Saturday, February 24, 2007

the most beautiful girl in the indie-rock world

I'm sorry for objectifying you like this, Britta Phillips, but you are the prettiest woman in indie rock.


Phillips turns 44 this June. How have two decades of life on the road not weathered her? They've weathered this guy, and he's been living comfortably in a mansion since 1994:


Phillips provided the singing voice of Jem on the animated series of the same name back in the '80s. Around the time that show ended, she appeared as one of Justine Bateman's bandmates in Satisfaction, a 1988 feature-film vehicle for the Family Ties costar that quickly became better known as one of Julia Roberts's first movies. (A pre-stardom Liam Neeson's in it too.)


I think I saw Phillips from a distance in early 2002 as I was leaving the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia. She was part of the Atlanta band Ultrababyfat for at least one album, Eight Balls in Reverse (2001), and toured with them to promote it. I had come to the 40 Watt that night to see David Cross do stand-up—he opened for Ultrababyfat (sorry, UBF, my friend and I didn't stay, but you're about to find out why, because I know your friend Mary reads this and will rat me out to you)—but I ended up passing out in the middle of his set. I'd never passed out before. All I remember is thinking, "It's really hot in here and I feel nauseous, so maybe I should go outside and get some fresh—"

Next thing I knew, I was being lifted up off the ground—I'd fallen backward onto the people behind me. I had an empty beer bottle in my hand, so I'm sure the people behind me thought, "This guy can't handle his alcohol." Well, sure, sometimes, but not after one beer.

Wait, why am I talking about an embarrassing moment of mine from five years ago? I'm here to objectify Britta Phillips's beauty, not discuss my firsthand knowledge of "the vapors."


In 2000 Phillips became a member of the critically acclaimed indie-rock band Luna, which broke up five years later. She also recorded an album with Luna frontman Dean Wareham in 2003 called L'avventura, and now they have a follow-up, Back Numbers, ready for release.

Phillips is a talented singer, songwriter, bassist, and actress. But it doesn't hurt that she also happens to be gorgeous (say it like Lionel Stander did over the opening credits of Hart to Hart). Get thee to a cheesecake-y Blender photo shoot, posthaste!

3 comments:

  1. Hey, thanks for reminding me about Britta and Dean. I'm sitting here with a freshly loaded emusic-account, and L'avventura is exactly what I want right now. I've been planning to get that for ages, but it's always slipped my mind.

    Btw, I downloaded a great, 70s/soft rock-inspired album today, "The Trials of Van Occupanther" by Midlake. Heard it? I like it a lot.

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    1. Eleven years later, Terje, I want you to know that (1) I don't know why I didn't respond to this comment 11 years ago, and (2) I remember hearing about "The Trials of Van Occupanther" in '06 and '07, but I never actually heard it. I'll look it up on Spotify soon. Oh yeah, and (3) Dean and Britta appear in Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha," and Dean also has small roles in Baumbach's "While We're Young" and "Mistress America." I like his deadpan delivery.

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  2. yup. she shore is purty.

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