck yeah!" record?
Super smart lyrics, and her guitar...
i think just like her voice - her GUITAR is as important... i want to hear that "sick guitar" again... the wavery, sparkly, glittery guitar that sounds like a thousand pennies falling on broken glass... that has been lacking so much on the last two...
someone buy her an ounce of weed, and lock her in a room with her two guitars... i honestly think glorious things would be born.
it worked before, right?

who the hell is cheryl crowe?

lol it's baud's way of pretending he doesn't listen to sheryl crow. ahahahha. jk

don't get me started or I'll start bagging out a bunch of other numb-skulls who's names are up there with a higher deity...

Honestly, I bet I can misspell Jewel a fair bit (and a LOT of others).

Sheryl may not be your thing, but there is no denying her talent.

Since it seems unlikely that Liz will work with Brad again but will continue to employ outside producers, I wouldn't mind seeing her do more stuff with Michael Penn. When she delivered the songs, such as the ones on the comeandgetit, he brought the goods production-wise.

My dream, although I can't imagine it happening, would be to see Liz collaborate with Britt Daniel of Spoon.

question is would they want still want to work with her?

these guys of new guyville still have old school snobbishness.

didn't brad wood say he doesn't see a point in working with her now.

shouldn't this be in general chat?

Thanks for posting!

I might be the only one, but SM is probably my favorite album from Liz. I really don't have a least favorite album though. I think she keeps getting better and better so I cannot wait for the new album.

Brad said that? Knowing little but from the EIG DVD, Wood gets my vote for Prez of Guyville. Seemed the most grounded of all, laid back. Like he had his act together. The big brother for Liz--the accidental musical artist--who happnens to be a producer and of EIG in fact. Stories from the DVD of her going out west and various mgmt, recording problems, I kept thinking: Where's Brad Wood? The 2 of them coulda made it all work. He ""gets" Liz it seems unlike so many, incl most of Guyville. Wonder if there's a personal history there. He seemed to have light touch with her like as with pupil? A bit protetective I thought. None of the other folks that have crossed her paths have seemed to really like or take an interest beyond self-interest in Liz. Maybe if they have s Guyville Prom Brad and Liz can be King and Queen. Til then, wish he'd help her make a real return to EIG.

once you start to hear about a series of producers coming thru....bad news.... Brad? just do it. It put you on the map once.and you did a great job

The ATM is not bubblin it rolls.