Grant-Lee Phillips, Ladies' Love Oracle - 36m 50s

Tracks & Durations

1. You're A Pony	2:05
2. Heavenly	2:24
3. Squint	3:36
4. Don't Look Down	4:40
5. Flamin' Shoe	3:53
6. Folding	3:32
7. Lonesome Serenade	3:24
8. Nothin' Is For Sure	4:30
9. St. Expedite	2:59
10. Snow Flakes (Special Addition)	5:40

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Review

On his debut solo effort, Grant-Lee Phillips proclaims, "Sometimes a sketch says more than a mural." Although it would be a mistake to dismiss Ladies' Love Oracle as merely a collection of sketches, that idea helped inform this set of acoustic guitar-driven ballads. The material found here isn't so much sketches of songs as of the songwriter himself--pieces of the artist as he reinvents himself in the wake of an artistically and critically (if not commercially) successful career with his former group, Grant Lee Buffalo. Ladies' Love Oracle finds the artist exploring unrequited love on "Lonesome Serenade" and perhaps reflecting on his place in the music world on "Nothing Is for Sure." The songs are fleshed out with simple arrangements on the harmonica, piano, and whatever other instruments Phillips seems to have picked up while recording in producer-musician Jon Brion's (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple) basement studio. The result is an intimate view into the soul of a uniquely gifted singer-songwriter as he takes inventory of his life at a crossroads. --Michael WellsGrant-Lee Phillips on Ladies Love Oracle

"Recorded over the course of three days in October of ninety nine, Ladies Love Oracle is me in the raw, me in the dark, me in the basement. Sometimes a sketch says more than a mural." Grant-lee

I had become a man with a mission and for three days in October the world beyond that basement just plain didnt exist.What did come to exist however is a spirit caught in a bottle. Nine whispering tales, representing a side of me and my music that give or take a few hits might have been killed off. This work which Ive christened "Ladies Love Oracle" took its title from a 19th century parlor game of divination. Like the mystic answers of an oracle, songs seem to provide for me the same right answers at the right time. It was through the generosity of my good friend Jon Brion, who allowed me to work in his private studio with the aid of engineer Tom Biller that this work came into being. Tom and I moved at the speed of light, which was possible as this material seemed to actually benefit from the sheer lack of fretting that typically goes into recording. I happen to find such barbs and thorns as fascinating as the petals myself and given Toms zen-like nature, everything retained that early sense of awe that so often fades as songs grow to become polished works . Im very delighted with the outcome of this innocent endeavor which simply revealed its purpose one little step at a time. Its an acoustic collection, the instrumentation hinging on a few sparse elements, being the guitar, tack piano and pump organ.Most of these compositions have been featured at one time or another live at Largo, if only once or twice. Nic Harcourt at KCRW in Los Angeles has recently welcomed various unreleased tracks off Ladies Love Oracle to his consistently innovative play list. I consider this very flattering company. As I said to Nic, my aim with this collection is to see it reach those folks who will naturally gather what it has to offer and to avoid it being "marketed" like some major-monster release. My intention is to give it a push like a paper boat , see where goes, without any real masterminding. This is, I have come to believe, the beauty of the internet. At the urging of so many who frequent my web site, Ive discovered the contemporary equivalent to that classic fantasy of writing a song on a Monday only to hear it aired on a Tuesday.Its a very pure line of expression that has never been more tangible than it is today. Im presently engaged in coordinating the most appropriate online avenue for this album. It will be dealt with as a special limited addition as opposed to a major release. Rather than serving as a so called "Solo-debut", it is my hope that Ladies Love Oracle will serve to initiate the dawning of a new approach to distributing various aspects of my music. This will not necessarily be to the exclusion of future Label releases but a means to supplement those all too infrequent projects with fresh and interesting material that might otherwise not have have a proper avenue within the label system as it currently stands. For the up to the minute story regarding Ladies Love Oracle and all current projects I welcome you to visit my official web site. Youll find lots of information , as well as "Messages From Beyond", the official message board. Hope to see you there!

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