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ATO Signs Liz Phair

By Waldo Jaquith
Apr.01.2008

We don't generally bother to write about ATO Records news here, because there's just so much of it and virtually none of it is of interest to DMB fans. But this is just awesome: ATO has signed Liz Phair, and they're re-releasing Exile in Guyville. The 1993 release is widely seen as one of the greatest albums ever. The ATO release will include four previously unreleased tracks, including "Ant in Alaska" and "Wild Thing," which are widely circulated as part of her "Girly Sound" demos, but apparently were part of the Exile recording sessions. It will also be accompanied by a DVD, which will feature, awesomely, Phair interviewing characters from the Wicker Park, Chicago indie scene, which includes John Cusack and This American Life's Ira Glass. All of this is enough to warrant forgiving Phair for her eponymous 2003 album, which was basically her Everyday.

Envision DMB re-releasing Remember Two Things, only this time without heavily modifying it in production to compensate for the quality of the performance, adding a few bonus tracks, and a DVD of them interviewing some of the other great Charlottesville creative types of the early 90s, and you've got the idea.