I've oftened heard about this Cd by Liz Phair . How does it play out ? Is it an answer to The Stones From a female perspective ? Should I buy it ? I like her and all . Thoughts? " I'm The Man On On The Mountain , Come On Up "

It is a very good record...

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kittypoo
I've oftened heard about this Cd by Liz Phair . How does it play out ? Is it an answer to The Stones From a female perspective ? Should I buy it ? I like her and all . Thoughts? " I'm The Man On On The Mountain , Come On Up "

It is one of the great indy records of all time. Buy it right now. Get the deluxe 15th anniversary edition with the dvd if you can. It really has nothing to do with EOMS, except that there are 18 songs and some good Stonesy guitar. Gritty, honest, sexy songs. I cannot say enough good things about this record.

Thanks for the replys . I'll definitely go out and get it!!

Wha wha what???

who is it? what is it? whats it sound like? from when is it?

details, Ladies and Gentlemen, details!

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open-g
Wha wha what???

who is it? what is it? whats it sound like? from when is it?

details, Ladies and Gentlemen, details!

Liz Phair, "Exile In Guyville". 1993

It sounds like songs from a woman's bedroom. Almost like demos, though really, really catchy. Smart, funny, sexual, unbearably sad in places. One of the best records by anybody in the 90s, for my money. Imagine a chick who is influenced by the Stones and plays a pretty decent open G (Fender Mustang or Musicmaster, as I recall). Unfortunately, Liz has never matched the quality of this record since then, though she's had a few individual tracks that live up to the promise. the hype when it came out was that it was "a song-by-song response to Exile On Main Street", though that was just a clever line to get people to pay attention. In this particular case, the record measures up to the hype, and surpasses it.

This record deserves a good listen, really.

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kittypoo
Thanks for the replys . I'll definitely go out and get it!!

I would appreciate hearing your opinion after you listen to it, kittypoo. Cheers.

I have always loved this record, very good stuff. When it came out in the early nineties it was a different sound (probably cause it was a rare Chicago production, as opposed to the usual LA, NYC, or Nashville productions) Lyrics are her strongpoint, As for the Exile connection its pretty much in the title, inspiration, and number of tracks. Her sound is her own, no attempt to sound Stonsey.

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doubledoor
I have always loved this record, very good stuff. When it came out in the early nineties it was a different sound (probably cause it was a rare Chicago production, as opposed to the usual LA, NYC, or Nashville productions) Lyrics are her strongpoint, As for the Exile connection its pretty much in the title, inspiration, and number of tracks. Her sound is her own, no attempt to sound Stonsey.

You are right doubledoor. It turns out that when Capitol bought the distribution rights for the record they wanted to go back and record it all over again "professionally" which would have completely killed the low-tech spirit and charm of it.

I have a poster of Liz that she signed to me "your lips are the perfect suck-me size". She's pretty funny.

From the NPR link with the 4 Exile OT:

Liz Phair: "I had this huge crush on this guy in the music scene, and he and I had a couple interactions, but nothing really serious. But I invented this idea of him as Mick's character on Exile on Main Street. So whenever I listened to that album, I felt like I was listening to this guy talking to me. And then I sort of wrote back to him, vis-a-vis the Stones, on Exile in Guyville. You think about "Rocks Off": He's coming home from this one-night stand and he runs into some girl he knows, who's sort of like, "Where have you been?" And he's like, "Look, I just can't deal with you right now" and walks off. So I put myself in the shoes of that girl he meets on the street, and that's how I wrote "6'1." In Exile, there's a whole range of emotions and characteristics and personal traits and ambitions, and I used them all."

I *love* some tracks on this - 6'1", Help Me Mary, Mesmerizing, Divorce Song, Gunshy, Stratford-on-Guy -- others are forgettable. Still, well worth hearing.

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redsock
From the NPR link with the 4 Exile OT:

Liz Phair: "I had this huge crush on this guy in the music scene, and he and I had a couple interactions, but nothing really serious. But I invented this idea of him as Mick's character on Exile on Main Street. So whenever I listened to that album, I felt like I was listening to this guy talking to me. And then I sort of wrote back to him, vis-a-vis the Stones, on Exile in Guyville. You think about "Rocks Off": He's coming home from this one-night stand and he runs into some girl he knows, who's sort of like, "Where have you been?" And he's like, "Look, I just can't deal with you right now" and walks off. So I put myself in the shoes of that girl he meets on the street, and that's how I wrote "6'1." In Exile, there's a whole range of emotions and characteristics and personal traits and ambitions, and I used them all."

I *love* some tracks on this - 6'1", Help Me Mary, Mesmerizing, Divorce Song, Gunshy, Stratford-on-Guy -- others are forgettable. Still, well worth hearing.

There are major songs and minor songs - just like EOMS, but I wouldn't say any are "forgettable". There are songs that are bridges between more important songs. But it all works as a whole. The record shifts through several moods, and without the minor songs, you would not absorb that mood quite so well. It is the same as with any classic double album.

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71Tele

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open-g
Wha wha what???

who is it? what is it? whats it sound like? from when is it?

details, Ladies and Gentlemen, details!

Liz Phair, "Exile In Guyville". 1993

It sounds like songs from a woman's bedroom. Almost like demos, though really, really catchy. Smart, funny, sexual, unbearably sad in places. One of the best records by anybody in the 90s, for my money. Imagine a chick who is influenced by the Stones and plays a pretty decent open G (Fender Mustang or Musicmaster, as I recall). Unfortunately, Liz has never matched the quality of this record since then, though she's had a few individual tracks that live up to the promise. the hype when it came out was that it was "a song-by-song response to Exile On Main Street", though that was just a clever line to get people to pay attention. In this particular case, the record measures up to the hype, and surpasses it.

This record deserves a good listen, really.

Thanks for the enthusiastic review, 71Tele.
it sure sounds worthwhile to check it out.
note to self:

Liz Phair, "Exile In Guyville". 1993

kittypoo----this is coming from a huge Exile in Guyville fan (me), but as Tele and others have said: this is a great album but (huge caveat) it has nothing overtly to do with the Stones or Exile on Main Street. So be forewarned.

You'll like it or not like it based on what your musical taste is, and maybe somewhat your life experience. or personality.

For me, this was a life-changing album when it came out. I saw her soon after it was released and had never seen anyone like her perform (very shy and humble and just wanted to play her guitar and sing and not mug and dance around) liked meeting her personally.

To me what was so extraordinary about this album was it "voiced" so many things that I'd never ever ever heard voiced before. Not in art, not in life. I'm a woman (probably like some women on this board) and was a girl, who always has had guy friends, who's hung out easily with guys, shares a love of music, is funny, is easy for guys to talk to but who they still want to sleep with, and who loves guys as people, friends, and lovers. And sometimes....stuff gets a little complicated.

But this is the voice of that girl. Who has female friends but there's sometimes jealousy on the part of other women, who don't get it. And there's songs about that. And about the stuff that can go down when we're in our 20s maybe not navigating boundaries as well as we will hopefully later, and so some confusion, a few regrets. There's relationships that get weird and mean--on both sides--that break and tear. There's wistfulness about wanting to be desired and desirable. There's stuff about when you're the sole girl with a bunch of guys how it sometimes can get rude and gross, not too fun, and exasperating. Songs of sheer adoration of guys. Songs of disgust. Of revenge. Of lonely longing. Of once in a while wishful thinking/posturing to be a little tougher than you know may actually be the case.

And it's clearly all written and played by a girl who loves music more than anything. Not being a star (she's very different now, but when this came out in 1993 she wanted her music to get out and to play out, but she didn't want to be a cheesecake pin-up pop star chick--which she turned into).

The music is muddy, you hear her concentrating, there's no posing. She and another guy played and recorded everything. There is nothing that sounded like this before her. Nothing. Ever. Polly Jean Harvey is sort of a high-drama histrionic self-conscious feminist-statement-making cousin---very different from Liz.

There are many people who came after Liz Phair doing something that sounds somewhat like this, and who make stylized version of this music. And even her 2nd and 3rd albums couldn't match this. (And nothing ever again after that)

But again -- this has nothing to do with Exile on Main Street. She's a chick who loves the Stones & loves Exile. And that the production is simple and unpolished. She named in Exile in Guyville --- "Guyville" being her naming of the part of Chicago she lived in after college---hanging out with bands and musicans of all guys, a very guy-centric, guy-saturated indy music scene. She was the only girl. And as stated above, it has its perqs and its downsides.

- swiss

ps - Like Tele, I look forward to your impressions of it. I would listen to a few songs first and see what you think












Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-05-14 05:32 by swiss.

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redsock
From the NPR link with the 4 Exile OT:

Liz Phair: "I had this huge crush on this guy in the music scene, and he and I had a couple interactions, but nothing really serious. But I invented this idea of him as Mick's character on Exile on Main Street. So whenever I listened to that album, I felt like I was listening to this guy talking to me. And then I sort of wrote back to him, vis-a-vis the Stones, on Exile in Guyville. You think about "Rocks Off": He's coming home from this one-night stand and he runs into some girl he knows, who's sort of like, "Where have you been?" And he's like, "Look, I just can't deal with you right now" and walks off. So I put myself in the shoes of that girl he meets on the street, and that's how I wrote "6'1." In Exile, there's a whole range of emotions and characteristics and personal traits and ambitions, and I used them all."

I *love* some tracks on this - 6'1", Help Me Mary, Mesmerizing, Divorce Song, Gunshy, Stratford-on-Guy -- others are forgettable. Still, well worth hearing.

Wow -- I'd never heard that -- thanks so much for posting, Fascinating!

Thank you from Kittypoo. I'm actually a 47 year old man from Orange County who was watching a coommercial about catfood when I was regestering on IORR . I would have much more wished a cooler name but oh well . I'm picking up a copy tomorrow of EXILE ON GUYVILLE . Yeah

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kittypoo
Thank you from Kittypoo. I'm actually a 47 year old man from Orange County who was watching a coommercial about catfood when I was regestering on IORR . I would have much more wished a cooler name but oh well . I'm picking up a copy tomorrow of EXILE ON GUYVILLE . Yeah

omg you're kidding! that's completely hilarious, kittypoo! well....Liz I think is 3 years younger than us, so basically she's a contemporary---if not an actual soul sister---for you. You'll appreciate it in a totally different way than I described

Swiss, great post. I could not have described the record better than you did. I'm a GUY, who through this record appreciated much more all things women go through. But it comes from a woman who likes to ROCK and loves the Stones - not the usual Tori Amos type. Her honest sexuality was shocking and controversial at the time, and some feminists didn't like it (you're not supposed to admit you LIKE sex if you're a girl, I suppose ). It's a dirty record, but riveting emotionally. Sometimes it's like finding someone's diary, sometimes it's just great grooves (the opener, 6' 1", is probably the Stonesiest thing on the record. Yeah, it's from a woman's point of view, and at times terribly sad -"Divorce Song" - but it also is FUN to listen to. And did I say it ROCKS? This is coming from a guy who doesn't like sensitive girl music. It's great pop and rock by someone who happens to be female.

I also want to mention one of the musical things I love about the record: The way she uses her voice. Many layered vocals from high-pitched girly singing to gritty, bluesy (dare I say Stonesy) lows.

I will shut up now. Just get the record if you haven't heard it!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2010-05-14 06:05 by 71Tele.

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71Tele
Swiss, great post. I could not have described the record better than you did. I'm a GUY, who through this record appreciated much more all things women go through. But it comes from a woman who likes to ROCK and loves the Stones - not the usual Tori Amos type. Her honest sexuality was shocking and controversial at the time, and some feminists didn't like it (you're not supposed to admit you LIKE sex if you're a girl, I suppose ). It's a dirty record, but riveting emotionally. Sometimes it's like finding someone's diary, sometimes it's just great grooves (the opener, 6' 1", is probably the Stonesiest thing on the record. Yeah, it's from a woman's point of view, and at times terribly sad -"Divorce Song" - but it also is FUN to listen to. And did I say it ROCKS? This is coming from a guy who doesn't like sensitive girl music. It's great pop and rock by someone who happens to be female.

I also want to mention one of the musical things I love about the record: The way she uses her voice. Many layered vocals from high-pitched girly singing to gritty, bluesy (dare I say Stonesy) lows.

I will shut up now. Just get the record if you haven't heard it!

Thanks, tele---i love that you dig and get this album. So many people, male and female, really don't. I've heard guys tear it apart, saying it's misanthropic and trying or to be like a guy, when it's so poignantly not.

I love that musically it ROCKS as you say, and it is a woman. No bullshit of trying to sound....anything. Just her sound, her influences, her interpretation, her homage to Exile.

I remember her voice was criticized at the time it came out, and I agree with you. It's an expressive and varied instrument. And I love touches like the percussion in Mezmerizing...

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&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src=

Have you heard this one, Swiss?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-05-14 07:30 by 71Tele.

"forgettable" was too strong. i don't care for some of the tracks. if i made a guyville cd with maybe 10-12 of the 18 songs, i'd play it a lot more than the full album. -- toss on some tunes from whipsmart and i'd be very happy!

unrelated, but a friend of mine wrote this novel in which phair and guyville get discussed in great detail:
[www.amazon.com]

exile in guyville is one of my fav records

The song 'Glory' off Exile in Guyville is an absolute classic. One minute and twenty-nine seconds. Haunting.

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redsock
"forgettable" was too strong. i don't care for some of the tracks. if i made a guyville cd with maybe 10-12 of the 18 songs, i'd play it a lot more than the full album. -- toss on some tunes from whipsmart and i'd be very happy!

unrelated, but a friend of mine wrote this novel in which phair and guyville get discussed in great detail:
[www.amazon.com]

throw on the better ones from Whitechocolatespaceegg while you're at it. A much better record than Whipsmart.