Could we please be objective cause the other POLLS are queuing up behind us - Artist Poll #94 - Belle & Sebastian - RESULTS

Yeah summer wasting! My highest ranking song from the album.

http://i64.tinypic.com/25hg4s0.jpg

25. Electronic Renaissance
From Tigermilk (1996)
Black Session, 2006
Points: 335
Votes: 23
#1 Votes: 0

Does anyone know if Funny Little Frog was first written for God Help The Girl? Can't quite work out what it's really about but with the subject being a man it sort of makes sense that it's about God?

Electronic Ren, which I love, is the only song from those first two albums that sounds like an actual demo, imo.

I loved that song so much back in the day. Someone (possibly on Sinister) said Murdoch made it to prove to Beans that he could write that there electronic music just as good as any young whippersnapper, but that story seems spurious in the extreme to me. For a band who wore their influences on their sleeve ER's existence and it's placement on the first album seemed an important acknowledgement of a whole swathe of vital predecessors, and had a profound effect on me and I'm sure a whole bunch of other teenagers who only latched onto B&S in the first place because we prayed nightly for guidance and direction

iirc Stuart had the original played on the radio, and loved the muffled sound of his tape recording so much that he put it on the LP instead of the original

The lo-fidelity is important too, every one of my formative musical memories had tape hiss, mostly from being taped from Peel or whatever. Muffled vocals to reflect confusion and uncertainty
total xp

13 point increment! Counts as a major uptick here. :)

http://i67.tinypic.com/20ha7fd.jpg

24. Nobody's Empire
From Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (2015)
Original promo video
Points: 348
Votes: 18
#1 Votes: 1

great song

My number one, really snuck up over the past few years in my estimation. The narrative arc helps make this zing, but it’s Murdoch’s best vocal which makes it so great.

To be honest, every time I hear the opening instrumental passage it strikes me as a bit stiff and Coldplay-ish, but by the final verse it's the most ridiculously affecting thing in the whole world ever.

never have been sure exactly what this song is about, but with every listen it seems more like a work of genius. wish I had put it higher on my ballot

Apparently at least partially inspired by Murdoch's emergence from chronic illness.

ok that makes sense, at least one verse almost sounds like an out of body experience during surgery

Someone on the nomination thread said it was about being saved iirc.

Oh I meant to say when "I Could Be Dreaming" came up, lyrical (sorta)quotation from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIgv4Tvx3V0

Always a minor joy noticing shit like this in the pre Genius etc days

“nobody’s empire” is the best belle and sebastian song

guess i can stop hoping “play for today” or “the cat with the cream” will place

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23. The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner
From Jonathan David (2001)
TV performance, Apocalypse Tube, 1999
Points: 365
Votes: 20
#1 Votes: 0

toooo loooow, my no. 2

'everything is possible' is my take-away from this song

the Jonathan David EP is one of my favorites, this song included

Toooo low indeed. My #3.

been obsessed with that live clip for years, such a beautiful performance

Excellent poll so far!

Wow Beautiful is crazy low.
Woah Piazza.. i thought that was a lock for maybe even Number 1 just goes to show ya.
How had i forgotten Ease Your Feet Into The Sea was so great.. baffling.
Great to see a recent track (Nobody's Empire) being so lauded. I'm guessing that's the last we'll see from the last couple of albums.

Wish i could've voted just didn't have time.

Can't understand why this was relegated to a B-side. It's miles better than the flip side.

yes, Beautiful and Piazza both I thought would be much higher! not really disappointed though, so many great ones have placed and are yet to come

xp Middle Distance Runner link doesn't work for me, blocked by youtube for some reason

The content is blocked in the US.

are you meaning the vinyl, enochroot? if you're referring to the A-side being jonathan david, I disagree

Comparable levels of greatness by my reckoning, with "Carriage Clock" not all that far behind.

it's the same vid from the ballot thread: https://tubeunblock.com/watch?v=w_nlGHj8lKY

Yes, was referring to Jonathan David... to each his own, I suppose, that song is to busy for me.

I get it about JD

xp thanks devvvine!

will be interesting to see what shows up from here on out

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22. Expectations
From Tigermilk (1996)
Live at Barrowlands (again)
Points: 380
Votes: 24
#1 Votes: 0

the lyrics to this are so amazing

this is a great song but i kinda find it inseparable from the also great 'she's losing it'

The Model was my #1. It's one of those songs I have to play like 3 times in a row every time I hear it because of the head-spinning density of the lyrics and the gorgeousness of the arrangement.

The Model is amazing. That rush of words reminds me of that story about how Dylan thought nuclear war was coming so he just took all the stanzas he'd jotted down intended as starting points for various songs and just threw them all into A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall before it was too late.

This is a great comparison. Lyrically it's kind of a one-off for Murdoch, though The State I Am In has a similar oblique surreal logic to it.

Also, Elec Renaissance way too low :(

"Middle Distance Runner" is one of those songs that feels familiar even though I only heard it for the first time last week. Really beautiful song that I probably put too low on my ballot

Can't believe we haven't seen a Sinister song yet! I guess the album results hinted at this, but there's only one song on there that I think is average; the rest very good to great. Wonder if every song will place

Glad to see "Nobody's Empire", I had that at #5 I think. Voted for "Play for Today" too, but I doubt that'd be higher.

Hoping Play For Today makes it somehow. It was in my top 10.

A slide from this morning's motivational band talk. pic.twitter.com/NHYtWMfzPF

— stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) December 14, 2018

lol

First track with TWO first place votes!

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21. Your Cover's Blown
From Books (2004)
Promo video for the Miaoux Miaoux remix
Points: 398
Votes: 20, including 1 vote for the Miaoux Miaoux remix.
#1 Votes: 2

legendary

So that just leaves the top 20. I'll give it a rest for now.

I'm interested in opinions on the best time to roll out the remainder (including the ideal time of day for Euro and American folk) Weekends on ILM are usually too quiet, no?

For stats fans:

Rank Title                                              Pts    Votes  #1s
60   I Don't Love Anyone                                156    11     0
59   If You Find Yourself Caught in Love                157     9     0
58   I Want the World to Stop                           158    11     0
57   The Blues Are Still Blue                           168    13     0
56   I Fought in a War                                  177    13     0
55   Put the Book Back on the Shelf/Songs for Children  178    12     1
54   I Know Where the Summer Goes                       179    13     0
53   Beautiful                                          181    10     0
52   Ease Your Feet in the Sea                          187    11     1
51   Is It Wicked Not to Care                           206    12     0
50   Dress Up in You                                    209    10     0
49   I Didn't See It Coming                             216    13     1
48   Jonathan David                                     221    12     0
47   Photo Jenny                                        228    16     0
46   There's Too Much Love                              238    15     0
44=  It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career              244    15     0
44=  I'm Waking Up to Us                                244    18     0
43   Another Sunny Day                                  248    12     0
42   My Wandering Days Are Over                         257    16     0
41   Seymour Stein                                      258    14     0
40   Piazza, New York Catcher                           271    18     0
39   We Rule the School	                                276    21     0
37=  String Bean Jean                                   283    17     0
37=  The Rollercoaster Ride                             283    18     0
36   You're Just a Baby                                 285    17     1
35   Funny Little Frog                                  287    14     1
34   Le Pastie de la Bourgeoisie                        292    20     1
33   A Century of Fakers                                293    15     1
32   Step Into My Office, Baby                          297    16     0
31   Wrapped Up in Books                                300    21     0
30   Women's Realm                                      305    21     0
29   Don't Leave the Light on Baby                      310    17     0
28   The Model                                          322    19     1
27   I Could Be Dreaming                                324    16     1
26   A Summer Wasting                                   327    15     0
25   Electronic Renaissance                             335    23     0
24   Nobody's Empire                                    348    18     1
23   The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner         365    20     0
22   Expectations                                       380    24     0
21   Your Cover's Blown                                 398    20     2

I vote for Monday, working hours EST, since that's when I'm most online.

BTW, thanks for running this poll, Nag... this is the most fun I've had on ILM since I joined.

Weekend rollouts are best earlier in the reveals, and then only for about 5 entries a day.

I'm on Pacific Time, but realize most of the interest may be in other time zones. Thanks Nag

Every single one of my polls have run into Saturday and both New Order and Steely Dan went into a Sunday. I'm on the West Coast and usually started around 10 AM on the weekends. People want to see who wins so Weekends for polls doesn't really hurt them. Most people don't want to wait on results.

Great job you are doing Nag!

wow there's some surprises in that last batch - thought Your Cover's Blown was probably a lock for top 10. Nobody's Empire is decent but there's this awkward disconnect between the opening riff and the verse for me that doesn't quite work, so I'm really shocked it showed up so high and above things like Electronic Renaissance and I Could Be Dreaming which are some of their very best to me. it does have a nice build but it being the consensus late career pick over I Didn't See It Coming?

"Your Cover's Blown" is just a ludicrous accomplishment. it was in my top 5