In the latest issue of Blender magazine, they ask various artists what the best songs to download are and Liz Phair chose Christina Aguliera’s ‘Beautiful’ as one of her choices. “I, among millions, commented on how bizarre Christina has looked of late, and wondered why she does it,” she remarked. “This was her answer (‘Beautiful’). It shut you up and put you in your place.”

Like Jewel, 30-year-old Liz Phair is looking to go pop on her forthcoming album, with the self-titled effort due June 24th. Phair tells Entertainment Weekly, ”I didn’t want to be some ’90s act that was great in my 20s and never did anything else. People are like, ‘Don’t be commercial, then. Just be…Wilco.’ And that’s one way to live. But even when I made ‘Guyville,’ I was hating indie then. The whole album was about how much I hated indie. I was sick to fu**ing death of that snobbery. You know, I liked radio hits my whole life, including when I was cool. When Shakira goes [sings]‘Underneath your clothes…,’ that works on me. So here’s your question in life: Do you acknowledge who you are even if people don’t like you for it? Even if people say, ‘That’s so lame’? Should I pretend to be cool so that you will approve of me? After I had my kid, the revelation I had was, Life is incredibly short. I like who I am. And I’m just gonna like what I like and go for what I want to go for. It’s simple.” Read more.