Photo credit: Elizabeth Weinberg
Listen to the remastered audio for ‘Bomb,’ which originally appeared on Sooty, the third Girly-Sound cassette, HERE.
Watch the original video ‘Stratford-On-Guy,’ newly digitalised and upscaled to HD, directed by Liz Phair, below.
GIRLY-SOUND TO GUYVILLE: THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY BOX SET OUT MAY 4 ON MATADOR RECORDS
INCLUDES THE REMASTERED REISSUE OF EXILE IN GUYVILLE, AND THE PRE-EXILE GIRLY-SOUNDS AUDIO: YO YO BUDDY YUP YUP WORD TO YA MUTHA, GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!, AND SOOTY
Liz’s first-hand account of how the ‘Stratford-On-Guy’ video came to be:
“We were in talks with labels about the second record – Matador was being courted by Atlantic – and Danny Goldberg came backstage to meet me. I told him about my idea for the next video – ‘Stratford-On-Guy’ – explaining that we were stalled due to budget constraints. He asked ‘what do you need?’ I said, ‘a private plane to fly over downtown LA and get footage at night.’ I wanted to shoot the electric veins of the city. He just said, ‘done!’ It was one of those real rock star moments.
So my husband, his friend Michael Mees, who was the DP, and I went up in this 8 seater Leer jet and got the greatest footage ever. We were literally flying sideways so Michael could shoot straight down over the rooftops of all the buildings. We were executing these tight turns above the skyscrapers and the G force was incredible. You could feel your internal organs dragging to the other side of your body cavity. Michael was using this really heavy camera and Jim, my husband, had to hold onto him as we shot. The lens of the camera was pressing down against the window pane and I remember Michael nervously joking – and not really in jest – that the glass beneath him better hold. It was so fun. We made two approaches into the airport so we could capture that fantastic runway lighting. Those images are etched in my memory forever. I seem to recall I somehow wedged my head up between the pilots like a dog peering over the backseat so I could see that awesome 180* cockpit view, too. Good times!”
“Yup. That’s pretty much exactly how it happened!” –Chris Lombardi (Matador founder)
2018 marks the 25th anniversary of Liz Phair’s landmark album Exile in Guyville and on May 4th, Matador Records will release Girly-Sound To Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Box Set. To whet the appetites of old and new fans alike, Liz has shared another song from the Girly-Sound tapes, ‘Bomb,’ which morphed into the Exile In Guyville track ‘Stratford-On-Guy.’
Liz’s self-directed video for ‘Stratford-On-Guy,’ newly-digitised and upscaled to HD, can be watched on YouTube.
The upcoming release is an extensive, limited edition 7-LP or 3-CD box set to celebrate the anniversary of her classic album. The box set contains the first official restored audio of all three 1991 Girly-Sound tapes from the original cassettes. It also contains the 1993 Exile In Guyville album remastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge. Also included is a lavish, thick book, which contains an extensive oral history by Jason Cohen, plus essays by Liz Phair and journalist Ann Powers. The vinyl version of the book also contains never before published photos, unseen artwork, and ephemera.
Also set for release on May 4th is Exile In Guyville, a reissue remastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge, available on CD or double LP. The album has not been available widely on LP in years.
Originally released in 1993, Exile In Guyville is a seminal album and a feminist landmark. Its legendary status has only grown over the years. It’s continually included in countless lists…Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest albums of all time + 100 best albums of the 90s, Pitchfork’s Top 100 albums of the 90s, etc. Numerous essays and think pieces have been written about it and the number of accolades piled on is endless.
The Girly-Sound tapes are stuff of legend amongst Liz Phair fans. In 1991, she made a series of tapes of her songs under the name Girly-Sound, and sent them to friends. She made three tapes total. Copies were dubbed and passed around and long story short, the Girly-Sound tapes eventually led to her signing with Matador and the rest is history. Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in LA restored an original set of cassettes and Emily Lazar at The Lodge mastered it, and this is the first official restored release of those songs.
Since the release of Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair has continued to defy expectation and break barriers. She has released five albums, is working on a new one and has also composed music for television shows and received awards for that work. In November, it was announced that she would be fulfilling a longtime dream to be an author with a two-book deal with Random House. Her first book will be called Horror Stories, which focuses on “heartbreak, motherhood, and everything in between.”
Girly-Sound To Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Edition Box contents:
7 LPs comprised of:
Exile In Guyville (double remastered LP), and the three pre-Exile Girly-Sound cassettes, restored from the original tapes and never before commercially released in their entirety: Yo Yo Buddy Yup Yup Word To Ya Mutha (double LP, restored from Girly-Sound cassette 1), Girls! Girls! Girls! (double LP, restored from Girly-Sound cassette 2), Sooty (single LP, restored from Girly-Sound cassette 3)
Extensive book containing:
-Oral history by Jason Cohen featuring interviews with: Chris Brokaw, Gerard Cosloy, John Henderson, Chris Holmes, Tutti Jackson, Nash Kato, Mark Ohe, Liz Phair, Casey Rice, Brad Wood, Tae Won Yu.
-“You Might Be A Lucky Star” – essay by Liz Phair
-“Talking Back In Guyville” – essay by Ann Powers
-Never before published photos
-Unseen artwork and ephemera
Also available as a 3-CD set, individual digital downloads, and on streaming services
Exile In Guyville – Track listing:
(Double LP, remastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge)
1. 6’1”
2. Help Me Mary
3. Glory
4. Dance Of The Seven Veils
5. Never Said
6. Soap Star Joe
7. Explain It To Me
8. Canary
9. Mesmerizing
10. Fuck and Run
11. Girls! Girls! Girls!
12. Divorce Song
13. Shatter
14. Flower
15. Johnny Sunshine
16. Gunshy
17. Stratford-On-Guy
18. Strange Loop
Yo Yo Buddy Yup Yup Word To Ya Mutha – Track listing:
(Double LP, restored from Girly-Sound Cassette 1)
(Restoration by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters)
(Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge)
1. White Babies
2. Shane
3. 6 Dick Pimp
4. Divorce Song
5. Go West
6. Don’t Holdyrbreath
7. Johnny Sunshine
8. Miss Lucy
9. Elvis Song
10. Dead Shark
11. One Less Thing
12. Money
13. In Love w/Yself
Girls! Girls! Girls! – Track listing:
(Double LP, restored from Girly-Sound Cassette 2)
(Restoration by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters)
(Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge)
1. Hello Sailor
2. Wild-Thing
3. Fuck And Run
4. Easy Target
5. Soap Star Joe
6. Ant In Alaska
7. GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS
8. Polyester Bride
9. Thrax
10. Miss Mary Mack
11. Clean
12. Love Song
13. Valentine
Sooty – Track listing:
(Single LP, restored from Girly-Sound Cassette 3)
(Restoration by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters)
(Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge)
1. Gigolo
2. Flower
3. Batmobile
4. Slave
5. Open Season
6. Suckerfish
7. California
8. South Dakota
9. Bomb
10. Easy
11. Chopsticks
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