Liz Phair recorded these songs on a four-track in her bedroom in Chicago, supposedly, and they’ve been circulating on samisdat cassettes — I tracked down about a 19th-generation copy after Barbara Manning told me how astonishing it was. Her songs continually shock and amaze, not least when they appropriate melodies that other people have pulled out of the ether first — I noticed “Double Dutch”, “Head On” and “Chopsticks”, among others. Watch for records on Simple Machines and Matador.
Rockpool, January 1, 1993
Note: Regarding the Simple Machines record, the story of “Carnivore” was that the song was intended to be part of a series of Working Holidays single for the Simple Machines label, run by the band Tsunami. Liz’s was supposed to the third single, but it didn’t pan out, so a replacement band was used. however, rather than leaving the song in the can, Liz offered the track to Jim Powers who was starting the Minty Fresh label, who then released “Carnivore” as 7″ single.