Exile in Guyville

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Exile in Guyville
Exile in Guyville cover
Studio album by Liz Phair
Released June 22, 1993
Genre Indie rock
Lo-Fi
Length 55:51
Label Matador
Producer Liz Phair, Brad Wood
Professional reviews
Liz Phair chronology
Girly Sound
(1991)		 Exile in Guyville
(1993)		 Whip-Smart
(1994)

Exile in Guyville is American singer-songwriter Liz Phair's 1993 debut album. 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. Phair wrote and recorded songs on cassette tapes, which she circulated using the moniker Girly Sound, in the early 90s in Chicago. A Girly Sound tape made it to the head of Matador Records, and they signed Phair. Phair re-recorded several of the best 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. 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 inspired a number of imitators, and the low-fidelity sound and emotional honesty of Phair's lyrics were frequently cited by critics as outstanding qualities.

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.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 328 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Contents

[edit] 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 four 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:

‘Exile in Guyville’, which was out of print, will be available on CD, vinyl and - for the first time ever - in digital format. The special reissue package will include four never-before-released songs from the original recording sessions: “Ant in Alaska,” with Phair simply accompanying herself on guitar, “Wild Thing,” wherein she uses the melody and central line of The Troggs’ 1966 #1 hit as a jumping off point for an otherwise all-original song, “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 will be released on June 24, 2008.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Liz Phair.

  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" – 3:56

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

[edit] Samples

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1993 Billboard Heatseekers 12
1994 The Billboard 200 196

[edit] Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – U.S. Gold May 6, 1998

[edit] References

Languages