Liz Phair recently returned to her old stomping grounds in Wicker Park to take a stroll down memory lane with Black Book. Naturally the issue of Wicker Park's rapid gentrification rears its head near the beginning of the piece. more ›

In which we take a quick look at a few recent or upcoming musical releases. This time we're tackling Liz Phair's new album and the latest attempt to compile ex-Pink Floyd leader Syd Barrett's artistic output. more ›

It appears as if Liz Phair has found a way to move physical copies of her latest release, Funstyle, you know, that surprise release of hers that has drawn wildly conflicting but mostly negative reactions. She's announced that the CD version of Funstyle will come packaged with her original Girlysound demos, the now legendary lo-fi recordings that spawned most of the material on her earlier albums. You see, back when Phair was still under the impression that Urge Overkill was the coolest band in the world, a forgivable overestimation if you were in the local scene in the early '90s, she was also furiously recording her own music onto tape accompanied by nothing more than her guitar. While these recordings have been floating around for years, and are easily found online with a minimal search, this is the first time they will see an official release. more ›

A handful of Chicago acts happened to make the cut on SPIN magazine 125 best albums in the past 25 years list. more ›

Well, summer is here, the livin’ is easy, people are showing skin and getting each other all revved up. We asked some of our fellow writers: if you could plan a date for this week (up through the weekend) what would you plan, and wherefore? more ›

Just a quick note, Liz Phair has announced that on June 24 she'll perform her classic album -- and we don't mean that phrase to be taken lightly -- Exile In Guyville at The Vic. Tickets go on sale this Saturday. more ›

Jesus, we hope so. We were big fans of Liz Phair, but stood along with the rest of you, jaws agape, eyes widened in horror, as she attempted to remake herself as a teen pop princess. Anyway, she gave Billboard an interview -- she's hawking the 15th anniversary re-issue of Exile In Guyville -- and dropped some hints that her next disc might not be so sucktastic. more ›

Way back before she became Avrilized, Chicago musician Liz Phair wowed the indie music scene with her stunning full-length debut, Exile in Guyville, an alleged song-for-song response to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Fifteen years after Exile on Guyville's release, Phair finds herself listed as one of the greatest female guitarists by Venus Zine. The Chicago-based "leading source for coverage of women in music, art, film, fashion, and DIY culture" recently released a list of their top female guitarists of all time, itself a response to Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, a list that only included two females (Joni Mitchell and Joan Jett). more ›

Robert Feder composed a lede so perfect we must pay it tribute: “On the eve of Valentine's Day, Bonneville International is renewing its commitment to Love FM.” How sweet. It's heartwarming when faceless international media entities can show the L-O-V-E to their S.O.’s, even when they are in 23rd place in the Chicago radio market. more ›

Growing up on the North Shore was tough. We weren’t the naturally pretty type and we always envied the ones who had it all. While the cool kids were drinking Boone's Farm behind the 7-11 we were in the basement playing “who can act out the best monologue”. more ›

For Chicago's entertainment beats, 2005 is best summed up by the phrase: change is good. At this time last year, if you had told us that 2005 would bring not one, but two world class rock festivals to Chicago’s parks, we’d have patted you on the head and cooed “Aw, you’re so cute.” But wonders never cease and so it was that the city of Chicago finally realized that in order for Chicago to become... more ›

Chicago can be a cruel habitat for local bands that make it big. Just look at how quickly folks turned on The Smashing Pumpkins, Urge Overkill and Liz Phair as their careers progressed. Okay, Phair deserved the hostile response once she started to seriously suck but that’s beside the point. OK Go jumped to head of the backlash pack with the release of their Major Label debut a few years ago. You couldn’t open a... more ›

Chicago’s famous for eating its own so it’s no surprise that the almost immediate backlash against Liz Phair started here. Whether it was her not-so-rock-and-roll upbringing (born in New Haven, Connecticut; attended New Trier High) or Brad Wood’s involvement with Exile in Guyville, critics of her work have often tried to explain away her success as a carefully constructed artifice. more ›

Move over, Billy Corgan and tell Liz Phair the news: Chicago has a new ambassador of cultural affairs in Kanye West, who graces the cover of this week’s Time magazine. Writer Josh Tyrangiel turns in a solid profile of West (subscription required) that swims in the contradictions of an artist whose brilliance onstage is matched only by his braggadocio and petulance offstage. Proving that it’s not always best to dress up for an interview, West... more ›

Chicagoist cancelled its subscription to Jane Magazine a few months back after an article on How To Date Eight Guys At Once left us with nothing more than a weird rash. Maybe if we kept it then we’d be the ones with the early lowdown on the lineup for Lollapolooza and not Jim DeRogatis. The lengths that man will go to scoop the rest of the press! more ›

Dave Chamberlain, music critic for NewCity, can be a rather cantankerous fellow. But when he gets excited about something, boy, does he gets excited. (Something Chicagoist sees as the mark of any good critic.) Case in point, his Tip of the Week, playing tonight at Metro with the Suicide Girls Burlesque Show, is The Mooney Suzuki. more ›

Today's New York Times has a piece on Chicago's "emerging fashion scene," interviewing boutique owners and fashionistas about the trends and the "self-doubt that has plagued Chicagoans for generations." Aw, thanks. more ›