You Have Seen Some UnbelievaPOLL Things - ILM Artist Poll #99 - Cat Power Results

https://i.imgur.com/iumBSKD.png

47. Stay, 39 points, 3 votes

"Headlights" is supposed to tied for 47.

And never mind the rank in the image, this should be a tie at #45:

https://i.imgur.com/KNF8ODy.png

45. (tie) Horizon, 40 points, 2 votes

https://i.imgur.com/K4NJqJT.png

45. (tie) Enough, 40 points, 2 votes

i think it would be nice if there was a youtube link to the song to listen to, no?

"enough" is definitely too low. a killer tune and it sounds so simple and straightforward and fierce. one of the songs that totally grabbed me. and those long pauses make it even more powerful. it was my #10.

Youtubes for 50-45:

50. In This Hole (The Covers Record)
49. Nothin' But Time
48. Headlights
47. Stay
45. (tie) Horion
45. (tie) Enough

thanks, you are doing a great job there. unfortunately i have to disappear into my dreams now.

https://i.imgur.com/Z0Wx9kd.png

44. Shaking Paper, 42 points, 4 votes

Youtube

I adore "Shaking Paper", I was hoping it'd place a bit higher.

"Shaking Paper" was a very late cut for me.

The next two are tied on points, but I decided that the tiebreaker would be total number of votes (and, when it applies, number of #1 votes).

https://i.imgur.com/Sb3zYSx.png

43. Naked if I Want To (The Covers Record), 44 points, 2 votes

Youtube

https://i.imgur.com/afLqW03.png

42. Keep On Runnin', 44 points, 4 votes

Youtube

"Keep On Runnin'" is American Gothic horror, such an arresting and harrowing listen.

Last one for today!

https://i.imgur.com/C8bcxBE.png

41. (tie) Top Expert, 46 points, 2 votes

Youtube

Nice. On the weekend I found a copy of Jukebox, which I never bought, in the card foil sleeve with the second disc of extras, mint condition for $2. I'm taking it as a sign so it's in my car CD player until I learn to love it.

i love the guitar strumming on top expert, my #9. the chords seem to be hanging in the room. a stark song where she is haunted by the supernatural, quite characteristic of her early period.

Ended on one half of a tie, now here's the other half (excuse the incorrect rank in the image):

https://i.imgur.com/1AvFpgV.png

40. Evolution, 46 points, 3 votes

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

https://i.imgur.com/fAr1rZ8.png

39. Willie Deadwilder, 47 points, 2 votes1 #1 votes

Youtube

https://i.imgur.com/v0WOgpZ.png

38. Ruin, 48 points, 3 votes

Youtube

evolution is such a fragile beauty of sadness. i hardly dare to breathe when i listen to it. it could be blown away by one careless breath.

lol at the evolution image.

I listen to willie deadwilder for an hour or more sometimes - its one of those songs that's a self-contained world I just want to stay inside & i feel so perfectly happy listening to it. I am a sucker for a good looping finger-picked guitar tune & it's almost like henry flynt. she has such a deep warmth & generosity towards the characters in the song and you can hear it all in her voice, such a beautiful tone to it here - and that yawn at the start !

kinda wishing i voted now just to throw some points at her cover of the hot boys' 'i feel'

https://i.imgur.com/rwtXD7j.png

37. Water & Air, 57 points, 3 votes

Youtube

god that song is just brutal

I forgot to upload the image for #36, but here it is:

36. Moonshiner, 63 points, 4 votes

Youtube

an amazing song. how the guitars draw the music like pointillist splashes of black and white. how they slow down after half of the song as if they are running out of steam and it is all over, the drinking has drowned the singer. there is a power to this song of which i didn't know that it was an ancient folk tune but which totally makes sense. there is another old folk song about alcohol which also totally gives me the shivers. it is called "john barleycorn must die" .

btw i think it was this song that made me a fan when she played it with mick turner and jim white on the moon pix tour in 1999. i hardly knew anything by her before. the openers were quasi and elliott smith who was totally incomprehensible and low key, cat power totally overshadowed them with her hypnotic singing behind her bangs.

The Covers Record is an easy #2 to Moon Pix for me. And the CR version of In This Hole is one of my favorite songs evah

As I've said, I'm not a Moon Pix fan but "Moonshiner" is amazing, easily among her best songs, and I'm surprised it's this low.

https://i.imgur.com/n51K0Vh.png

35. What Would the Community Think, 66 points, 4 votes

Youtube

https://i.imgur.com/c3Mk02P.png

34. Bathysphere, 67 points, 4 votes

Youtube

https://i.imgur.com/YbcojEd.png

32. Wild Is the Wind, 70 points, 4 votes

Youtube

https://i.imgur.com/TZB4h1T.png

32. (tie) The Moon, 70 points, 4 votes

Youtube

"The Moon" crept on me till I listened to The Greatest again for this poll, and now it's possibly her prettiest song for me.

https://i.imgur.com/aKCGonp.png

31. Love & Communication, 71 points, 3 votes

Youtube

Mean beat, Chan's run-on lyrics, such a swaggering stomp of a song. My fave off of that record.

The strings on that song

haha A+ image

I'm very late to this thread. I'll be quietly readin' and learnin'. (Didn't feel sufficiently well-informed to vote.) Interesting that the top 3 albums are exactly the ones I already have in the house.

love all of the cat pictures!

I couldn't help myself: a Spotify playlist to aid with learnin'. Collaborative, if anyone is into that sort of thing.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Zq74kywCbVRkjdZwzOWlq

To be totally honest I think 90% of my motivation for this poll was the cat pix.

Interesting tidbit is every ballot that voted on albums included WWTCT, Moon Pix, The Greatest, and YAF.

I think that "Evolution" is maybe the most Moon Pixy track on You Are Free.

And the "Moonshiner" banner:

https://i.imgur.com/79wSsEA.png

https://i.imgur.com/IwALtyg.png

30. In Your Face, 72 points, 4 votes

Youtube

I love the melody playing with the rhythm there, this particular combination being so un-Chan but she pulls it off beautifully.

https://i.imgur.com/hVyEVgN.png

29. Woman, 78 points, 5 votes

Youtube

"in your face" is a dance where you turn around yourself. first i thought it was a waltz but it isn't. which dance can it be? the lyrics are pretty cryptic like in most cat power songs. i like the first line "you never need, you're american". is she talking to herself? my #5. i don't want to imagine where the song would have ended without my vote. it is obviously about 20 places too low.

my #5. i don't want to imagine where the song would have ended without my vote.

No need to imagine, it would've ended in a tie for #44.

at least it would have made the top 50!

Thanks for running the poll, Lee, I really enjoyed it! All those cat pictures were wonderful. There is a lot of work involved which usually gets overlooked. Here are my ballots:

Albums

What Would the Community Think
Moon Pix
Dear Sir
You Are Free
Wanderer
Myra Lee
The Greatest
Jukebox
The Covers Record
Sun

Songs

Nude As the News
Rockets
Cross Bones Style
He Turns Down
In Your Face
Moonshiner
In This Hole (WWTCT)
Good Clean Fun
Top Expert
Enough
Willie
Back of Your Head
Cherokee
Evolution
Names
Metal Heart (Moon Pix)
The Greatest
Bathysphere
Lived in Bars
Woman
Why You Keep on Running?
Mr. Gallo
He War
King Rides By
Say
What Would the Community Think
Taking People
Fate of the Human Carbine
I Don’t Blame You
Shaking Paper

Covers

Wild Is the Wind
I Love You (Me Either) – duet with Karen Elson
Theme from „New York, New York”
Red Apples
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Wonderwall
Silver Stallion
Don’t Explain
House of the Rising Sun
Blue

thanks for that live video of "nude as the news", flappy bird. an amazing performance of a song which gives me the chills like no other. and god was she young, i saw her 3 years later on the moon pix tour and she looked much older.

Nice work Leee. Thanks!

Thanks for doing this, Lee. And let me join the choir of praise for the graphics! Here's my ballot:

1. Maybe Not
2. Cross Bones Style
3. Metal Heart (Moon Pix version)
4. He War
5. Naked If I Want To (The Covers Record version)
6. Lived in Bars
7. Good Woman
8. I Don't Blame You
9. Colors and the Kids
10. Manhattan
11. The Greatest
12. Wild Is the Wind
13. Cherokee
14. I Found a Reason
15. Stay
16. Back in the Days
17. Nude as the News
18. Fool
19. American Flag
20. Woman
21. Wanderer (intro)
22. The Moon
23. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
24. Me voy
25. Rockets (Myra Lee version)
26. Ruin
27. In This Hole (The Covers Record version)
28. Werewolf
29. Hate
30. King Rides By (What Would the Community Think version)

I didn't vote for this as I was away on vacation but He War would have been my #1

Thanks for running Lee it's a shame more people didn't vote. Two observations: she is badly in need of some type of b-sides comp, I found it impossible to keep track of everything. The other point is I wished more had voted, it seems like there was a considerable crowd that hadn't heard anything post-YAF. and I'm also not sure we dug into her power as an interpretive artist enough either (e.g. the debate over Metal Heart, which kind of misses the point).

Then again, I have lots of friends who tried to see one of her early shows and gave up on her later career entirely, so I get it.

1 Manhattan
2 Nude as the News
3 The Greatest
4 Cross Bones Style
5 The Moon
6 Metal Heart (Moon Pix)
7 Nothin But Time
8 <b>Come on in My Kitchen</b>
9 Good Woman
10 Horizon
11 Colors and the Kids
12 American Flag
13 I Believe In You
14 Speak For Me
15 Could We
16 Aretha,Sing One For Me
17 I Don't Blame You
18 Naked if I Want To
19 Living Proof
20 You Get
21 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
22 3.6.9
23 Wanderer/Exit
24 Sweedeedee
25 Willie
26 She's Got You
27 Headlights
28 Fortunate Son
29 Great Expectations
30 Willie Deadwilder

man I always forget [].

Track results with albums: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G8-7JJL4_Hrw8J3dT_2dFMVQcfaWd6_ZYl-QH0Klabk/edit?usp=sharing

Hi five to the other "He War" #1 voter. Enough ideas in there for 2 or 3 songs, but she squandered them all on the same track. Plus Dave Grohl even gets a hook in.

Thanks for running this one Leee.

Here's what I voted for:

1.He War
2.Speak for Me
3.Fool
4.Cross Bones Style
5.Nude as the News
6.Back of Your Head
7.Free
8.Metal Heart (Moon Pix version)
9.Shaking Paper
10.Say
11.Rockets (Dear Sir version)
12.I Don't Blame You
13.Good Clean Fun (WWTCT? version)
14.Red Apples
15.The Greatest
16.Names
17.I Found a Reason
18.Woman
19.Ice Water
20.Keep On Runnin'
21.Good Woman
22.Don't Explain
23.In This Hole (WWTCT? version)
24.Maybe Not
25.Nothing Really Matters
26.Ramblin' Woman
27.The Sleepwalker
28.3 Times
29.Stay
30.Living Proof

ALBUMS
1.You Are Free
2.Moon Pix
3.What Would the Community Think?
4.Dear Sir
5.Wanderer
6.The Covers Record
7.Jukebox
8.The Greatest
9.Myra Lee
10.Sun

death cab for cutie just released a cover of 'metal heart' for charity, which is fine, if wholly unnecessary

what does it take to become a 'standard'?

Hey there’s a Moon Pix 33 and a 3rd book coming.