Ajay Malghan Photography
Liz Phair released an album out of nowhere and its um…different. There’s a song called “Bollywood” where she raps. She’s getting ripped on every publication but they’re kind of missing the point. I’m pretty sure these are the same people that dogged her when she worked with the Matrix 5 years ago and wrote some ridiculously catchy tunes. The only way someone couldn’t like those songs was them being too pretentious or too cool to admit they like a pop song. Its a whole lot more appealing when a grown woman (and mother at that) is singing about love rather than Avril Lavigne who well, I don’t really care to go there.
The fact that she’s had a sustainable career since before I was in high school to still creating, is no small feat. The relevancy factor on the other hand is entirely something else. I used to rock the hell out of Whip-Smart, specifically Supernova when I was in 10th grade. The guitars on that song were the coolest sounds I had heard to that point. I’m pretty sure I used to cut out pictures of her from the magazines in art class, for what reason I have no clue. I got into fights with the girls at my table in art because they said Sheryl Crow was hotter whenever I tried to espouse the virtues of Whip-Smart. Yeah my school sucked. The only other person with good taste was Jesse and we didn’t become friends until 2001 when I bought gear from him at Guitar Center. My parents did ask him mom to come over our house and talk to me about drugs. I hadn’t even smoked weed at that point so I was kind of clueless when they kept asking questions.
****She’s been on a gazillion labels and none will allow you to embed so this is the first version of the Extraordinary video. Whoever shot this version needs to ask their film school for a refund.
