LIZ PHAIR
"I pictured myself in a lot of extremely adventurous situations when I was growing up, but I never pictured myself on stage. I'm still embarrassed to perform. I'm aware of my deficiencies and inexperience, and I can feel every eye that's out there. I feel apologetic, because what I sound like in my head, my vision of a song's potential, is sometimes so far from what I can convey."

Although her brilliant 1993 disc Exile In Guyville proved to be a tough act to follow, Phair's colorful language and fresh approach to writing about relationships provoked hours of critical discourse on women writing songs with bold sexual imagery. Ironic, considering how slight her indiscretions are compared to male hip-hoppers, for example. Anyway, Phair, though not as productive as we'd like her to be, proved skillful at seizing stereotypical rock machismo and spewing it back from a women's perspective.

GEAR > FENDER MUSTANG GUITAR
ESSENTIAL LISTENING > ALBUM / EXILE IN GUYVILLE (MATADOR, 1993)