In 1993, Liz Phair released her debut album, Exile in Guyville. It was an instant hit, critically and commercially. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Spin and The Village Voice named it album of the year. Soon after, Rolling Stone put her on the cover of their magazine. Now, twenty-five years later, Exile in Guyville is being reissued as a deluxe boxset with photos, essays, and Liz Phair’s original four-track cassette recordings. In this episode, Liz and Exile in Guyville‘s producer, Brad Wood, look back to tell the story of the creation of one of the songs on the album, “Divorce Song.”

Buy or stream “Divorce Song” here. And click here to buy Girly-Sound to Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Boxset.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Oberlin College
Girly-Sound
Exile on Main Street – The Rolling Stones
“Rocks Off” – The Rolling Stones
“Ventilator Blues” – The Rolling Stones
“Honky Tonk Women” – The Rolling Stones
Peavey Backstage amplifier

The Oral History of “Exile in Guyville” by Jessica Hopper – from SPIN, 2013

Arcade Fire is a Grammy­-winning six­-piece band originally from Montreal. They’ve released five albums, and the last three have all debuted at number one on the charts. In this episode, frontman Win Butler takes apart “Put Your Money On Me,” from their 2017 album Everything Now. You’ll hear the orignal demo, and an alternate version of the song that was never finished. The story begins when Win and his wife and bandmate Régine Chassange moved to New Orleans.

Buy or stream “Put Your Money on Me” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Roland TR-808 drum machine
“Sexual Healing” – Marvin Gaye
Thomas Bangalter (of Daft Punk)
“Around the World” – Daft Punk
“Everybody’s Talkin'” – Harry Nilsson
Will Butler’s Song Exploder episode
Daniel Lanois

Kimbra is a singer from New Zealand. Her first album came out in 2011, and in 2013 she won two Grammys for her collaboration with Gotye, the multiplatinum hit song “Somebody That I Used to Know.” In this episode, Kimbra breaks down a song from 2018 called “Top of the World,” a song she also made in collaboration—this time with artists Skrillex and Diplo.

Buy or stream “Top of the World” here.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes
Anderson .Paak
Vic Mensa
John Congleton – Producer
Lars Horntveth
Prophet V Synthesizer