Girlysound

Girlysound 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 parent's 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. 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 Phetish" bootleg label. 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.