Almost a decade after Jenn getting married was mentioned on the front page of a newspaper blowing past Wonder Woman’s feet (in 1999’s Wonder Woman #148), James has appeared as a secret agent in Wonder Woman #19 (they restarted the series a third time), on sale now.
(He’s not the blonde guy. The blonde guy, Nemesis, is a decades old character, and two blonde guys out of costume talking to each other can get confusing, as Marvel Comics’ Avengers has shown a number of times over the years. Captain America, Yellow Jacket and Hawkeye all need new haircuts, at a minimum.)
A big thanks to Gail Simone for sneaking him past the velvet rope and into the DC Comics universe!
Go get the issue at a comic shop today, and while you’re there, go ahead and pick up the paperback collections of All-New Atom, Birds of Prey, Gen-13, JLA, Superman or Welcome to Tranquility. (The latter is creator-owned, I believe, so Gail gets the biggest check from that. Buy those first. They’re about a superhero retirement community.)
I heard this on last week’s That Sound Radio and immediately grabbed it via my iPod Touch. (And, really, that’s going to be the way the iPhone/iPod Touch has the biggest impact, in my opinion: A tiny portable but still useful Internet appliance you can always have with you.)
Not as good as James’ favorite, Never Go to Work, but still an improbably good TMBG kids’ tune off of Here Come the 123s. Personally, I’ve never come across them singing in such a different style before.
This was announced yesterday, otherwise it might seem a particularly cruel April Fool’s joke: Liz Phair has signed with ATO, the indie record label that handles Radiohead. The label will re-release her first album, Exile in Guyville (still regarded as one of the best albums of all time) this fall in a 15th anniversary edition. The re-release will include four additional tracks and a making-of-the-album DVD.
After 15 years and mountains of critical acclaim, Liz Phair’s lo-fi, female-empowering, and romance-seeking 1993 opus Exile in Guyville will undergo the reissue treatment and release with additional tunes and a DVD June 24 courtesy of Phair’s new label, ATO.
Four extra songs — “Ant in Alaska,” “Wild Thing” (inspired by the Troggs’ hit of the same name), “Say You,” and an untitled solo instrumental — and a DVD documentary will accompany the album’s original 18 tracks. Focusing on the indie scene in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, from which Phair’s musical career was born, the DVD features an interview with Phair herself, as well as Windy City luminaries like Ira Glass of NPR’s This American Life, actor John Cusack, producer Steve Albini, and members of Urge Overkill.
Sick of musical nostalgia? If so, worry not Phair fans, for the rockstress’ new deal with ATO includes a new studio album due in the fall.
Even Pitchfork, which has had no nice things to say about her last few albums, was kind of excited:
Yes, everything you’ve heard about Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville being one of the greatest albums of all time is true. The songs really do hit that hard. The lyrics really are that good. And the perspective of a smart woman navigating her way through the indie rock scene really is that necessary, even today.
Fifteen years after its Matador Records release in 1993, Exile in Guyville is getting the reissue celebration it deserves. On June 24, ATO Records will beef up the album with four bonus tracks from the original Guyville sessions as well as an accompanying DVD.
The bonus tracks: the solo cut “Ant in Alaska”, a song inspired by the Troggs’ “Wild Thing”, the full band cut “Say You”, and an untitled solo instrumental. “Ant in Alaska” and “Wild Thing” have both been previously attributed to Phair’s notorious pre-Guyville “Girly Sound” demos.
And who do we have to thank for all of this Liz Phair goodness? Why, Dave Matthews, of course! Matthews is one of the co-founders of ATO Records, which in addition to putting out the reissue has signed Phair for a new studio album due in the fall. (Yes, she is no longer on Capitol Records.) AND Dave introduces the Guyville Redux DVD.
So between this, My Morning Jacket, and Radiohead, is it finally time to stop hating Dave Matthews?
As for the new album, we’ll see. She’s never been a speedy musician — although she’s no Axl Rose — but maybe they’ve been working on it a while. It’ll also be interesting to see if her new label (or perhaps the critical and commercial spanking of her last two albums) marks a change in direction for her as well.
I imagine her official Web site will finally be updated/moved to new hosting, and should have some details. (Artists: This is why you never let your label own and run your Web site. Have your manager run it for you with studio input, if necessary.) Hopefully she also gets back to her abortive podcast that she had once been so pumped about, presumably before the not-so-fun times at Capitol took the bloom off that particular rose.
Almost a decade after Jenn getting married was mentioned on the front page of a newspaper blowing past Wonder Woman’s feet (in 1999’s Wonder Woman #148), James has appeared as a secret agent in Wonder Woman #19 (they restarted the series a third time), on sale now.
