Funstyle

Commercial reception to Phair’s fifth album, Somebody’s Miracle, was mediocre. After its release, she was stuck in limbo, as Capitol Records wouldn’t dissolve her contract due to efforts made by then chief executive, Andy Slater.

To keep her creative juices flowing, Phair began writing . During this time, Phair teamed with writing partner Evan Frankfort, and began writing music for television, while continuing to write songs for her next album.

In 2008, Phair would sign to Dave Matthews’ ATO Records where she worked on the special reissue of Exile in Guyville, to celebrate the album’s 15th anniversary which saw release later that year.

As she continued to work on new material, she played an early draft of “Bollywood” for her management and was stunned by their negative response, warning her that her career would be over if she ever decided to release it and that they part ways with her should she continue.

Despite the icy reaction, Phair continued to write additional songs, but let things sit for awhile, as she thought about what she wanted to do next. Every label seemed to want another album like Exile in Guyville, and many fans seemed to echo the same demands.

Ultimately that she wanted to press forward with these newer songs and subsequently, severed ties with her management, and ATO as a result.

Finding herself without management and a record label, Phair sought her lawyer’s help to find an independent label to release this new batch of songs that would become Funstyle. She then made the album available on her website on July 3, 2010 (to mark her independence from the confines of a music label) and then found Rocket Science Ventures, an independent label that would later distribute a physical version of the album later that year, paired with a bonus disc of some of Phair’s earlier Girly-Sound material.

Released: July 3, 2010 (digital), October 19, 2010 (retail)
Label: None (digital release), Rocket Science Ventures (retail)
Format: MP3 (320 kbps), 2-CD
Country: US
Availabilty: Moderate

All songs written by Liz Phair except “My My” written by Liz Phair and Kevin Griffin, and “Satisfied” written by Liz Phair, Doc Dauer, Evan Frankfort

Design by Jason Harter
Management: Cal Financial
Mastered by Evan Frankfort
Photography by Ryan Burchfield

The retail version of Funstyle was released as a 2-CD digipak where the second disc featured ten of Phair’s original Girly-Sound tracks.

“Smoke”
Liz Phair, Evan Frankfort, Hang the Dog, Mark Kneer, Dan Leeb, Daniel Goetz
Produced, recorded, and mastered by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Sound, L.A.

“Bollywood”
Liz Phair, Evan Frankfort
Produced, recorded, and mastered by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Sound, L.A.

“You Should Know Me”
Liz Phair, Dave Matthews, Brett Radin, John Alagia
Produced by Dave Matthews, Brett Radin
Recorded by John Alagia at Robert Lang Studio, Seattle
Engineered by Justin Armstrong
Mastered by Evan Frankfort

“Miss September”
Liz Phair, Evan Frankfort, Noah Shain
Produced, recorded, and mastered by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Sound, L.A.

“My My”
Liz Phair, Kevin Griffin, Evan Frankfort
Produced and recorded by Kevin Griffin, New Orleans
Additional Production by Evan Frankfort
Mastered by Evan Frankfort

“Oh, Bangladesh”
Liz Phair, Dave Matthews, John Alagia, Brett Radin
Produced by Dave Matthews, Brett Radin
Recorded by John Alagia at Engine Studios, Chicago
Engineered by Justin Armstrong
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
Additional production & mastering by Evan Frankfort

“Bang! Bang!”
Liz Phair, Evan Frankfort
Produced and recorded by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Sound, L.A.
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
Additional mastering by Evan Frankfort

“Beat is Up”
Liz Phair, Evan Frankfort, Lou Felder
Produced, recorded, mastered by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Sound, L.A.

“Satisfied”
Liz Phair, Doc Dauer, Evan Frankfort, Noah Shain
Produced by Evan Frankfort, Doc Dauer
Recorded by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Sound, L.A.
Mastered by Evan Frankfort

“And He Slayed Her”
Liz Phair, Dave Matthews, John Alagia, Brett Radin
Produced by Dave Matthews, Brett Radin
Recorded by John Alagia at Robert Lang Studio, Seattle
Engineered by Justin Armstrong
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
Additional mastering by Evan Frankfort

“U Hate It”
Liz Phair, Evan Frankfort, Bert Berdis, Lou Feldman, Briss
Produced, recorded, and mastered by Evan Frankfort at Wouldwork Studio, L.A.

For the Girly-Sound disc, there are a few song title inconsistencies that would later be confirmed on the Girly-Sound to Guyville boxset, where “Speed Racer” is officially known as “Suckerfish,” “In Love With Yourself” is officially styled as “In Love w/ Yself,” “Wild Thing” is missing the hyphen, and “Don’t Hold Your Breath” is officially styled as “Don’t Holdyrbreath.”

All songs written, performed, and recorded by Liz Phair except “Wild Thing,” written by Chip Taylor with adaptations by Liz Phair.

Director: Joey Boukadakis and Paul Boukadakis
Co-Producer: Kip McClanahan
Location: Austin, TX
Released: May 21, 2012

Funstyle received mixed reviews from the press.

“Naturally, the immediate reaction to Funstyle was “What is this shit?” That was, of course, followed by a wave of contrarianism: admirers of Phair’s early records arguing that actually it’s pretty okay, that it’s raw and eccentric and personal in a way her albums haven’t been since the 1990s, that there are some decent songs on it. And it’s true–what Funstyle lacks in fuck-all-y’all formal purity it possesses in the flickers of songcraft she can’t shake. It’s hard to avoid scavenging it for salvageable bits..”

— Douglas Wolk, Pitchfork July 8, 2010

These tough-to-decipher tracks don’t feel like mistakes; they’re attempts at something new, and any one could lead Phair somewhere interesting. Scattered among them are songs in which she sticks to what she does best, and they’ll satisfy any fan who puts down her preconceptions and takes the time to find them. “Miss September” gently pulls out the slivers of a damaged romance. “Bang! Bang!” is a defiant expression of desire by someone painfully aware of her own limitations. “And He Slayed Her” shows Phair making a game of the current vampire craze by reviving the spirit of Buffy; her reclamation of female anger in the face of male privilege feels honest and relevant.

— Ann Powers, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2010