Bookmarks: Internet stuff - Liz Phair

I've not written about Lana Del Ray much, mainly because I've struggled with the idea that there's anything much that needs to be said - the whole thing just feels a little too frictionless; all backstory and no plot. Noticeable without being noteworthy. And, apart from a moment when I had to scrape my eyebrows off the ceiling at Prospect magazine, of all places, both throwing in the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" quote and getting it wrong (it's not a self-description), much of what has been written about her has suffered from the same difficulty finding any point on which to stand in order to move the earth. Yes, yes, manufactured - but both mechanically recovered chicken and the Boeing Dreamliner are manufactured, but they're not the same thing.

All of which is by way of lining up this: the first thing that I've read on Lana Del Ray that I've made it to the end of. I'm not sure I'd expect 'Video Games' to appear at the end of a line on Only Connect that started with 'Fuck And Run', but Liz Phair, writing in the Wall Street Journal, reckons it fits:

I have a lot to say about her, but no sound bites. You see, Lana Del Rey is exactly what I was hoping to inspire when I took on the male rock establishment almost twenty years ago with my debut record, “Exile In Guyville.”

Let me break it down for you: she’s writing herself into existence. She’s giving herself a part to play because, God knows, no one else will and she wants to matter in this life. As far as I can tell, it’s working. I went straight to iTunes and bought her new release “Born To Die” in toto (how often do I do that??) because it was more than a collection of songs or a performance, it was a phenomenon. Maybe all the more so because she’s not overwhelmingly talented. The minute I hear the whisperings of “how dare she,” I’m interested. I don’t have to like it, it doesn’t have to be worthy.

Take the money and run

Liz Phair has signed up to appear in adverts for Banana Republic, the American clothes chain. People do have to eat, after all.

Part of the deal, though, is that Liz and the others taking part will write a song for the store and its marketing theme. Which feels slightly less comfortable, although it's hard to actually put a finger on why.

It probably wouldn't be so bad if the marketing campaign wasn't so... well, marketingish:

Banana Republic's chief marketing officer Peter DeLuca tells Billboard that the campaign began by targeting "the modern soul": shoppers between the ages of 25 and 49 who "aspire to a city lifestyle," says DeLuca. "We're really trying to establish the brand's vision of the city as an anchor point. Music is a key piece of the puzzle."

If you're nearly fifty, and aspire to a city lifestyle: why not move to the bloody city instead of buying a pair of trousers?

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet

Dean Wareham's book, A Rock & Roll Romance, reviewed for the New York Times by Liz Phair:

One particularly unforgettable story involves the rags-to-riches-to-rags-again tale of a high-flying A & R executive at Elektra named Terry Tolkin, whose musical discernment never translated into the other areas of his life. Riding around in limousines, showing up late to work, throwing outrageous parties for artists and charging it all to the label, the surprisingly likable Terry finds himself on shaky ground as a corporate realignment threatens to squeeze him out of a job: “If he had signed just one platinum act, all would have been forgiven. Instead he gave them Luna, Stereolab and the Afghan Whigs.”

Return to Guyville: Phair reorders affairs

Having badly misjudged her embrace of Avril Lavigne's writer-producers, Liz Phair is regrouping. She's signed to ATO and is starting to try and rebuild an audience that vanished in the search for "promotional dollars".

First move: bringing Exile In Guyville back into print, with the requisite extra-bits-and-pieces.

Phair enough?

We've already reported the aptly named The Matrix (the people behind Avril Lavigne) are working with Liz Phair. Now, (apparently) Liz has addressed everyone's fears, although as Glorious Noise points out, not allayed them. It's a wonderful piece. Go and read it. No, now. Okay?

Because the problem is that it's right. You can't begrudge Liz wanting some of the candy; a dance in the sunlight. But one of the things that has made us love her thus far - supported her dreams - is that she seemed to be one of us; rather plough a "quirky" line than just whack 'em out for Big Success. The whole argument is self-defeating on so many levels - "Nobody likes the stuff I make, so I'll do someone else's stuff to get popular" edging around with the ridiculous claim that the woman who wrote "Fuck and Run" seems to believe that if she put her mind to it (or, rather, about a quarter of her mind) she couldn't create something on a par with (on a par with) Sk8r Boi or Complicated.

Since its "Top of the Pops or bust", we look forward to the swimsuit photoshoot for Maxim. (Actually, we do, but we would, we're hounds.)