Recording
Phair stated that Whip-Smart was particularly difficult to make because, at the time, she didn't have many songs that weren't about the music industry, which displeased her manager. In fact, a substantial part of the final album was composed of songs already written in 1991, when Phair recorded under the Girly Sound moniker—namely "Chopsticks", "Shane", "Go West", "Whip-Smart" (previously known as "Double Dutch"), and parts of "Jealousy" (previously known as "Thrax").
In total, Whip-Smart took about one month to record. The album was recorded in two distinct sessions. The first one took place in August 1993 in Chicago, while the second one took place in February 1994 in the Bahamas.
Guitarist Casey Rice stated that the initial sessions at Idful Studios in Chicago were not going well because of distractions, such as "the phone ringing, people dropping by the studio, and so on". Because of this, Phair wanted to continue recording the album in New York. However, because of financial constraints, the band ended up deciding to contact the Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas.
The same team that worked on Guyville worked again on what would become Whip-Smart. The album was recorded and mixed by Brad Wood, with the assistance of Casey Rice. Brad Wood stated that the recording process was very much spontaneous, saying that " bring in a song and we'd record the whole thing that day. I'd have to write a drum and bass part right on the spot." There was, however, a pressure to improve on the sound of the previous record, to meet the expectations of Phair's newly formed fanbase.
Liz Phair has stated that the songs on Whip-Smart chronicle the beginning, middle and end of a relationship: "a rock fairy tale, from meeting the guy, falling for him, getting him and not getting him, going through the disillusionment period, saying 'Fuck it,' and leaving, coming back to it." Phair has also commented on the sound of the album saying that it sounds more confident and playful, and less frustrated, tense, and sexual than Exile in Guyville.
Liz Phair was also responsible for a great part of the artwork design. The cover art of the album is taken from a Soviet poster. In the original poster, there is an old person (as shown in lyrics booklet) in the middle of the star, however the album cover shows a somewhat out-of-focus photo of Phair. The booklet features a collage of several polaroid photos of the band members and words composing the children's counting rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe".
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Famous quotes containing the word recording:
“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“Self-expression is not enough; experiment is not enough; the recording of special moments or cases is not enough. All of the arts have broken faith or lost connection with their origin and function. They have ceased to be concerned with the legitimate and permanent material of art.”
—Jane Heap (c. 1880–1964)
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—Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870–1942)