Liz Phair

“Extraordinary” was the 2nd single off of Liz Phair’s 4th studio album, which was self-titled. Today’s Song of the Day, “Extraordinary”, was released as a single in January of 2004.

“Extraordinary” by Liz Phair
from the album, Liz Phair (2003)
Song of the Day

“I am extraordinary,
if you’d ever get to know me.
I am extraordinary,
I am just your ordinary,
average everyday sane psycho –
Supergoddess.
Average everyday sane psycho.”

An underrated song from an even more underrated album. Liz Phair is so much more than the alt-goddess-groundbreaker-indie-icon of 1993’s Exile In Guyville (even though that Liz is pretty fantastic, too).

I remember her 2003 self-titled album coming out and people dissing it for being “too pop” and/or not “edgy” enough. Putting Liz in a box that she was supposed to never grow out of, expand from, or travel away from. Thing is, yes, there is a lot of pop-sensibilities going on in 2003’s Liz Phair, but there always was. Dig deeper. Take in the lyrics. To me, songs like “Extraordinary” are groundbreaking, too.

Here are some takes on “Extraordinary” via Wikipedia:

The song garnered mixed reviews from music critics, who were dissatisfied with her attempt to go mainstream. Slate’s Mim Udovitch said that Phair sounds “bogus,” while PopMatters called the song “sickeningly effervescent.”

Some critics were more complimentary towards the song, however. Chuck Klosterman, writing for Spin, praised the song’s “authenticity,” while Allmusic noted that it was one of its parent album’s highlights. Michael Paoletta of Billboard called the song “ultra-catchy” and “oh-so-buoyant”.

Thank you, Chuck Klosterman (always love him). I agree re: the song’s authenticity. And yes, it is catchy and buoyant, and that heavy guitar riff at the beginning is everything. Also, I adore the lyric “I am just your ordinary average everyday sane psycho super goddess”.

To me, that is giving the finger to society who tries to put women in a box, make them one thing, keep them in some forever aspirational pedestal that no one can balance on. Society does it the most to women in the spotlight, be it film, fashion, or music. I love that she’s breaking molds again, singing about taking the trash out and obsessing over someone she’s crushing on. Ordinary and psycho like the best of us.

“Extraordinary” (live) by Liz Phair

What do you think of “Extraordinary”?

 

Re-launch day 2’s Top 5 Music Obsessions includes songs from the ’80s, ’90s, early 2000’s, and last year. It’s a running the gamut kind of Sunday full of songs that I can’t seem to get enough of lately. We start with Elvis Costello, our unofficial host for today’s Top 5. Costello is a musical someone I tend to take for granted, underappreciating (sometimes) how much I love his music until I run into a track of his and think “I love this song” immediately.

Liz Phair is one of my go-to favorites. I sometimes wonder if a week goes by when I don’t listen to something of hers.

Garbage is next, with one of my favorites of theirs. It may not be raining here anymore (though it was early this morning), this track still resonates with LA weather lately.

My forever favorite from The Kills follows-up perfectly, with their ode to the music business (and the vampiric nature of it).

Finally, and “last but not least”, is a song from Jill Sobule’s most recent album, produced by another favorite of mine – Ben Lee. Jill is so underrated, in my opinion. She is an exceptional singer-songwriter whose tunes have always hit me right in my music-obsessed soul.

Are you ready to press play?

Top 5 Music Obsessions – March 24, 2019

1. “Our Little Angel” by Elvis Costello
from the album, King of America (1986)

“She sits alone apart from the crowd,
in a white dress she wears like a question mark.
Friends speak of her fondly.
Enemies just think out loud.”

The songwriting power of Elvis Costello is another thing I know I take for granted. His music and skill as a singer-songwriter is something I definitely underrate. I think I need to do a deep dive into his catalog and immerse myself in the magic.

“Our Little Angel” was part of a Spotify Discover Weekly Playlist and I was immediately reminded a) how much I love his music, and b) of me and my life (and music collection) in 1986. This album (King of America) was one I remember listening to even more when I first lived on my own, in the early ’90s.

I love the idea of wearing a dress like a question mark. Every time that lyric comes up it stops me – in a good way.

2. “Divorce Song” by Liz Phair
from the album, Exile In Guyville (1993)

(live version – album version not available on YouTube)

“And the license said you had to stick around until I was dead.
Bu,t if you’re tired of looking at my face,
I guess I already am.”

This song. Fuck. This song is everything about break-ups and disappoints in relationships and yes, divorce (even if it isn’t actual divorce, but that kind of significant, big split). So many lyrics just break me. The one above, and this one, too:

“…it’s harder to be friends than lovers,
and you shouldn’t try to mix the two,
cause if you do it and you’re still unhappy,
then you know that the problem is you.”

Damn. I mean, I know in a capital KNOW kind of way what these lyrics and lines, and this song FEELS like.

I think sometimes people forget how rad Liz Phair is. She was one of the ’90s hit “It-Girls” who broke songwriting stereotypes, especially with her Chicago-made debut, Exile in Guyville, wherein she sang frankly about sex and sexuality and desire and of coming-of-age as a woman in the ’90s.

She was lauded and revered, wrote about in all the top indie magazines, and beloved by most of the girls I knew at the time. She was in her twenties just like me and my girls were, and she sang like we talked, and she could write one hell of a good song.

I was getting divorced for the first time right around the time I first heard “Divorce Song” and it hit hard. But even in other relationships, years later, with me older than “in my twenties”, this song has hit (and still hits) hard.

3. “Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage
from the album, Garbage (1995)

“Pour some misery down on me.”

Its been raining a lot in Los Angeles lately, disproving the song “It Never Rains In Southern California”. As much as I love the rain (and I love it in big ways), I hate commuting to work in it. Driving in Los Angeles rush hour, while the sky leaks on all the drivers who (like me, to be honest) have little experience driving in water, is challenging, at best.

“I’m Only Happy When It Rains” has been in my head a lot during those long, rainy drives. And well, it is never a bad thing having Shirley Manson’s voice in my head.

Things about rain that do make me happy? Being in bed/sleeping in the rain, or doing other things in bed – in the rain – read books, watch movies, have sex (with or without a partner), writing, meditating, daydreaming. Cooking in rain. Coffee in the rain. Dancing in the rain. Kissing in the rain (such a movie trope, but damn it’s romantic). A fire in the fireplace in the rain (or with the rain outside). Literally, I’m happy when it rains as long as I’m not behind the wheel, in traffic.

Driving with no set time to be somewhere though? In the rain? Love it.

4. “Back Balloon” by The Kills
from the album, Midnight Boom (2008)

“Let the weather have its way with you.”

It is immeasurable how much I love this song. There’s a character I have been writing and developing and breathing life into that was born from this song, and from the way it makes me feel.

This is the stuff of vampire stories that do not fucking sparkle, and the stuff of eroticism and romance that are not in any kind of “50 shades”, but so much, so much, so much more.

This is the stuff where fucking and loving converge, in a song.

“Black Balloon” was the first song I heard of The Kills, and it was my first favorite (and is still my favorite).

The first time I heard it I was taken aback, and I couldn’t stop listening to it. Then, I saw the video and was enthralled even further. The correlation between the violence and drama and loneliness of touring and fame illustrated as a story about a vampire was brilliant and inspired. It quickly became one of my all-time favorite music videos, one I’ve shared, written about, and watched multiple times.

Check it out. Isn’t it cool?

5. “I Put My Headphones On” by Jill Sobule
from the album, Nostalgia Kills (2018)

“Janis Ian’s ‘Seventeen’.
that song from 10cc.
‘Alone Again, Naturally’,
someone has it worse than me.
Sam Stone, ‘Major Tom’,
Captain Jack and Delta Dawn,
Alvin Tostig, ‘Sweet Jane’
Music, wash away my pain.

I’ll put my headphones on.”

I got the chance to see Jill Sobule open a few years ago for Joseph Arthur, and recently (this past February) I got to see/hear her sing a few songs at Ben Lee’s Valentine’s show at Largo. I’ve always loved Jill’s music and songwriting so much, and this song is no exception.

The whole album, Nostalgia Kills, is fantastic. This song (“I Put My Headphones On” and “Island Of Lost Things” are two of my current favorites that I can’t get enough of.

What a great lyric – “music, wash away my pain”. I hear you, Jill. I put my headphones on a lot, too (and turn the music up, up, up).

Lately, I’ve really been needing music to take away my pain.

You can press play below to hear all 5 songs together, either on YouTube or Spotify.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – March 23-March 24, 2019

Maybe it’s because my oldest daughter and I were talking 90’s music last night, over a game of “fuck, marry, kill” the album version, but my ears are tuned into the 90’s today. I think I need a bit of the familiar to help get me through a rough day. I almost write that I need a bit of a simpler time, but honestly, there was nothing simpler about my twenties. No, I don’t think I’d ever want to go back except to maybe visit some of my old favorite record stores, and see a few of gigs while I was there. Beyond that though, I’m a much happier person in my forties than I ever was in my twenties.

Who are some of your favorites from the mid-90’s?

Editor correction: One song in the bunch, the opening track, is actually from 1983. But, I discovered the song (“Within Your Reach”) and The Replacements in the mid-90’s (I’d only heard them in my musical peripheral back in the 80’s), so I think it still counts.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Listen via Spotify and YouTube

1. “Within Your Reach” by The Replacements
from the album, Hootenanny (1983)

“I can’t live without your touch.”

I’ve been in a Westerberg mood this week. It started out yesterday morning when “Achin’ To Be” (by The Replacements) came on a shuffled mix, and later, in the later afternoon, when I heard “Things” (by Paul Westerberg). This morning it was this song – “Within Reach” – that came on via my weekly Spotify Discover Playlist. I’d almost forgotten how much I love this song. It was one of my favorites from the Say Anything soundtrack, and definitely my favorite track off of the Hootenanny album. I hit replay three more times before I could go on to another song.

2. “Everything Changes” by Matthew Sweet
from the album, 100% Fun (1995)

“And would you believe me,
if I’d spoke my mind?
‘Cause nobody gets there they just,
try, try, try.”

I know, I know, Matthew Sweet’s album Girlfriend is the one that everyone is supposed to say is their favorite, and I do love it. I do. But 100% Fun is my Matthew Sweet album. I played it obsessively for years, and so many of the songs are weighted heavily with memories. It will always, always, always be my favorite Matthew Sweet album. This track is really getting to me today. Deeply. Especially the lyrics above.

No one has it all figured out. No one really knows what to do. We just have to get up every day and try. Or, at least that’s what I tend to believe.

3. “I’d Run Away” by The Jayhawks
from the album, Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995)

“I recall a side of you.
I recall a different side of you.
But I’d run away.
I’d run away with you baby.”

Making a repeat appearance in my Top 5 Music Obsessions. This song and the entire album has been making a repeat appearance in my life. Though I loved it in the 90’s, and have so many memories attached to it from back then, the album, and this song, now remind me of San Francisco, of driving back with Chris and listening to the album together, and how I remember feeling then, just what I’d felt like the night of our first date as we sat in a park together after dinner and drinks. That I’d run away with this man if he asked (with my kids along, too, but you get the point), and I’d stay with him for the rest of my life if he wanted me to (I hope he does).

4. “What Makes You Happy” by Liz Phair
from the album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“I’m sending you this photograph,
I swear this one is going to last,
and all those other bastards were only practice.”

So, another unpopular favorite album choice, I suppose. One is supposed to pick Exile In Guysville as their favorite Liz Phair, and I love Exile. I adore it really. But…Whitechocolatespaceegg is my favorite Liz. I get the album. It gets me. I get all the songs, and they so get me. This one is getting me big time today.

It is one of my Top 10 favorite Liz songs, too.

5. “Mockingbirds” by Grant Lee Buffalo
from the album, Mighty Joe Moon (1994)

“Devastation at last,
finally,
we meet,
after all of these years out here in the street.
I had a feeling you would make yourself known.
You came along just to claim your place on the throne.
Now I have been overthrown,
overthrown.”

How good is this song? I mean really. It just gets better with age and multiple listens. I feel like this song, and the entire Mighty Joe Moon album is so underrated.

I’m feeling that shadow of devastation today, but I’m not letting it overthrow me. No, not today. Not this time.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Week of August 13, 2018

 

Hello Monday, how you doing? I’m calling on some of my favorite women in music to get me through today. This Monday’s Top 5 Music Obsessions are best played loudly and on repeat. They are really doing it for me today. I may continue past these 5 and listen to each of the albums they come from today. On repeat.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – June 11, 2018

Listen on Spotify and YouTube – follow and listen along for the entire week

1. “Daniel” by Juliana Hatfield
from the album, Beautiful Creature (2000)

“He looks alright outside,
but he feels so bad inside.”

I started listening to Juliana’s album Beautiful Creature on repeat on Sunday morning while drinking a cup of coffee with cream and doing some writing. I forgot how much I love this album. I’m a fan of opening tracks, and tracks with people’s names in them – “Daniel” has both. Juliana’s vocals and guitar work here is stellar, as are the lyrics. I’m really feeling the lyrics today. So much of how we feel does not show on our outsides so much of the time.

2. “No Aloha” by The Breeders
from the album, Last Splash (1993)

“No bye,
no aloha.
Gone with a rock promoter.”

I’m always changing my pick for my favorite song on the Last Splash album. Most often its a tie between “Drivin’ on 9” and “Do You Love Me Now?”, but lately, it has been “No Aloha”. Love it.

3. “Jennifer’s Body” by Hole
from the album, Live Through This (1994)

“It’s bettering you,
it’s bettering me.
My better half has bitten me.”

Hole’s been a post-breakup go-to for me lately. “Jennifer’s Body” is a track I was blasting loudly on my commute to work today.

4. “White Chocolate Space Egg” by Liz Phair
from the album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“Orange and blue, green and pink,
I see you in everything.”

“White Chocolate Space Egg”, the title track off of what just might be my favorite Liz album.

5. “Silverfish” by Belly
from the album, King (1995)

“Will I be the stranger in your movie?
Is there a place for me in the patterns,
that glow on your skin and your clothes?”

“Silverfish” is such a beautiful song. Its so bittersweet to me right now, but I love it.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Week of June 11, 2018

Thank you for the music, Juliana Hatfield, The Breeders, Hole, Liz Phair, and Belly. I really need all these Top 5 Music Obsessions songs today.

This week has been out of control busy so this week is missing a few Top 5 Music Obsessions days. But, its Friday and its time to check back in with 5 Song Obsessions. These Tracks have been filling my ears up, repeatedly, over the last few days. I’d love to hear what you’ve been Listening to lately, too.

As always, if you feel like Obsessing along with me you can follow along each week by following Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Week on Spotify (updated daily, and restarted each week), or you can listen on YouTube on each Week’s Playlist.

Top 5 Music Obsessions – May 4, 2018

1. “Go West” (Girly-Sound Version) by Liz Phair

The first Track from Tuesday’s Top 5 Music Obsessions is the Girl-Sound Version of “Go West” by Liz Phair. This Song is from Girly-Sound to Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Box Set that came out this Week. It is in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Liz’s Quintessential Album, Exile In Guyville.

We love Liz at lyriquediscorde.

2. “Tijuana Lady” by Gomez

Next up is “Tijuana Lady” by Gomez. I heard this Song for the first time in the Movie Playing By Heart, one of my all-time Favorite Films. It stuck with me in all its moody, dreamy, wistful kind of way.

This Song makes me long for a road trip out to the desert. So much so that I just started daydreaming about a Summer road trip. If it comes to fruition this Song is definitely going on the road trip Playlist.

3. “Apathy” by Frankie Cosmos

Have you heard Frankie Cosmos yet? She was featured in a Top 5 Music Obsessions from this past January. A different Song this time from Frankie, but just as good as back in January. There’s a Camera Obscura feel to this, with a little Jenny Lewis and Best Coast mixed in. I’m feeling anything but “Apathy” when I listen to this Track.

Here’s a little trivia for you. Did you know that Frankie (actual name is Greta Kline) is the daughter of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates?

4. “My Little Corner of the World” by Yo La Tengo

I’ve in the throes of another “Gilmore Girls” binge-watch. I’ve been under a great deal of stress and anxiety, and “Gilmore Girls” is always my TV “comfort food” of choice. This Song, “My Little Corner of the World”, featured in the series, is a Musical “comfort food” to me.

Both “Gilmore Girls” and this Song are part of my own little corner of the world right now, for sure.

5. “Paper Crown” by Liam Gallagher

This time next week I’ll be getting ready to see Liam play at The Greek Theater, in Los Angeles. I can’t wait!

“Paper Crown” is my Favorite Track off his recent Album, As You Were. There is such a John Lennon-esque/Beatles feel to this if John and the Fab Four wrote music in the mid-nineties and released it in 2017.

So, what did you think about today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions? Worthy of Friday Obsessing? I think these 5 are just Top Listens, and I wish I could hop in the car and take a three-day road trip along with all 5 of these. Cheers to Liz Phair, Gomez, Frankie Cosmos, Yo La Tengo, and Liam Gallagher. You all rock!

Top 5 Music Obsessions – Week of April 30, 2018

Lyriquediscorde received five new Top Ten Tuesday requests when we opened up the request lines last weekend. Stay tuned if you put in a request because we will be hitting all of them, in the order they came in Top Ten style. First up is a lyriquediscorde Favorite who has gotten the Top Ten treatment twice already. But, as I’m known to say, Music is fluid and changeable, and our Favorites change along with us. I’m looking forward to revisiting Liz and listing out and listening to, my Top Ten Favorites today.

Liz Phair is up first, requested by J. Coates via lyriquediscorde’s Twitter.

I think sometimes people forget how rad Liz Phair is. She was one of the 90’s Hit “It-Girls” who broke songwriting stereotypes, especially with her Chicago-made debut, Exile in Guyville, wherein she Sang frankly about sex and sexuality and desire, and of coming-of-age as a woman in the 90’s. She was lauded and revered, wrote about in all the top indie magazines, and beloved by most of the girls I knew at the time. She was in her twenties just like me and my girls were, and she Sang like we talked, and she could write one hell of a good Song.

Liz kept her cool with Whip Smart, and to a lesser degree with the album that may just be my favorite, but not a fan-favorite, Whitechocolatespaceegg. Still, even with the less than loved 1998 album, Liz was still an indie darling in that stereotypical, and honestly rather insulting, “girls want to be her and boys want to be with her” kind of way.

Liz kept her cool with Whip Smart, and to a lesser degree with the Album that may just be my Favorite (but not a fan-favorite), Whitechocolatespaceegg. Still, even with the less than loved 1998 album, Liz was still an indie darling in that stereotypical, and honestly rather insulting, “girls want to be her and boys want to be with her” kind of way. Though, hell, I knew quite a few girls who wanted to be her and be with her.

Then the 90’s ended and so did so many people’s love of Liz. Funny how fans so often don’t want their idols to change and grow, isn’t it? Though it isn’t just our idols that we resent changing, we feel that way about each other a lot of the times, too. Liz Phair’s self-titled came out and she got that awful “sell-out” label affixed to her. Some of the Songs were chart hits, and for a while seemed to be in a ton of romantic comedy Soundtracks, but the core fan base that I had been a part of seemed to sneer and run the other way.

I still love her though. I loved her through all that, too, and though her albums from the 2000’s are not my most Favorites, I still have them and have Favorite Songs from them.  (from an early post of mine from 2014 that is still true to me today)

What are some of your Favorite Liz Phair Songs? Though it was tough to narrow down, here are mine:

Top Ten Liz Phair Songs
Top Ten Tuesday

1. “Divorce Song” 
from the Album, Exile to Guyville (1993)

Live Version

“And, the license said you had to stick around until I was dead.
But, if you’re tired of looking at my face,
I guess I already am.”

2. “Polyester Bride”
from the Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“And Henry said,
‘you’re lucky to even know me.
You’re lucky to be alive.
You’re lucky to be drinking here for free,
cause I’m a
sucker for your lucky, pretty eyes.’”

3. “Fuck and Run”
from the Album, Exile to Guyville (1993)

Live Version

“I want all that stupid old shit,
like letters and sodas,
letters and sodas.”

4. “Whip-Smart”
from the Album, Whip-Smart (1994)

“And I’m gonna lock my son up in a tower,
’til I write my whole life story,
on the back of his big brown eyes.”

5. “What Makes You Happy”
from the Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“I’m sending you this photograph,
I swear this one is going to last,
and all those other bastards were only practice.”

6. “Stratford-On-Guy”
from the Album, Exile to Guyville (1993)

“It took an hour,
maybe a day.
But once I really listened the noise just fell .”

7. “Dogs Of L.A.”
from the Album, Whip-Smart (1994)

“The sawed-off tree trunks stand among the living palms.
You were beaming as I focused in,
and I panned along.
And I raced you to the top,
kicking snakes up from dusty rocks
Young Abe Vigoda plays Frankenstein.“

8. “Never Said”
from the Album, Whip-Smart (1994)

“I don’t know what they told you,
don’t even care what about.
All I know is I’m clean as a whistle, baby,
I didn’t let the cat out.”

9. “Love Is Nothing”
from the Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“Love is nothing, nothing, nothing like they say,
you gotta pick up the little pieces everyday.”

10. “Girls! Girls! Girls!”
from the Album Exile In Guyville (1993) and from the Soundtrack to Amateur (1995)

“You been around enough to know,
that if I wanna leave,
you better let me go.”

 

“Never Said” is Track 5 from Liz Phair’s 1993 Debut Album, Exile in Guysville. It was the First Single released from the Album, though it was never actually released as a physical Single. A Music Video was released for it, directed by Katy McGuire.

“Never Said” by Liz Phair
from the album, Exile In Guyville (1993)

VH1 listed “Never Said” as the 89th Greatest Song of the 1990’s.

The song is also featured on the Liz Phair compilation album Icon (2014), and a live version of the song is part of Lilith Fair, Volume 3 (1999).

“Never Said” was the first Liz Phair Song I ever heard. I was standing in a Tower Records with my baby daughter on my hip and a good friend at my side. I was not yet twenty-five and there was something in Liz’s voice that sounded just like what “not yet twenty-five” felt like. I connected to something then and there and left the store with Exile in Guyville in my hands.

Although the Song is not my favorite from the Album, it has remained an integral part of that first Liz Phair memory.

Years later, I would hear the Song as part of a personal and confessional mix CD given to me by a then-lover, and the Song took on a whole new meaning, and memory, to me.

It would show up again on a birthday Mix CD a coworker gave me, full of Songs that meant something to him in his own musical history.

I love how fluid music is, how a song can evolve in its impact as life goes on, and the soundtrack expands, and changes.

Do you have a memory of Never Said?

“Never Said” (live, 1994, David Letterman) by Liz Phair

Continuing on with the Music Listography refresh, we come to one of my favorite “music lists” from the book. As I mentioned in the first refresh list, favorites evolve over time. Some change, others stay on for the long haul. I do hope that you play along, and if you do, that you share your lists in the comment section, or put a Listography list on your own blog and/or social media.

I will include playlist links for Spotify and YouTube, as well as an in-post YouTube playlist, so you can press play and spin all 20 if you’d like.

Though I will be following the book from each list to the next, my answers will not reflect a particular order. I am such a music obsessive that it will be challenging enough to stick to things like “top 20“, much less try to decide whose #1, or #13, that’s just too cruel. So, without further ado, here we go with list #2.

List Your Top 20 Leaving Earth on a Spaceship Albums
Listen to my list on Spotify and YouTube
courtesy of Music Listography : Your Life In (Play)Lists

1. Hunky Dory (1971) by David Bowie

“Life On Mars?”

2. Rubber Soul (1965) by The Beatles

“I’m Looking Through You”

3. Little Earthquakes (1992) by Tori Amos

“Precious Things”

4. musicforthemorningafter (2001) by Pete Yorn

“Strange Condition”

5. Electric Warrior (1971) by T-Rex

“Jeepster”

6. Some Girls (1978) by The Rolling Stones

“Beast of Burden”

7. Saturns Pattern by Paul Weller

“Wild Wood”

8. Self-Titled by Stone Roses

“Waterfall”

9. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

“Gold Dust Woman” by Fleetwood Mac

10. Gold by Ryan Adams

“La Cienega Just Smiled”

11. Songs of Love and Hate by Leonard Cohen

“Famous Blue Raincoat”

12. Whip-Smart by Liz Phair

“Never Said”

13. Either/Or by Elliott Smith

“Say Yes”

14. Up the Bracket by The Libertines

“Good Old Days”

15. Self-Titled by Blur

“Beetlebum”

16. Grace by Jeff Buckley

“Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”

17. Four-Calendar Cafe by Cocteau Twins

“Bluebeard”

18. Self-Titled by July Talk

“I’ve Rationed Well”

19. Lost In Space by Aimee Mann

“It’s Not”

20. So Tonight That I Might See by Mazzy Star

“Into Dust”

My Top 2-0 Leaving Earth on a Spaceship Albums – A Playlist

Top 10 Liz Phair Songs :: Top 10 Tuesday

Let’s take a (revisited) look at the Best Music from Liz Phair in this Week’s Top 10 Tuesday. It’s been awhile since we did a Top 10 List of Liz Phair Songs, not since early 2014. Things change, Songs flow in and out of our Audio-consciousness, but the Artists and Bands we Love usually stay a part of us. It seems to be a good time to dip back in to Quintessential Albums like Exile in Guyville and Whipsmart, Underrated Gems like Whitechocolatespaceegg and Somebody’s Miracle, and More.

Press play below and enjoy Top 10 Liz Phair Songs Songs, Round Two. This Quintessential List will include the Best Tracks off Official Albums, Compilations, EP’s, Soundtracks, Singles, and More.

Its easy to forget Liz Phair sometimes. She was one of the 90’s “It-Girls” who broke female songwriting stereotypes, especially with her Chicago made debut Album Exile in Guyville , where she sang frankly about sex and desire, and of coming-of-age as a woman in the 90’s. She was lauded and revered, wrote about in every indie magazine, and beloved by most of the girls I knew at the time. She was in her twenties just like my girls and I were, and she sang like we talked, and she sure could write one hell of a good Song.

Liz kept her cool with Whip Smart, and to a lesser degree with the album that may just be my favorite, but not a fan-favorite, the terribly Underrated Whitechocolatespaceegg. Still, even with that less than loved 1998 album, Liz was still an indie darling in that stereotypical, and honestly rather insulting, “girls want to be her and boys want to be with her” kind of way.

Though, hell, I knew quite a few girls who wanted to be her, and be with her.

Then the 90’s ended and so did so many people’s love of Liz. Funny how fans so often fight against their idols changing and growing. Though it isn’t just our idols that we resent changing, we feel that way about each other a lot of the times, too, don’t we?

When Liz Phair’s self-titled came out she was given that awful “sell-out” label affixed to her. Some of the songs were chart hits, true, and for awhile seemed to be in a ton of romantic comedy Soundtracks, but the core fan base that I had been a part of seemed to sneer and run the other way. I still don’t understand.

I know that I still Love Liz. I Loved her through all that, too, and though her Albums from the 2000’s are not my most Favorite, I still have them, Listen to them, and have Favorites from each one. Her songs still speak to me, and I still find them reflective and resonating to my life.

It was hard  to narrow down 10 songs, but I did my best.

Top 10 Liz Phair Songs:

1. “Fuck and Run”
from the Album, Exile in Guyville (1993)

(Live)

“I want all that stupid old shit,
like letters and sodas,
letters and sodas.”

2. “Polyester Bride”
from the Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“And Henry said,
‘You’re lucky to even know me.
You’re lucky to be alive.
You’re lucky to be drinking here for free,
cause I’m a
Sucker for your lucky, pretty eyes.’”

3. “Divorce Song”
from the Album, Exile in Guyville (1993)

“You put in my hands a loaded gun,
and then told me not to fire it.
When you did the things you said were up to me,
and then accused me of trying to fuck it up.”

4. “Chopsticks”
from the Album, Exile in Guysville (1993)

“I met him at a party,
and he told me how to drive him home.
He said he liked to do it backwards,
I said, ‘That’s just fine with me,
that way we can fuck and watch TV.‘”

4. “Extraordinary”
from the Album, Self-Titled (2003)

“I am just your ordinary,
average every day sane psycho,
supergoddess.”

6. “What Makes You Happy”
from the Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“I’m sending you this photograph,
I swear this one is going to last,
and all those other bastards were only practice.”

7. “Dogs of L.A.”
from the Album, Whip-Smart (1994)

“The sawed-off tree trunks stand among the living palms.
You were beaming as I focused in,
and I panned along.
And I raced you to the top,
kicking snakes up from dusty rocks
Young Abe Vigoda plays Frankenstein.“

8. “Never Said”
from the Album, Whip-Smart (1994)

“I don’t know what they told you,
don’t even care what about.
All I know is I’m clean as a whistle, baby,
I didn’t let the cat out.”

9. “Whip-Smart”
from the Album, Whip-Smart (1994)

“And I’m gonna lock my son up in a tower,
’til I write my whole life story,
on the back of his big brown eyes.”

10. “Love is Nothing”
from the Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998)

“Love is nothing, nothing, nothing like they say,
you gotta pick up the little pieces everyday.”

What did you think of the Top 10 Liz Phair Songs?

What Songs would you choose? Do you have a Favorite Liz Phair Song?

What would you want added to the list?

Be sure to come back next Tuesday to see what the Top 10 List will be. We take requests, too. Feel free to drop a Wish for a future Top 10 in the Comments below.

TOP 5 MUSIC OBSESSIONS OF THE DAY :: 6/6/17

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Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day for Tuesday features a Mix of the Best Songs and Sounds for your Listening Pleasure. It is a June Gloom kind of day in Los Angeles, so these Songs are Musical Umbrellas and Sweaters for your ears, to cut through the fog and chill in the air, and have you Turning Up the Volume and Singing-A-Long.

Song 1 is from Liz Phair’s Underrated Album, Whitechocolatespaceegg. “What Makes You Happy” has always been one of my Favorite Tracks from the Album, as well as one of my Favorite Liz Phair Songs. Next up is “Favorite Thing” from The Replacements, which leads us into an 80’s Favorite, “Pretty In Pink” (the Album Version, not the Movie Version). Song 4 is one of my Favorite Tunes from The New Pornographers, and it all ends (at least for today) with Aimee Mann’s Song “Lost In Space”, from her Quintessential Album of the same name.

So here’s to this Gloomy June-ey Tuesday. Here’s to good headphones, or speakers, that you can Turn Up to Loud. And, here’s to Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day. Be sure to Turn Up that Volume, and Sing-A-Long if you feel like it, to these 5 Great Songs. Oh, and don’t worry, if you miss a day of Music Obsessions you can always catch-up through the links above. Each day’s Songs are Added to the Spotify and YouTube Playlists for the Week, for your Listening, and Music Obsessing Pleasure.

TOP 5 MUSIC OBSESSIONS OF THE DAY:

1. “What Makes You Happy” :: Liz Phair

“I feel the sun on my back.
I smell the earth in my skin.
I see the sky above me like a full recovery.”

I’ve always Loved this Song – so much. And, I’ve always connected to the Lyrics, and the sentiment of trying to find the right relationship while seeking approval from those in your life for said “right relationship”, and all the trial and error that goes on. There is a lot of finding yourself in the subtext to this Song, at least I’ve always taken it that way. And a “Follow Your Bliss” message.

2. “Favorite Thing” :: The Replacements

“Yeah, I know I look like hell.
I smoke and I drink and I’m feeling swell.
Yeah, I hear you think it’s weird .
But, I don’t give a single shit.”

This Song Must be Turned Up Loud. I Love the Punk in this Song, the rebellion and the push back, and, although in a different way, like the Song before, this has always been about finding yourself, finding your own kind of bliss, and relationship, too. That’s how I’ve always heard it, at least.

Who is your “Favorite Thing”?

3. “Pretty In Pink” :: The Psychedelic Furs

“All of her lovers all talk of her notes,
and the flowers that they never sent.
And wasn’t she easy?
And isn’t she pretty in pink?”

This is a really sad Song when you really Listen to it. I was thinking earlier today that I’d like to see someone write a story, or film, about Caroline, in this Song. I’d like to see what her life is like, and I’d like to see her somehow break away, and succeed, telling all these lovers who treated her so poorly to fuck off, in the process.

4. “Champions of Red Wine” :: The New Pornographers

“We are champions of red wine,
poured all over.
It’s what we’re known for,
find arms crossed lines.
Crossed for old times,
like starting over.”

First Song I heard today. And yes, I Turned Up the Volume and Sang-A-Long.

5. “Lost In Space” :: Aimee Mann

“And, I’m pretending to care,
when I’m not even there;
gone,
but I don’t know where.”

This Album, with the same name as this Song, is one of my Favorite Albums of All-Time. It is also one of those Albums (and Songs) that break my heart, and remind me of some very rough times from not all that long ago. Sometimes the Song (and Album) is cathartic to me. Other times, they just make me cry.

So, there we have it – This Week’s Tuesday Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day. Hope you all Pressed Play and Turned that Volume Way Up, and Enjoyed Today’s 5 Songs.

Did you have a Favorite Track?

What Song, or Songs, are you Musically Obsessed with Today?

BE SURE TO TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR WEDNESDAY’S EDITION OF TOP 5 MUSIC OBSESSIONS OF THE DAY. YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS IT…