Sam Phillips: The Heretic Finds Some Happiness

SAM PHILLIPS is sitting in a New York office, looking remarkably unwilted in the sultry August heat and listening to me complain about having been beaten to the best description of her sound. According to a note her record company had sent, the music on her new album had been called "acid pop," which perfectly captured the blend of unfettered melody and semi-psychedelic instrumental flourishes that make up The Indescribable Wow. "That was a friend of mine," she says. Actually, I respond, I was told that it was an internationally renowned rock star who came up with the phrase, and name the rock star in question.