"Are you hungry? Did you eat before the POLL?"_ILM Artist Poll #51_SLEATER-KINNEY (VOTING ENDS Tuesday April 22nd at Midnight CST)

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Nineteen years ago they burst onto the scene, and by the time of their 2nd album, they were sitting at #3 on Pazz & Jop. About five years after later, #1 Fan Greil Marcus named them the “Best Band In America” in a special issue of Time magazine. They hung it up in 2006, but since then, there’s been solo albums, side player gigs, a supergroup, blogs, and a popular cable network sketch comedy series. However, today Sleater-Kinney receives the ultimate honor...

AN ILM ARTIST POLL!

Ballot part one (mandatory): Your Top 20 Sleater-Kinney tracks. Usual scoring method will be applied. Please order your list with your #1 at the top and #20 at the bottom. That’s how I read them.

Standard ILX poll allocation in effect: 1:40, 2:36, 3:33, 4:30, 5:28, 6:26, 7:25, 8:24, 9:23, 10:22, 11:21, 12:20, 13:19, 14:18, 15:17, 16:16, 17:15, 18:14, 19:13, 20:12

SPECIAL NOTE: “Let’s Call It Love” & “Night Light” will be counted as ONE track.

Ballot part two (optional): Your Top 10 non-SK Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, and Lora MacFarlane tracks. Here’s where we dip into the pre-, post-, and generally outside of SK history by looking at and ranking the best of Excuse 17, Heavens To Betsy, The Spells, Cadallaca, Quasi, ninetynine, Wild Flag, and The Corin Tucker Band. Hell, we’ll even recognize the Portlandia songs. List them 1-10, like this:

1. Forever Fired (Excuse 17)
2. Thrift Store Coats (Corin Tucker Band)
3. Manga Girl Cut (ninetynine)
4. Tomorrow You’ll Hide (Quasi)
5. Allergy Pride Parade Song (Portlandia)...

The first half of normal points allocation is in effect for this segment.

Ballot part three (optional): Your Top 5 Sleater-Kinney and/or non-SK Tucker/Brownstein albums. Name your honor roll in a list of 1-5 (points going #1:5 points, #2:4...).

Ballot part four (optional): Your Top 5 WORST Sleater-Kinney and/or non-SK Tucker/Brownstein/Weiss/MacFarlane tracks. They couldn’t have been all that all the time now, could they? Name the worst offenders in a list of 1-5 (points weight same as part three).

For Reference:

Sleater-Kinney discography
Corin Tucker career overview
Carrie Brownstein career overview
Janet Weiss career overview
Lora MacFarlane career overview

When You’re Done:

Send ballots to ilxsleaterkinneypoll AT gmail dot com. Please include your ILM/ILX user name in the subject line.

*Deadline for voting will be Tuesday April 22nd at Midnight CST*

Excited for this. S-K were always one of those bands that I liked while never getting all that passionate about them, so I get the feeling that I may have had a tendency to underrate their albums at the time. Looking forward to revisiting them.

Will probably sit the side polls out, as I don't know much of the non-S-K stuff. Like, my top 10 non-S-K ballot would just be the track listing of the Wild Flag record.

good job setting up this one, C. Grisso/McCain.

Thanks!

I got a cheap copy of the Heavens To Betsy album in the mail today. This track owns: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsii1n0pCY

Damn I'm going to have revisit some stuff for the albums side poll cos they only have 7 albums.

Will certain live covers be admissible?

And a couple b-sides:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BSqimn4cws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm6cfAlbbCE

awesome! this is going to be the rare kind of artist poll where i'm just going to shoot

awesome! this is going to be the rare kind of artist poll where i'm just going to shoot 100% from the gut and go with what feels right in terms of my individual responses to the songs, not be swayed by how the dust might have settled in a broader sense.

There are more than 20 tracks on Call the Doctor-Dig Me Out-The Hot Rock, so that means this is already hard without even bringing in the other four albums.

wonder what Don 'n' Glenn think of them!

I think I have whiplash after switching from Gaucho to Call the Doctor

ooh, I'm very interested in seeing the results of the optional polls too. I have a bunch of S-K-adjacent albums from the days when I needed to burn off eMusic credits before the end of the month, but I haven't given them as much time as S-K proper.

main poll itself will be a nightmare for me, no idea how I'm narrow it down to 20.

Yeah, I'm sitting here thinking, "After I list everything on Dig Me Out and Call the Doctor I'm going to be out of slots . . ."

CTD is awesome despite the drumming letting it down (I got to it years after Janet Weiss spoiled me).

DON: What-Kinney? What the kind of name is that? And Griel Marcus loves 'em? Sounds like not enough west coast intellectualism and too much east coast soul for me. At least they were anti-Bush.

GLENN: One of my kids told me one time during lunch at my place in Coldwater Canyon that a couple of 'em used to date! So in one way, they were pro-bu--

DON: Well, yeah.

I rarely listen to them anymore, but they were my favorite band of the 2nd half of the 90s. I probably saw them 15 times. The most underrated record in their catalog is One Beat.

always got the feeling crits weren't too high on all hands on the bad one. x'gau wasn't as crazy for it as he was for their others (who cares, i know) but i have NO idea what he's getting at in his review of it.

One Beat underrated? I remember that record being heralded as their "return to form" after "The Hot Rock" (imo their most underrated record) and "All Hands on the Bad One."

I found All Hands disappointing, but One Beat is probably my favorite.

The Woods might've been my fave if it wasn't so unlistenably mastered.

Maybe One Beat is underrated on ILX? I think ILX consensus rotates more around the DMO and THR axis -- we'll find out soon enough!

at the time i encountered one beat as a chore, checked out then

I wish they'd release a live album. Hard to believe they've been gone for nearly a decade.

i love love love all hands and one beat and the general somewhat more laid back straight forward nature they have but i do kinda regret they took that break after hot rock (albeit for totally understandable reasons), really felt they had a kind of break through w/ that record and found a really interesting sound, would've loved to hear that era s-k cover 'see no evil'.

Good discussion: All Hands on the Bad POLL - Sleater Kinney

The Hot Rock was one of the last albums I copied on cassette and the first S-K album I didn't buy the week of its release. I was not at all in that head space in early '99. It took fall '00 and driving around with these two girlfriends who adored THR and playing "Get Up" and "Burn Don't Freeze" over and over.

Brownstein on the inspiration for THR:

After the performance, we were lucky enough to meet them. We ended up back at the Phoenix Hotel, half of us on mattresses, the rest of us on the floor, guitars and beers out. I asked Grant to teach me The Go-Betweens' song "Love Goes On," and I played the chords while he sang. I cannot overstate the generosity of this moment. Later that night, I told Robert that my band's album The Hot Rock — or at least my own writing and guitar playing on it — was inspired completely by their music. Before The Go-Betweens, I never thought that delicacy could wield sharp knives

love basically all their albums but 'the hot rock' is definitely the standout for me, feels like both the gentlest and most genuinely felt work they ever did. 'all hands' is my sentimental favorite because it was my first, 'one beat' i probably anticipated more than any other album ever just cause it came out at the height of my fandom but some of the lyrics make me cringe a bit now. it was a different time. 'the woods' i haven't listened to in years, probably time for a revisit.

Something I never really thought about before, and now find amazing as I look at the cd booklets and wiki, is how fast they worked and grew during the first part of their career. By all accounts, the debut was tossed off as a side project whim in Australia in '95. Then they get serious and the same band makes Call The Doctor later that year, and then Weiss comes in to replace MacFarlane in the slightly over a year gap between those sessions and the ones for Dig Me Out, which when released (only a few weeks past a year from the drop date for CTD, which--incidentally--is the very next entry in Chainsaw catalog after the debut) is the one that really establishes them (lead review in Spin etc.). Now a year and a half passes after those sessions before The Hot Rock is recorded, and a then there is a slightly shorter break before All Hands... is laid down, and it's only then that they take a studio break of any significant length, which turns out to be a little over two years wherein Tucker gets married and has a child.

And this is not even figuring in that Cadallaca, The Spells, and a few Quasi albums where also happening in the same time frame.

It's interesting how their steadily escalating profile makes it possible and even likely that people got on board at just about any point. Because they never had an actual hit, people were still discovering them right up through The Woods. I got snagged by the hype around Dig Me Out, which for me is still ground zero. But I can understand loving One Beat or All Hands if that was the point you found them. For me the albums after The Hot Rock are lesser but with lots of highlights. I could easily make up a 20-song ballot solely from the last three records. Which is to say, they were pretty great.

Also, delicacy wielding sharp knives is a great description of the guitar textures on The Hot Rock.

I love The Hot Rock most of all their records, and glad to see the love for it here! I was not aware until reading this thread that it was held in high esteem, as the critical view at the time seemed lukewarm compared to their previous two records.

god i forgot how dire the lyrics to 'combat rock' were. such a specific protest song, it hasn't aged well at all.

also even for sk shredding i forgot how much little mouth shreds

is there any other song they did that feels so much like they're chasing after their own sounds?

The Woods/The Hot Rock/Call the Doctor/One Beat/Dig Me Out/All Hands On the Bad One/s/t tho tbh I tend to forget that one even exists, tho I own it

The first two cuts on the debut are contenders for my ballot.

Looking at the tracklist yeah there's some good stuff on it, but some it (A Real Man eg) is p awful. I should hear it again tho, after all it's like 20 mins long

My initial list had 23. The surprise so far is how the albums shaked out, going in I would have thought One Beat was my favorite, but there's Dig Me Out with 8 (!) tracks in my top 20ish.

The other surprise is what a bust AHOTBO is, aside from the title track and YNRRF it's pretty awful.

god i forgot how dire the lyrics to 'combat rock' were. such a specific protest song, it hasn't aged well at all.

― wat is teh waht (s.clover), Wednesday, April 9, 2014 12:58 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I actually think it's aged much better than "Far Away." But my memories of "Combat Rock" are tied to the last S-K show I saw, in early 2003 about two days before the massive worldwide antiwar protests. This song had everyone completely raging and bouncing off the walls; it felt like the building would explode. I've never experienced anything like it at a concert (or anywhere else) before or since. So, maybe it'll be for sentimental reasons (and maybe not), but "Combat Rock" will likely be near the top of my ballot.

I think protest songs're allowed to be specific tbh

The more specific a protest song -- like most things -- the better.

I saw them at two Chicago shows in fall '02 (the Quails opened): two of the most galvanic performances I've seen. They covered Springsteen's "The Promised Land." Months later they opened for Pearl Jam. The amphitheater setting diffused much of their power, as did the guys in front of me sniggering, "Who are the dikes?"

I think protest songs're allowed to be specific tbh

― sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Wednesday, April 9, 2014 9:41 AM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This; and not only is it still relevant/does it still apply, but like all great protest songs, the specifics speak to the larger issues.

I got on board a little before they released One Beat, but the first album I listened to was Call the Doctor -- title track's power, not to mention Corin's singing, still gets me -- and then Dig Me Out. (It may have been josh blog that tipped me to them!) And yeah, it's staggering how quickly their songwriting matured from the debut to their second album -- which is great! -- to their third which for me is where they hit their mature sound.

The other surprise is what a bust AHOTBO is, aside from the title track and YNRRF it's pretty awful.

I like All Hands, but I realized upon starting my long-list that I appreciate it more as a whole entity than broken up into individual songs.

also even for sk shredding i forgot how much little mouth shreds

― wat is teh waht (s.clover), Tuesday, April 8, 2014 10:09 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Revisiting their discography for the poll, this struck me too. The "damaged goods/you wanna try her" section is so tense and powerful.

I think all their records are great, but THR and CTD really stand head and shoulders above the rest for me, such that it'd be easy for me to make 85% of my poll songs from those two records. Revisiting the whole discography will probably give me a more balanced view tho

I link them in my brain with Low, another band with a strong "core" sound that goes through a lot of big sonic shifts. Probably it helps that they both have distinct, unmistakable vocal pairings. (And both of them have hugely divisive Dave Fridmann-produced albums.)

I've actually warmed up a lot to The Woods! I forget what it was that brought me over to it, but I expect that it's going to occupy quite a lot of my ballot along with the usual suspects.

I am on record as being pro-The Woods. That first time hearing "The Fox" kick in, goddamn.

I revisited parts of The Woods last night and more than I initially thought will likely make my ballot.

But arrrg that fucking brickwalled mastering...

(also, A+ display name, Leee!)

xp

see now "Entertain" is the worst song they wrote

will send one this afternoon

Getting ready to submit, just futzing around with the order and the last couple spots.

Thing I've noticed while listening to their discography: S-K songs rarely fade out. They usually end with a final chord or riff as an exclamation point for the rest of the song. Can anybody think of any examples where they fade out?

Offhand, "A Quarter to Three" at the end of The Hot Rock; "Modern Girl" fades out on the final drone.

Voted! My list was very Hot Rock and Dig Me Out heavy but as previously mentioned the biggest surprise was how many great songs I wanted to include from All Hands. I enjoyed One Beat a lot more than I remembered, but only found room for a couple of tracks.

Just wanted to mention that I've been going through old NME/Melody Maker end of year lists from the 90s recently listening to albums I've never heard before. I was surprised to see that both magazines just about ignored all Sleater-Kinney's albums (All Hands was very low on the last Melody Maker list) They really should ashamed of themselves.

The non-SK side-poll has led me to hastily conclude that Carrie slays choruses while Corin's songwriting is strongest in the verses.

I'm not a Who fan but whatever else the Face Dances singles aren't leaden. The weak link at this point is Daltery, who sings like the guy Bryan Ferry is making fun of in "Love is the Drug."

There's this thread: TS: Roger Daltrey vs. Corin Tucker

and Bryan Ferry wrote a song Roger Daltery covered too!

Ferry could do a nice job on "One More Hour".

Def on "The Size of Our Love"

Sent!

22 In & Counted.

This is hard. Can I just say I vote for Carrie sings lead songs?

sent!

You have 24 hours left to vote.

OK! I promise I will send one this afternoon

Alright, just voted!

My musical friends, let me urge you to give a last minute listen to the mother of all SK side projects, Cadallaca. Particularly their debut album, Introducing. That is a phenomenal record that has held up remarkably well. If you are unfamiliar, you are in for a musical treat.

Dig June 'n July
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkavEUCwm0M

YES. I didn't vote in the side projects poll because Cadallaca is really the only one I know and love, but that album is great.

25 In and Counted. You have 12 hours.

Be sure to post at 11 p.m.: GIMME ONE MORE HOUR

Mine will be coming right at the cut-off.

by the time you're twenty-five...you'll have 12 hours

Finishing it up here.

sent!

sent!

sent!

Hey Some Dude: Check your inbox. Pollster got a question.

sent also

some dude's ballot nothing but pearl jam songs corin sang backup on at a show once

Carrie playing arpeggios in an attempt to mimic "Yellow Ledbetter" at #11 with a bullet.

ughhhhhhhhh i'm still cramming my "songs that could go on my ballot" list

clearly i remember
pickin on some dude

at home makin ballots
all pearl jam songs
w/ 'black' on top
ranked it number one

i voted for 2 songs that get counted together, apparently. so i threw in more Hot Rock.

Instead of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_K7k-zIgSo

From the comments:

I was at that concert, but I didn't get to see Sleater Kinney because my friends were getting wasted in the parking lot.

Sent in my very bizarre ballot. My great shame as a S-K fan is that I never grabbed a $10 Call the Doctor LP during my heyday with the band and have only just now started to dig into what I think most people consider one of their top couple records. Can't wait for results - thanks again to C. Grisso!

In One More Hour, I close this poll...

Have had The Day I Went Away in my head all day, maybe should've found room for it, oh well

I can't check stuff right away, so if anybody needs til midnight Portlandia time (2 hours from now), polls will remain open til then.

sweet. I got totally preoccupied with something else and forgot this until about 3 minutes ago.

Polls are closed. Words, guitar, milkshakes'n'honey to come.

Alright, I've got the sidepolls finished, and am now getting started on breaking the master tracks spreadsheet down into a ranked list. I'm not sure how long that list will be. I'll get a new thread going once I've got that settled.

Thanks again to everyone that voted! It's been exciting to see the ballots come in, as from the outset it's been a pretty tight race, and--to mix metaphors--by the end it became quite the figurative shoot-out.

woo

Have the main poll rankings worked out. We will have a Top 50. Stand by for results thread launch with the sidepolls.

yesssss

RAH.

If for no other reason, I'm anxious to see what the title pun will be!

"I'm The Queen of Rock and POLL!!!!!!"_ILM Artist Poll #51_SLEATER-KINNEY_ RESULTS THREAD