JOIN OUR CLUB: The Official Saint Etienne poll (#28 in a series) - Deadline 12th November

Sent! I've no idea what are the deep cuts and what aren't, but I've got three from the last two posts.

FBA 5; ST 1; TB 3; GH 2; C 2; F 2; TfTH 3; W&M 2

Only five ballots received so far. I'm hoping it's due to people spending some time thinking things over carefully rather than voter apathy. Hoping to get at least 20 ballots.

If you can't think of a full 20 and only want to submit a top 10 then that'd be fine. Also if you want to send an unordered ballot you can do, I'll then give 22 points to each track and 5 points for an album.

i think im putting more effort/thought into this ballot than anything since i studied for the bar exam

I suppose I should actually listen to TFTH and WAM before voting in this.

O__O

Look. I have 8 Saint Etienne albums on my shelf. That's about as many albums as I have from anyone.

Def listen to them and marinate over your ballot for a bit. I'm doing some serious listening these days trying to figure out my final 20.

Ballot sent. I appreciate that asking for more than 20 choices makes the poll harder to run but I wish there were more room for B-sides, remixes, etc.

FBA - 4, ST - 3, TB - 2, GH - 1, SOW - 1, TFTH - 2, SINGLES - 3, B-SIDES - 3, CRACKNELL SOLO - 1

Election day bump.

going thru this has hammered home how much i like good humor, i have 4 trax from it (5 i guess really if we're including the bonus fairfax high disc)

now i just have to order my 20, ~i can do this~

I've narrowed down my list to 25 tracks, now contemplating their order.

i like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46FCicXL6eo

Friday night bump, ideal weekend for listening to Saint Etienne and completing a ballot. Everyone welcome, lurkers, hardcore fans, dillettantes

Only 8 points between the top 2 tracks and the top 2 albums are tied.

I'm on the case...

done

The speaky bits are finally starting to annoy me, at least on the later albums. "The consignment of white gold has arrived for Mr Anderson" - is this kind of thing meant to be evocative of something?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_CRANDTCAY

that voice is ricky jay's? mind blown.

Well that's the thing - that's a great bit of crackly scene-setting. The one I quoted isn't. In fact it sounds like it's been specially recorded, but why bother?

i saw them live last weekend and they were tremendous. definitely a bit stripped down compared to the TFTH tour but still fantastic. it helped that the venue this time around was ten times better.

One thing that I'd imagine is unheralded is their use of guitars - there's usually one somewhere back in the mix sounding very nice. I guess that's them carrying the balearic influence right through their career.

shit i better get on this. have i missed much not hearing all the fan-comps and only the official albums?

um

Ballot submitted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pBLDsv_tc8

They are masters of the incidental.

Sunday morning bump. After 14 ballots the top two tracks have the same number of points!

Nobody else vote!

I'm joking, readers.

Working on a ballot!

Hope there's some votes for their cover of the Fall's "Choc Stock":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P7drvy1U5E

Voted!

Didn't vote for this (off their We Are Icerink label comp) as AFAIK there's no involvement by SE, but it's v.uncannily Foxbase Alpha-esque:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0-ltQh1RJc

Always wanted that "Choc-stock" cover, ta.

Only noticed this thread yesterday, so rushed my vote somewhat. A fair few not-very-deep cuts, but more SoW and Finisterre era tracks than I might have guessed beforehand.

yea i feel like a v atypical voter w only 1 song from foxbase alpha and 1 from tigerbay

I hope it was Marble Lions

Monday morning bump. Polls close midnight tonight, wherever you are. Get them in folks.

Results should come out Tuesday morning, 10am.

...unless you're in FLA, when it'll be four days later.

Had a SE marathon yesterday (I even dug out the St Etienne Daho EP!). Hadn't listened to Good Humour in nearly a decade, and didn't remember half of it, but there are some really solid cuts on there. If I can work out how 30 tracks go into 20 ballot slots, a few of these cuts may well make it.

can't really vote in this (only ever really herd them on the radio and the only album i have is the greatest hits) but looking forward to the roll-out.

*sp

21 votes in for the tracks ballot and the top two still have the same number of points!

My poll is sent just now - better late than never.

I will get this in by midnight monday night in some other time zone, I promise.

Obviously, if "Avenue" doesn't win, this poll will have no credibility.

It's not as good as I remembered. 'This Is Radio Etienne' on the other hand ...

One thing that can easily slip my mind is how much I love the back half of So Tough, esp. "Conchita Martinez". Love the casual weirdness of this record.

My songs ballot ended up being:

FBA - 4
ST - 6
TB - 3
TB German Edition Bonus Tracks - 4
SOW - 1
F - 2

The above breakdown hints at why I love the German Edition of Tiger Bay so much.

I've been listening to W&M a lot this week and really like it but more as a whole than for its constituent parts (though that may change in time).

heads up to saint etienne fans: i noticed that the deluxe editions of good humor, sound of water, and continental are now out of print and going for major bux on ebay so i recommend snatching up the other deluxe editions before they go OOP as well. i've got FA, ST, TB, and finisterre. might have to get turnpike house, if the deluxe is worth it.

oops, never got myself a copy of the sound of water deluxe edition. pffft... it had like two extra tracks on it.

Did someone just run to Amazon and buy one of these? I was about to put So Tough (or was it Tiger Bay) in my cart for $17 and when i clicked add to cart it said it was no longer available. Picked up some of the others I was missing but still need to get a couple to finish the set.

Just voted.

Not so many deep cuts - my Year Zero for SE was Too Young To Die, a flawless record IMO (apart from Timmy Burgess ahem) I didn't really ever listen to the studio albums that made up that compilation until much later. I guess I only bought their studio albums from Good Humor onwards. Looking forward to hearing the fan club stuff I'm unaware of.