| Girly-Sound | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo album (Bootleg) by Girly-Sound | ||||
| Released | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock Lo-Fi |
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| Label | self-released | |||
| Producer | Liz Phair | |||
| Girly-Sound chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
Girly-Sound is the moniker under which singer-songwriter Liz Phair recorded several self-produced cassettes in 1991. Recorded on a 4-track tape recorder in her childhood bedroom at her parents' house and initially given only to two people by Phair, Chris Brokaw and Tae Won Yu, these tapes became somewhat of a sensation in the American tape trading/zine subculture. In 1992, Phair signed a deal with Matador Records on the strength of a tape she had sent in consisting of 6 Girly-Sound tracks. Phair's debut album Exile in Guyville is largely a reworking of songs from these tapes. None of the Girly-Sound tapes has ever been given an official release (5 tracks were released in 1995 on the Juvenilia EP), though Phair has frequently gone back and reworked many of the songs for her studio albums throughout her career. As a result, Phair's Girly-Sound tapes are still one of the most sought-after alternative-rock bootlegs. A bonus disc of Girly-Sound tracks is included with the physical release of Phair's 2010 album Funstyle.
Although originally consisting of a total of 3 cassettes, the most common version of the Girly-Sound tapes that circulated among Phair's fans was an incomplete 2 disc compilation of songs from all 3 tapes released on the "Bliss and Fetish" bootleg label, processed with digital noise reduction. An earlier bootleg compilation of Girly-Sound material, "Secretly Timid", was also released. Early in 2006, mp3s of first generation copies of the first 2 tapes were introduced via Phair's online community, bringing to light the original track listing, correct song names, and album titles and more importantly introducing a number of songs that did not appear on the previous Girly-Sound bootlegs. The third Girly-Sound tape and information of its complete contents remains elusive.
Contents |
Recorded circa 1991
| Side/track | Original track title | Notes | Length(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side A, 1 | "White Babies" | A second version appeared from an answering machine recording; the song appears as "Black Market White Baby Dealer" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg; This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 3:15/2:53 |
| Side A, 2 | "Shane" | Re-recorded for album Whip-Smart in 1994; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 4:49/4:12 |
| Side A, 3 | "6 Dick Pimp" | Re-recorded as "Six Dick Pimp" for the motion picture Brain Candy in 1996; the song appears as "Willie the Six-Dicked Pimp" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:25/3:39 |
| Side A, 4 | "Divorce Song" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:54/3:20 |
| Side A, 5 | "Go West" | Re-recorded for album Whip-Smart in 1994; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:42/3:17 |
| Side A, 6 | "Don't Hold Your Breath" | The song appears as "If I Ever Pay You Back" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg; This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc, stylized as "Don't Hold Yr Breath". | 4:15 |
| Side A, 7 | "Johnny Sunshine" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 4:01/3:29 |
| Side B, 1 | "Miss Lucy" | The song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 2:37 |
| Side B, 2 | "Elvis Song" | The song appears as "Elvis, Be True" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg; This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 5:02 |
| Side B, 3 | "Dead Shark" | Re-formatted and included on the Juvenilia EP in 1995; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:32 |
| Side B, 4 | "One Less Thing" | The song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 4:46 |
| Side B, 5 | "Money" | Re-recorded as "Shitloads of Money" for the album whitechocolatespaceegg in 1998; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:43 |
| Side B, 6 | "In Love With Yourself" | The song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg. Appears with the above song as the B-Side to Phair's 'Supernova' single under the title 'Combo Platter'.; This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 4:04 |
| Side B, 7 | ""Fuck or Die"" | The song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg. | 3:20 |
Recorded circa 1991
| Side/track | Original track title | Notes | Length(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side A, 1 | "Hello Sailor" | The song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 6:08 |
| Side A, 2 | "Wild Thing" | The song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg.;This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 3:54 |
| Side A, 3 | "Fuck and Run" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 4:38/3:07 |
| Side A, 4 | "Easy Target" | The song appears as "Do You Love Me?" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 5:07 |
| Side A, 5 | "Soap Star Joe" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:25/2:44 |
| Side A, 6 | "Ant In Alaska" | The song appears as "I Know It's Not Easy" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg. Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville | 7:13/2:53/5:30 |
| Side A, 7 | "Girls, Girls, Girls" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song is one of eight that had never been released prior to their 2006 debut | 7:28/2:20 |
| Side B, 1 | "Polyester Bride" | Re-recorded for album whitechocolatespaceegg in 1998; the song is one of eight that had never been released prior to their 2006 debut | 7:46/4:05 |
| Side B, 2 | "Thrax" | Re-recorded as "Jealousy" for album Whip-Smart in 1998 and three times as "Tell Me You Like Me" for the album demos of whitechocolatespaceegg in 1996 and 1997; the song is one of eight that had never been released prior to their 2006 debut | 4:47/3:37 |
| Side B, 3 | "Miss Mary Mack" | This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 4:33 |
| Side B, 4 | "Clean" | Re-recorded as "Never Said" for the album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song is one of eight that had never been released prior to their 2006 debut | 4:00/3:16 |
| Side B, 5 | "Love Song" | This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 6:25 |
| Side B, 6 | "Valentine" | This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 4:19 |
| Side B, 7 | "Shatter" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song is one of eight that had never been released prior to their 2006 debut | 6:51/5:28 |
Recorded circa 1991
| Side/track | Original track title | Notes | Length(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side A, 1 | "Flower" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 2:38/2:03 |
| Side A, 2 | "Whip-Smart" | Re-recorded for the album Whip-Smart in 1994; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:20/4:18 |
| Side A, 3 | "Open Season" | The song appears as "Beg Me" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 2:49 |
| Side A, 4 | "Speed Racer" | The song appears as "Go, Speed Racer" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg;This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 1:41 |
| Side A, 5 | "Stratford-On-Guy" | Re-recorded for album Exile in Guyville in 1993; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:11/2:59 |
| Side A, 6 | "South Dakota" | Re-formatted and included on the Juvenilia EP in 1995; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 4:15 |
| Side A, 7 | "California" | Re-formatted and included on the Juvenilia EP in 1995; the song appears as "Why I Left California" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg;This song appears on Liz's Phair new album, Funstyle, chosen as one of the songs for the bonus disc. | 2:38/2:43 |
| Side B, 1 | "Batmobile" | Re-formatted and included on the Juvenilia EP in 1995; the song appears as "Fire Up the Batmobile" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:06/2:37 |
| Side B, 2 | "Gigalo" | Re-recorded as "Can't Get Out of What I'm Into" and originally listed on album Somebody's Miracle in 2005, but was instead included as an imported bonus track; the song appears as "Can't Get Out of What I'm Into" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:15/2:51 |
| Side B, 3 | "Easy" | Re-formatted and included on the Juvenilia EP in 1995; the song appears as "It's Not That Easy" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:13 |
| Side B, 4 | "Chopsticks" | Re-recorded for album Whip-Smart in 1994; the song appears on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 1:51/2:05 |
| Side B, 5 | "Slave" | The song appears as "Sometimes a Dream (Is What Makes You a Slave)" on the Bliss and Fetish bootleg | 3:45 |
| Side B, 6 | "I'll See You" | Re-recorded in 1997 for album whitechocolatespaceegg as "White Chocolate Space Egg. The Girly-Sound version is slower and features an instrumental verse before the first verse ("Orange and blue, green and pink...") | 4:51 / 4:35 |
| Side B, 7 | "Fine Again" | Re-recorded for Phair's self-titled album, appears on the comeandgetit EP. This version is recorded on the electric guitar, rather than acoustic. | 3:06 / 2:43 |
Released (non-first generation, tape transferred), recorded circa 1991; transferred from original three-tape set. This release features aggressive digital noise reduction that some listeners found objectionable.
| Track | Bliss and Fetish Disc One Title | Time | Track | Bliss and Fetish Disc Two Title | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Black Market White Baby Dealer" | 2:53 | 1 | "Hello Sailor" | 5:39 |
| 2 | "Johnny Sunshine" | 3:29 | 2 | "Wild Thing" | 3:32 |
| 3 | "Elvis, Be True" | 4:34 | 3 | "Fuck and Run" | 4:15 |
| 4 | "Fuck or Die" | 2:45 | 4 | "Can't Get Out of What I'm Into" | 3:11 |
| 5 | "Flower" | 2:36 | 5 | "Batmobile" | 3:01 |
| 6 | "Beg Me" | 2:47 | 6 | "Sometimes A Dream (Is What Makes A Slave)" | 3:34 |
| 7 | "Whip-Smart" | 3:18 | 7 | "Easy" | 3:08 |
| 8 | "Go, Speed Racer" | 1:40 | 8 | "Chopsticks" | 1:50 |
| 9 | "California" | 2:36 | 9 | "Do You Love Me?" | 4:51 |
| 10 | "South Dakota" | 4:12 | 10 | "Soap Star Joe" | 3:14 |
| 11 | "Stratford-On-Guy" | 3:08 | 11 | "I Know It's Not Easy" | 7:07 |
| 12 | "Shane" | 4:36 | 12 | "Red Ruby Lips (John Henry)" | 0:23 |
| 13 | "Willie the Six-Dicked Pimp" | 3:13 | 13 | "Miss Lucy" | 2:18 |
| 14 | "Divorce Song" | 3:14 | 14 | "Dead Shark" | 3:16 |
| 15 | "Go West" | 3:19 | 15 | "One Less Thing" | 4:39 |
| 16 | "If I Ever Pay You Back" | 3:53 | 16 | "Money" | 3:44 |
| 17 | "In Love With Yourself" | 5:39 |
*"Ant in Alaska" and "Wild Thing" were released on the 2008 reissue of Exile in Guyville, with the latter only on the advance copy of the reissue
*"Tell Me You Like Me" was rejected from the final version of the album, and is listed for continuity purposes.
The Girly-Sound disc paired with Phair's 2010 Funstyle album includes 10 tracks.[2]