Exile in Guyville

Exile in Guyville
Studio album by Liz Phair
Released	June 22, 1993
Genre	Indie rock
Length	55:51
Label	Matador
Producer	Liz Phair, Brad Wood
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Blender link Entertainment Weekly (A)[1] Pitchfork Media (9.6/10) link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone link
Liz Phair chronology
Girly Sound (1991) Exile in Guyville (1993) Whip-Smart (1994)

Exile in Guyville is American indie rock singer-songwriter Liz Phair's 1993 debut album. In the spring of 1994, the album briefly made it to the U.S. charts, selling over 200,000 copies. As of July 2003, the album has sold 450,000 copies.

The album frequently appears on many critics' best-of lists. It was ranked 15 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". VH1 named "Exile in Guyville" the 96th Greatest Album Of All-Time link. The album inspired a number of imitators, and the lo-fi sound and emotional honesty of Phair's lyrics were frequently cited by critics as outstanding qualities. In 2003, the album was ranked number 328 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Album information

In 1991, Phair wrote and recorded songs on audio cassette tapes, which she circulated using the moniker Girly Sound, in Chicago. A Girly Sound tape made it to the head of Matador Records, and they signed Phair. Phair re-recorded several songs from her Girly Sound tapes as well as several new songs, and the resulting album was released in 1993, receiving widespread critical acclaim. It was the number one album in the year-end critics poll in Spin Magazine and the Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. The video for "Never Said" even received airplay on MTV.

Phair commented in interviews that the album was a song-by-song reply to the Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main Street. Some critics contend that the album is not a clear or obvious song-by-song response, although Phair apparently sequenced her compositions in an attempt to match the song-list and pacing of the 1972 album.

Reissue

On March 31, 2008 Pitchfork Media announced that Phair had signed a new deal with ATO Records and that her first release for the label would be a special 15th Anniversary reissue of "Exile in Guyville", featuring three bonus tracks from the original Guyville recording sessions and an accompanying DVD about the album's creation. ATO Records issued a press release the following day stating:

	"Divorce Song"
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‘Exile in Guyville’, which was out of print, will be available on CD, vinyl and - for the first time ever - in digital format (ignoring that the CD is digital). The special reissue package will include three never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: “Ant in Alaska,” with Phair simply accompanying herself on guitar, “Say You,” which features Phair and a full band, and an untitled instrumental with Liz on guitar. Phair has also just completed a new, 60-minute DVD, “Guyville Redux,” for the reissue.

In “Guyville Redux” - which features an introduction by Dave Matthews, founder/co-owner of ATO Records - Liz and the “guys” of Guyville take us back to the making of the album, the male-dominated, Chicago independent music scene of the early 1990’s (which included Urge Overkill, Material Issue, and Smashing Pumpkins), and the Wicker Park neighborhood where it all happened. Phair interviews Gerard Cosloy and Chris Lombardi of Matador Records, which originally released the record, famed indie producer Steve Albini, Ira Glass of NPR’s “This American Life,” John Henderson of the elusive indie label Feel Good All Over, Brad Wood (producer of Exile In Guyville), John Cusack (who founded the Chicago avant-garde theater group New Crime Productions), Urge Overkill, and more.

The special reissue was released on August 25, 2008 in the U.K.

Track listings

All songs written and arranged by Liz Phair. Produced by Liz Phair & Brad Wood.

1. "6'1"" – 3:05
2. "Help Me Mary" – 2:16
3. "Glory" – 1:29
4. "Dance of the Seven Veils" – 2:29
5. "Never Said" – 3:16
6. "Soap Star Joe" – 2:44
7. "Explain It to Me" – 3:11
8. "Canary" – 3:19
9. "Mesmerizing" – 3:55
10. "Fuck and Run" – 3:07
11. "Girls! Girls! Girls!" – 2:20
12. "Divorce Song" – 3:20
13. "Shatter" – 5:28
14. "Flower" – 2:03
15. "Johnny Sunshine" – 3:27
16. "Gunshy" – 3:15
17. "Stratford-on-Guy" – 2:59
18. "Strange Loop" – 3:57 (4:56 on the CD deluxe edition)¹
19. "Ant In Alaska" - 5:48 (Reissue Bonus Track)
20. "Say You" - 3:25 (Reissue Bonus Track)
21. "Instrumental - 3:29 (Reissue Bonus Track)

¹Strange Loop has a minute of silence before the next song, "Ant In Alaska", starts to play.

Personnel

• Liz Phair - guitar, piano, vocals
• Casey Rice - guitar, cymbals, background vocals, handclapping
• Brad Wood - organ, synthesizer, bass, guitar, percussion, bongos, drums, background vocals, drones, feedback
• Tony Marlotti - bass
• John Casey - harp

Charts

Album

Certifications

References

1. ^ Aaron, Charles (June 4, 1993). "Exile in Guyville: Music Review:Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306789,00.html. Retrieved August 23, 2009. 

• Exile in Guyville: The Oral History
• Liz Phair Reissues Exile in Guyville, Signs to ATO
• LIZ PHAIR SIGNS WITH ATO

External links

• October 6, 2008 NPR Live Performance in Los Angeles of 'Exile in Guyville'