Funstyle
Liz Phair has always loved to create controversy. She knows how easy it is to do. Use words that don’t belong in primetime, embrace your sexuality, use it for fun or as a weapon and the press either go gaga or furious. Contrary to some critical opinion, Liz Phair has been making fun, fine albums all along. Yes, she’s guilty of leaving the indie-rock world that gave her a start for a world of commercial pressures and trendy producers. But it’s not a crime to evolve in the pop world of your choice. *Funstyle* is released on her own label and is one weird, kooky album, filled with hilarious moments where she kicks out her jams in a variety of ways. “Bollywood” is bizarre soccer-mom rapping, with lots of electronic touches. “You Should Know Me” and “Miss September” are back to her melodic self with lyrics that never flinch. “Beat Is Up” is a great funk number with a self-parody in the middle that’s worth its price of admission. “U Hate It” is a quirky pastiche that seems to mock her own status in the music world — and the music world itself.
The veteran singer-songwriter surprise releases a new album, and it's a baffling mix of wacky beat-driven tunes and more conventional songs.
Apparently Liz Phair has been listening to a lot of skits from hip-hop albums lately. Her sixth album, snuck out as a paid download on her website over the July 4 weekend, begins with “Smoke,” in which Phair argues with a club doorman about whether she’s on the guest list. It closes with “U Hate It”—a couple of male…