Get Your POLL On, Baby: ILM Artist Poll #109 - The Afghan Whigs

oh that's a huge relief lol

Don’t really expect to enjoy the Gutter Twins record upon revisiting, but suppose I should do it anyway.

I always feel like it's one big pretty good song

iirc i love "the stations." been a while since i heard the record too but according to memory it uh falls off in the second side, which i'll prob be saying about every dulli-associated album from powder burns to do to the beast

i was pleasantly surprised by the second side of do to the beast recently actually. i love "the lottery", "can rova" is a gorgeous blackberry belle-esque semi-ambient folk song, "royal cream" into "i am fire" is a great two-parter, & "these sticks" has a nice crescendo to close things. i think on release i was disappointed by it feeling more like just another twilight singers album than an afghan whigs reunion one but now with distance it's really a pretty good album on its own terms.

still so weird that mark mcguire from emeralds was a full band member just for that album's recording. when he goes full-on emeralds on "the lottery" it's such an un-whigs sound but it's still really cool & he was apparently responsible for a lot of the beautiful background ambience on the album.

i didn't really mean to slight do to the beast in my post tbh, i think it's the strongest record he'd made since blackberry belle (and then he hit it out of the park with in spades)

Wow, had no idea he was on that album

it was a very strange collaboration on paper but somehow it worked out great

the real highlight from do to the beast though for me is "lost in the woods", that's a really great one

yes they achieved full 1965 vibes on that one and yeah i'll be voting for it

"lost in the woods" is a stunner for sure

every time they play it live dulli dramatically strikes a big drum during the verses and it rules

I adore how "Miles Iz Ded" sounds like a sizzle reel teasing Gentlemen

it makes me a bit sad that by far dulli's biggest advocate in pop culture is d*n*s l**ry

to the extent he made a tv show where the premise was basically "what if I were greg dulli but also was super famous"

damn i really have been underrating side two of do to the beast. “can rova” is beautiful

lol that weird muted 808ish kick that shows up near the end

a good sort of lol

forgot how awesome "magazine" (from the best-of) is

listening to gentlemen for the billionth time

debonair -> when we two parted -> fountain and fairfax -> what jail is like -> my curse

is like the ultimate sequence of rock music

the second best greg dulli song not sung by greg dulli is mark lanegan's "deepest shade", which sits very comfortably with the sinatra and andy williams covers on the same record

i listened to the whole of 'up in it' today on my run, first time in probably 30 years, amazing how much of it i remembered but i guess i listened to it quite a lot when it came out. enjoyed it mostly - not all the songs are that good but there's definitely a few hidden gems in there. production on this is sooo much better than on 'congregation', the guitars that one sound like a total mess in comparison. may as well ramble on about it a bit here, cos i don't think many of these will make the poll?

good songs imo: 'ret*rded' (shame about the title, suggest they call it 'redacted' on all future pressings? one of my all-time favourite opening lines on an album, television's gone and i'm alone with lucifer... what. a. drag.)
'hated' (amazing 'heart of glass' steal! somewhat dubious lyrical content)
'hey cuz' (this wasn't on the vinyl iirc but i know it and love it from the 'sister brother' single. i think it's incredible - the way the song keeps exploding out of all that scratchy riffing like a cue ball's been smashed into the pack, and everything's just whizzing outwards and bouncing all over the place, absolutely glorious tune)
'you my flower' (wouldn't be at all out of place on any of their later records)
'i know your little secret' (even then they were really honing that closing number thing they do, definitely a taste of what's to come)

eh: 'white trash party' (this is funny cos it's so very sub pop, it actually sounds more like skin yard or the fluid)
'song of the south' (oh man i always hated this one, is it supposed to be stripper music or something?)

hey, i never heard these bonus tracks before today:
'big top halloween', 'sammy' (both kind of soul asylum-ish? probably not going drop $200 on a copy of the debut on the strength of these tbh)
'in my town' (woah, they're doing that jangly college rock thing! can't quite put my finger on who this sounds like but i want to say the walkabouts?)
'i am the sticks' (aww, this is legit great! was it a sub pop singles club release?)

listening to up in it now and it's so strange, feels like a totally different band for most of it. dulli said they was deliberately trying to sound like a sub pop band and they're just not great at it. even the better tracks like "you my flower" and "i know your little secret" don't really compare to anything that came later

"big top halloween" sounds like the replacements huh

ok i'd really forgotten how good amber headlights is. i know when the whigs broke up dulli talked about how he'd demoed songs for their next album but recording with the band just wasn't working out, so that material must have turned into amber headlights, surely?

the songs are remarkably fully formed for being apparently unfinished - the only real tells are the drum sound is especially pretty rough, and it's pretty short. i'm amazed this was largely panned when it came out, even those negative reviews don't really seem to say much except being sick of his lyrical schtick.

really feels like a bridge between 1965 and blackberry belle. it's a shame these songs never quite got the treatment they deserved, like imagine it with the sort of arrangements that blackberry belle got, but what's there is already great.

Here’s a playlist Dulli apparently Or allegedly created himself: https://open.spotify.com/user/1217927207/playlist/4XJK1Fcl2tTdTtiHVWu5Q8?si=6oYnIa02TzK9XW9HxFa6LA
Now You Know

Maybe the rollout thread should be called Now You POLL.

I’m going have to scramble to fill in the gaps to vote in time. Meanwhile I am just listening to In Spades over and over.

Also gonna lobby for “Isn’t It A Pity - Atlantis” in the covers section.

Trying to get Sund4r interested based on the BÖC influence that I just noticed and is acknowledged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyrIPrjiT-g

when the whigs broke up dulli talked about how he'd demoed songs for their next album but recording with the band just wasn't working out, so that material must have turned into amber headlights, surely?

He talked a lot at the time abt how it was going to be the second Twilight Singers album, but got scrapped when Ted Demme died. (Blackberry Belle is written in reaction to that loss.) Maybe some writing carried over, but it was v much framed as material planned for a specific album.

yeah i knew that much but i was speculating some of that material probably started out intended for the next whigs album before they broke up

god in spades is the best. the best!!!!

the bridge/outro of "copernicus" is just one of those perfect dulli-brand turns from funk into ethereal melody

at least three songs from that record are gonna be on my ballot and i think they're "demon in profile," "oriole," and "the spell"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA72uClWz-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtTLsfPN1PU

multiple potential no. 1 placements have occurred to me as i've been putting together my ballot but i'd like to lobby for this one in particular

i think there are at least 5 tracks just from black love alone that could end up being my #1, such an incredible album

really enjoying (re)thinking about this band for polling purposes, thanks to the instigator/s

i saw the afghan whigs once only - it was in Sydney during the early-ish part of their reunion and rick mccollum was still part of the band, which i'm glad about

knowing full well that they had a reputation as a killer live band back in the day, i still can't imagine them ever having been better than they played this night, it was just a firestorm. great set of mostly gentlemen/black love tunes. dulli's singing was ferocious and much better than in any old clips - has he had lessons or something? he was always a bit pitchy right? anyway, there was a cellist you couldn't hear. it also made me think that more reformed bands should drop their OG drummer for a younger energetic monster like whoever was on the kit that night.

as an odd tonal break from the onslaught, they got Steve Kilbey from the Church up to sing One Day from Seance - i love how Dulli just looks like a delighted kid in this clip. apparently it was a song they covered in their early days as the Afghan Whigs or something? after this they talked about doing a record together but i don't think anything ever came of it. and if Kilbey's dancing is a bit uncomfortable to watch, i guess it's cos he might not be used to singing without a bass? and people who can sing and play bass at the same time are incredible IMO so i'll forgive them some awkward moves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fKHOu49qdI

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/afghan-whigs-church-frontmen-debut-new-project-100027/

kilbey & dulli played a solo show together in 2013 where they played a single new song they wrote together:

“Greg came to Australia for three weeks and we wrote one song,” Kilbey explained. “At this rate, I’ll be 70 before our album comes out.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwEc6kwII-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ndwYL8svPo

here's said song which eventually made its way to one of kilbey's solo albums

Dulli has a fascinating rolodex damn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joIR_qQ4-aw

oh wow i didn't know this footage existed. "omerta"/"the vampire lanois" with a brass section from the final show of the 2012 tour

gonna vote in this for sure, and will definitely include this gem from dulli's 2020 album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zhlSNa1zfs

unchain your mind
become divine
surrender, surrender, my love
and get on down here
and say it with me

YEAHHHH YEAHHHH YEAHHHHH

I did the thing where I recommended the m to Sund4r and now I am wondering if I really like them after all. Am I the only one this happens to?

his last solo record was solid as hell, feel bad I probably won't have room on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba-cEOlVbPg

really love the drummer they had for the 2012 shows tho of course steve earle is ultimately responsible for the deep deep pocket of this track

also one of my favorite facts ever is that steve earle was bryan devendorf (of the national)'s drum teacher

Personal trivia: Afghan Whigs are one of the few bands outside of growly metal that my wife makes me turn off. I don't think she even knows what it is, honestly, just finds it abrasive.

knowing full well that they had a reputation as a killer live band back in the day, i still can't imagine them ever having been better than they played this night, it was just a firestorm.

And yeah, this. I've seen them a few times, and this was my feeling each and every time, that if I never saw another rock show by anyone I would be satisfied.

This is too hard. I thought I had a good handle on them but ... I'm basically going to be choosing from Gentlemen, Black Love, 1965 and the first Twilight Singers' record.

― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, June 4, 2021 11:18 PM (three days ago)

otm...

i really like she loves you

however.... had the whigs put out a covers full-length in the ‘90s........

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, June 5, 2021 1:05 AM (two days ago)

...but only because doing a separate covers ballot makes it possible to focus even that much. In order to help myself think properly about this, and then throw together a last-minute basic bitch main ballot, here are the covers I am trying to whittle down from (and a few I haven't heard):

OLD WHIGS

The Temple by Rice/Lord Sir ALW from Jesus Christ Superstar
Amphetamines & Coffee by Paul K. & The Weathermen
Mr Superlove by Ass Ponys
Dark End of the Street by Penn/Chips, first recorded by James Carr
Little Girl Blue by Rodgers/Hart in 1935, recorded variously inc Nina Simone in 1959
You've Changed by Carey/Fisher in 1941, recorded variously inc Billie Holiday in 1958
Moon River by Mancini/Mercer for Breakfast at Tiffany's
If I Only Had A Heart by Hap & Yip for The Wizard of Oz
Creep by Dallas Austin for TLC
Miss World by Hole
Papa Was A Rascal by James Booker
Be For Real by Frederick Knight, recorded by Marlena Shaw and, later, Laughing Len
Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe by Barry White
Nightime by Big Star
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by Goffin/King for The Shirelles
Lost in the Supermarket by The Clash
Superstition by Stevie Wonder (as Somethin' Hot medley, usually)
Rot by Scrawl
Ready by Scrawl
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road by Frazier/Owens, recorded by Percy Sledge & al
Come See About Me by HDH for The Supremes
I Hear A Symphony by HDH for The Supremes
My World Is Empty Without You by HDH for The Supremes
Band of Gold by HDH for the Supremes but instead recorded by Freda Payne
I Keep Coming Back by Austell/Graham, recorded by Tyrone Davis
Beware by Al Green
If There’s A Hell Below, We’re All Going To Go by Curtis Mayfield
Revenge by Patti Smith Group
Easily Persuaded by Paul/Broadax/Shelby/Cooper for Martha & The Vandellas
I Want to Go to Sleep by Happy Chichester

TWILIGHT / GUTTER / SOLO

Dixie Peach Promenade by Skip Spence
Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair (trad.)
Feeling of Gaze by Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions (written w/ Colm O'Ciosoig)
Too Tough to Die by Martina Topley-Bird (written w/ David Holmer)
Hyperballad by Björk
Strange Fruit by "Lewis Allan," recorded by Billie Holiday
What Makes You Think You're the One by L-Bux in F-Mac
Real Love by Rooney/Morales for Mary J. Blige
Hard Time Killing Floor by Skip James
A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
Please Stay (Once You Go Away) by Marvin Gaye (written w/ Ed Townsend)
Summertime by Heyward/Gershwin/Gershwin for Porgy & Bess
Her Majesty by the Beatles
All You Need Is Love by the Beatles
Hey Ya by Outkast
Roses by Outkast
You Was For Real by Doug Sahm
Live With Me by Massive Attack
Flashback by Fat Freddy's Drop
Belles by Vetiver
Down The Line by Jose Gonzalez
Deep Hit Of Morning Sun by Primal Scream
Flow Like A River by Eleven
St. James Infirmary (trad.)
Duchess by Scott Walker
My Funny Valentine by Rodgers & Hart from Babes In Arms
Hard Luck Guy by Eddie Hinton
Cover Me by Eddie Hinton
Paper Thin Hotel by L. Cohen
A Crime by Sharon Van Etten
Modern Love by Bowie
When Doves Cry by Prince
Let It Be Me by Gilbert Decaud (lyrics by Pierre Delanoë, translated by Mann Curtis)
Girl From The North Country by R. Zimm
Shadowboxing by Ed Harcourt

NU-WHIGS

Lovecrimes by Frank Ocean
See And Don't See by Marie Queenie Lyons
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic by The ACABs
You Want Love by Pleasure Club

You missed a couple.

Hey, looks like one of you made a covers playlist, albeit not quite as extensive as what’s posted above.

You missed a couple.

Probably! If only my ipod hadn't died...

You should really fill in those gaps, for the record.

can get a tracks ballot in by tomorrow, probably. that work, ufo?

sent mine! thanks x

i really wanted to vote in this but only know two albums. will watch the results thread and have fun there.

can get a tracks ballot in by tomorrow, probably. that work, ufo?

that's fine!

You should really fill in those gaps, for the record.

I did mean to include Climax

Somebody Needs You To Vote For This

i'm intending to start the rollout monday next week so any last minute ballots will have until sunday to get them in

i will do this, so thanks for stalling!

same!!

sent!!

managed a ballot last night, assorted jones and all alone

another song that the whigs should cover: "woman in chains" by tears for fears

Can’t…quite…get it down…to thirty.

Know that may be hard to believe.

ufo, are you allowing mixed ballots?

yes, mixed ballots are allowed

Mixed? How so?

some portion of the ballot ranked, some portion unranked

Oh, of course. Thought it had something to do with the cover of Congregation.

Converging. Should be able to submit tomorrow.

good luck!

if there's any other more ballots to come there's a bit over a day left

another song that the whigs should cover: "woman in chains" by tears for fears

hell yeah

Ballot sent

ballot sent!

ok i think that's it then? closing the voting. we've got 16 ballots which is decent

roll out should start tomorrow with the covers

Im puttin mine together can you give me 30 mins?

that's fine!

Thank! just sent. I sent unweighted for the tracks is that ok? i can try to order them real quick if not.

unranked is fine

boom, thanks again for getting me in.

....

Don't Forget The AlcoPOLL (ooh baby! ooh baby!): ILM Artist Poll #109 - The Afghan Whigs - RESULTS

they just played “gentleman” in full over the p.a. at camden yards during the yanks-orioles game