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

have unfortunately never seen him live but dulli comes across as a tremendously gifted performer even on record. like he's not an amazing lyricist or anything but he can really really sell whatever he's singing

some ilxor posted that dulli's music has duende, and yes, absolutely, such a great word.

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

I was theeeeeere (also the Twilight Singers @ Metro and Gutter Twins @ Seymour in earlier years). Have seen them thrice in Seattle since (once with Sir Mix-A-Lot opening), and they're always great, but never that amazing.

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.

really love the drummer they had for the 2012 shows

tbf they had turned over multiple drummers before they split! the 2012 drummer, Cully Symington, had been playing on/off with Dulli for years at that point (as the reunion was basically just adding McCollum to the current Twilight Singers and playing more Whigs songs). Bloke from the Saboteurs replaced him before the last album.

as an odd tonal break from the onslaught, they got Steve Kilbey from the Church up to sing One Day from Seance ...apparently it was a song they covered in their early days as the Afghan Whigs or something?

They'd played it the night before in Melbum without Kilbey and announced it as such, yeah. Dunno if they'd already planned for him to guest, or someone sent Kilby the youtube during the day!

what are everyone's favorite twilight singers jams.

Love -> Annie-Mae 4 eva

you mean the raconteurs

(another great drummer)

kilbey showing up was planned, apparently they're huge mutual fans and had really hit it off after meeting at a show a few years prior

http://thetimebeing.com/whiggy-as-all-fork/

here's kilbey's blog post about them hanging out the day of the sydney show

(saboteurs is the raconteurs' name in australia due to a dispute with an existing band here)

i think most of my twilight singers favourites are on blackberry belle, the blown out shoegaze-soul sound of that album is incredible

awww at that kilbeyblog

its so fucking loud

I’ve heard quieter jumbos taking off

this is figuratively true but the room they played is literally a converted factory directly underneath the flightpath, 4 miles from the airport so Steve may also have been jazzily confused

(saboteurs is the raconteurs' name in australia due to a dispute with an existing band here)

lol this is an incredible fact. that’ll teach me to out-sic sic

it's a hilariously ineffective & petty way of thumbing their nose at the existing band

(who were complete nobodies who had no idea why someone was offering to buy their name, so counter-offered out of curiosity, and apparently enraged White by their impertinence)

i have almost never listened to dynamite steps, forgot how much i liked low-key gutter twins track "be invited"

dynamite steps has a few awesome songs, the mix is a bit crowded though iirc

i have to revisit saturnalia and then my tracks ballot will be done... i'm already furious about most of the cuts i've had to make

"on the corner" still really hits

"gunshots" also amazing... too many good songs.....

the atmosphere of saturnalia is so goddamn thick

fuck, i’m gonna have to vote for “circle the fringes”

Been listening back thru everything for this poll and I’m feeling like blackberry belle might be my number one album vote when I thought gentlemen was a forgone conclusion.

Really enjoyed this acoustic Dulli/Lanegan set from Brussels ca. Saturnalia. Gutter Twins-heavy, but some solo-Lanegan/TS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlclKDn0z_E

good morning

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

i was super hyped for the gutter twins album in college, probably because they had been recording it for so long, and "idle hands" was like a rock song from hell. i think saturnalia has the best production of nearly any of dulli's records, and i think this is funny because it's surrounded by two twilight singers records where i'm not entirely down with the production choices. imo the first half is still a terrifying sink into black murk; for some reason the spell breaks for me after "circle the fringes"... which is fine given how good "circle the fringes" is. (until i revisited the record last night (my first time in at least ten years) i had completely forgotten that song existed, so it sort of feels like i've been reunited with an old friend lol)

if i had enough room on my ballot i would also vote for "all misery/flowers"

wow i had no idea they turned "candy cane crawl" into such a live epic, wish they'd done that on record

is "faded" the greatest power ballad ever or what

yes

btw 'faded' > 'purple rain'

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 31, 2018 8:12 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

going through it all now....

Up In It is great, standout cuts are definitely Hey Cuz & I Know Your Little Secret.

omg rhythm section on I'm Her Slave and Turn On The Water so amazing. John Curley probably the best rock bassist of the 90s?

fuck and Conjure Me. oh god it's one of those polls where I listen through and just make a note of every single song on some albums and just cry at having to get the poll down to a reasonable length.

John Curley probably the best rock bassist of the 90s?

thats a bold claim but i was listening to Gentlemen a couple of days back, and was definitely struck by just how tight and punchy the bass tones are on that

for the sakes of that bold claim i am filing John Wm. Sims as 80s.

covers ballot? nearly as hard as tracks

btw that frank ocean cover they did in 2012... is the best

Right? I don't know how I'm going to vote in any of this.
xp

does backbeat count for the covers poll? i assume yes

not that i plan on voting for any of it lol

i am however definitely going to vote for "the temple" which is my favorite non-"miles iz dead" song on congregation

Forgot about that, backbeat, I mean. How exactly is it relevant again?

Faded is great, Black Love is great overall, but its second half is really superb eh.

Also I agree with whoever was repping for Bonnie Brae upthread, it's gonna be high up on my list if I can find it a spot! Lockless too.

Oh, GD provided vocals.

btw that frank ocean cover they did in 2012... is the best

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 26, 2021 2:02 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

better than the original (which i like) by a lot imo

always enjoyed the cheekiness of putting "train in vain" drums under their cover of "lost in the supermarket"

and then singing "stand by me" and "train in vain" over the outro

Cool, never heard that before!

I mean didn't know they covered that song, never mind the other stuff.

also highly recommend their cover of tlc's "creep"

Cool again, thanks again.

Does anyone stan for "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"?

yeah, creep was on the honky's ladder ep, i played it to death! xp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYYTFSE2Y7s

my favorite thing about their "creep" is that it isn't a transformation like some of their other cover version, but actually a very reverent, faithful rendition

he does quite like to sing one song's lyrics over another song's music

eg touch me i'm sick/i touch myself/let it all hang out or mother/dr jimmy/ holocaust/in the mouth a desert during live versions of 'you my flower'

does that all the time with his own songs too, mostly on opening tracks iirc