DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Official ILM poll results rollout #28 - Saint Etienne

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8005/7625264396_dce9364ec6.jpg

It's time for the results of number 28 in the series of 'official' ILM polls, this time the godly Saint Etienne.

A few stats, there were 19 ballots for the albums poll with 20(!) albums voted for. In the tracks poll there were 27 ballots with 127 tracks voted for. Thanks to all who voted.

I'll start with the top 10 albums today and then do the top 50 tracks starting tomorrow. The tracks will be spread over 3 or 4 days, depending how much time I have free.

10. Continental - 18 points, 4 votes

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8196629730_8d17c8795c.jpg

Spotify link

I listened chronologically to what I could find and Continental was a bit of a revelation. I suppose before I'd had them pegged as honing their origins into a search for the perfect pop hit, to generally diminishing returns; this recast them as a balearic outfit who occasionally dabble in pop, and freed me from getting too hung up on e.g. weakish songwriting or character sketches. I like it.

9. Too Young To Die - 24 points, 3 votes, 2 number ones

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8338/8196628478_d4b5a81f46.jpg

8. Sound of Water - 28 points, 8 votes

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8196628906_9119e3f564.jpg

Spotify link

7. Finisterre - 39 points, 9 votes, 1 number one

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/8196629514_2b88b17eb9.jpg

Spotify link

That was my no.1. For me it's the best realisation of what I consider to be their spiritual sound. It's a slick record and hangs together very well; only the rubbish spoken word links let it down.

i love those rubbish spoken word bits!
it was my #2; a few songs are outright unlistenable duds but overall i love it

6. Good Humor - 46 points, 8 votes, 1 number one

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8487/8196629214_ea6cd6a7d3.jpg

Spotify link

I was too lazy to vote but that woulda been my #1

The middle run is excellent but GH starts & ends quite weakly I feel

I listened to Good Humor again in prep for the poll and still don't like it more than mildly, except for isolated moments, like the lyrics to the first verse of "The Bad Photographer".

Sound of Water is better and Finisterre better still, IMO.

good humor was my #1

5. Tales From Turnpike House - 53 points, 10 votes, 2 number ones

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8195535785_97e1d2acda.jpg

Spotify lin

One of those number ones was mine.

4. Words and Music by Saint Etienne - 54 points, 11 votes

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8196628340_24e0a4e9a8.jpg

Spotify link

Good record. My feeling is that it tends in mood slightly too far towards defeat/resignation, and not enough towards rage or joy - sort of like the Manics when Nicky Wire took over lyric duties, if that makes any sense. But it's got some cracking tunes on there, I wouldn't fault it much.

pah, xposted by one second

I think their's plenty of joy in it, 'Sun in My Morning', 'A Good Thing'. I don't think there's a more joyful song in their career than 'Stars Above Us', though it's the wistfulness which makes it such an essential work for me.

Pleasantly surprised by the placing of WAM. I rate it highly, but didn't think that was a common viewpoint.

A bit of a leap in points coming up.

3. Tiger Bay - 82 points, 15 votes, 2 number ones

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8478/8195535667_db86c18c32.jpg

Spotify link

I really hate that sleeve.

Stars Above Us is fantastic, yes. The rest is wistful.

It's not great, no. Is it their faces shopped on?

That sleeve is amazing. Afaik it's not a photoshop, but based on another album cover and completely repainted.

And checking the deluxe edition booklet it's a band called Bakerloo

2. Foxbase Alpha - 108 points, 16 votes, 5 number ones

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8057/8195536375_45e27fd798.jpg

Spotify link

1. So Tough - 122 points, 15 votes, 6 number ones

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8195536063_a93ae0199b.jpg

Spotify link

The top two were within a few points of each other throughout the poll, but So Tough pulled away with the last few ballots I received.

I posted at length about FBA and why I find it so interesting on the voting thread. ST didn't grab me at all, and never has; in fact I find it rather dull.

I eat in Mario's Cafe pretty much every week and have done for the best part of 20 years. He's a lovely man. If he's out of Diet Coke he lets me pop round to the shop and buy a can to drink in his cafe.

Did Foxbase Beta get any votes, as a matter of interest?

There was a combined Alpha/Beta vote, but points went to Alpha.

Didn't end up throwing in points for albums, but if I had, the German/Euro release of Tiger Bay not only has a superior tracklisting, but a much better cover:

http://www.isdal.dk/images/CD_covers/S/SE_Tigerbay.jpg

I kinda wish all of their covers were photos of girls

Been LOVING 'Words and Music', thanks for forcing me to listen ILM.

Yeah, been listening via spotify (I have a real copy), and listened to it as a whole.

(as opposed to one track, etc)

Yeah when I was listening through all their albums before voting I was really happy with how Words & Music stood up against the older albums. I still think Turnpike is a little stronger but it was a great return. Hope it does well in the end of year albums poll.

Also, can't really argue with So Tough being number one, it's a perfect album.

So Tough is my favourite of their 'proper' albums. On some level I recognize that privileging Tiger Bay on the basis of the German edition is vaguely unfair.

I have the UK promo with "Hate Your Drug" on it.

There are a number of great songs on So Tough but, for me, as an album it's rather less than the sum of its parts. The spoken word interludes are also a bit annoying (in a way that they weren't on the contemporaneous 12" singles / EPs).

I was the other #1 vote for TFTH - as far as I'm concerned, this is their masterpiece.

The spoken word interludes are also a bit annoying the heart of the album

Here's the full album results to be going on with:

1 So Tough 122 15 6
2 Foxbase Alpha 108 16 5
3 Tiger Bay 82 15 2
4 Words and Music 54 11 0
5 Tales From Turnpike House 53 10 2
6 Good Humor 46 8 1
7 Finisterre 39 9 1
8 Sound of Water 28 8 0
9 Too Young To Die 24 3 2
10 Continental 18 4 0
11 You Need A Mess Of Help 12 2 0
12 Casino/club Classics 10 3 0
13 Built on Sand 6 1 0
14= Interlude 4 1 0
14= Smash the System 4 1 0
14= Fairfax High 4 1 0
17= I Love To Paint 3 1 0
18= Up The Wooden Hills 2 1 0
18= Lipslide 2 1 0
18= A Glimpse of Stocking 2 1 0

good humor was i think my #5 but nostalgia-wise it's my #1 probably. love it.

Tracks starting shortly...

sooo pleased by the W&M love.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8200879622_7940bdaba7_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/R1WF-AEZzIg

Haha, goodness me.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8200879832_2e03a29ef1_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/t9jiCJ3iOoA

http://open.spotify.com/track/2qWbID42Wq3cSOo6aoUQmX

Try again.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8200879832_2e03a29ef1_b.jpg

There's a few with same points. I've sorted them by number of votes, then highest placed in ballot.

It's a funny one this. I voted for it, but I'm not sure whether I like the individual parts but the whole doesn't quite hang together, or whether I don't like the individual parts much but the whole is somehow more than the sum of them.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8199788607_2e5071f6b9_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/_cdikF5bUMA

http://open.spotify.com/track/4EgQppHeY3iBu9BDeyEo42

Action was my no.21, but I should probably have made room for it. Cracking track, lovely opener.

<3 'action', #6 on my ballot

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8199788741_6be1902c7e_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/nnwa2Q4qzbQ

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8200880246_fc8008885f_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/Db_GINMOLOI

http://open.spotify.com/track/3kZh5opNsYFg4tDX7Id5lB

Ech, In The City is terrible. Carnt Sleep is gorgeous though.

Short interlude while I get a bite to eat.

Wake up ILM, you're dead

For those of us who don't know them that well, it would be nice to have the year or the album the songs were from.

Carnt Sleep would have been in my top five, had I voted.

"We're In The City" is great! So icy.

And "I Buy American Records" is huge for me.

Wow, Carnt Sleep placed way lower than I would have expected!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8199937543_09d658a6f5_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/8AMCyEZRpYk (2012, Words and Music)

http://open.spotify.com/track/0o0y5iwGyiloPf9VgIq13p

Only three votes? Come on!

Other than the number one this had the highest average score in the top 50.

That's intriguing - the no.1 averaging over thirty. Either it won by a mile, or it's something of a cult pick.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8199937643_97d2973675_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/Ekhf455yngI (1993, So Tough)

http://open.spotify.com/track/3aRkNZQjdyx6Dc4s0H4ChY

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8201030220_908137f99c_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/mCVEXNW3pqA (1994, Tiger Bay)

http://open.spotify.com/track/5LVgw9ExeV15r0JRg5lSF2

'action' just missed my ballot, epic opener for that album.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8341/8199938023_46a4c73c2d_b.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/track/1YdJ29bNuBs918rLSwArGt (1998, Good Humor)

Surprised & delighted that Urban Clearway placed

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8199938147_fe7d8c0cbb_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/lf9HGXTWNtU (1993, I Love To Paint)

What the hell is that

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8201165782_5335d8bab7_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/Ex1-lRMdoJ0 (1992, Avenue b-side)

What the hell is that

Dale Winton

xxpost Dale Winton in his natural habitat http://youtu.be/T4YShl4mfRs

Love "Paper" so much - Maurice Deebank's guitar playing as beautiful as in any Felt song.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8349/8201181384_d8202c6981_b.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/track/35Gq6LABP3rAlwIuCwQNhT (2005, Tales from Turnpike House)

Love this one, I'm a sucker for any modern disco stomper.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8201166064_820b9454c2_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/rPwdF3IW5dc (1991, Foxbase Alpha)

http://open.spotify.com/track/0e9G2zSgET9gRDnUAG3Zvf

really loving the images, Billy

Yes, absolutely

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8201166178_f5e9efe47d_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/iIWiI8z8rrg (1998, Good Humor)

http://open.spotify.com/track/3iwA2nrk9nMx7L1J63tskP

Glad you like the images, most of them I pinched from here http://saintetiennepress.blogspot.co.uk/ No peaking until the end though ;-)

'mr donut' is tremendous. 'stars above us' is a banger for sure.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8480/8200074487_7baec955c3_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/VutYYgdG49g (2012, Words and Music by Saint Etienne)

http://open.spotify.com/track/4EMrbYuLqIRvZP1MSwdjo9

Wow, both Paper and Fake 88 already slotted in... be interesting to see what the highest-placing non-album track is!

Four of my selections in the first seven slots. Didn't expect "Carnt Sleep" to be one of them. Thought it was really quite popular, based on nothing in particular.

XP: This (Youtube) version of Mr Donut is quite pleasing. I seem to under-rate it in the context of Good Humour.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8201274062_886d97fca2_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/3yGeb_XameA (2012, Words and Music by Saint Etienne)

http://open.spotify.com/track/5WdI5yXeOpM4Vm4TUH9Bdg

Cried like a baby the first time I played this, just too close to my life.

yeah i think when this album came out there was some criticism over a lack of depth in the lyrics, maybe, but i found this whole album to be really rather personal and moving, like a more subtle take on what was more explicitly stated in something like 'teenage winter' (which is still an excellent song.)

Next up a banger.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8065/8201274194_d854b0c484_b.jpg

http://youtu.be/_ENL6WUxAK0 (2005, Tales from Turnpike House)

http://open.spotify.com/track/5C3tUorJgqNuM0QSME3gXx

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8201274440_fb635dcff4_b.jpg

http://open.spotify.com/track/6SOysw2bEmnESmc6dPD7Ch (2005, Tales from Turnpike House)

That's it for today.

My spotify's down for some reason, which has hindered me a little, but I've enjoyed the show.

Ah, thanks for these - looking forward to checking out the post-Tiger Bay stuff, which is by & large a blind spot for me.
For some reason I'd imagined "We're In The City" was a lot more popular, as due to being used to great effect in But I'm A Cheerleader it's the one Saint Etienne song people around here used to know (got played alongside Le Tigre etc at early 00s post-electroclash queer indie-disco nights & the like).

Forgot to vote for "Urban Clearway" due to panic when deciding what to choose off Tiger Bay, but it's a fantastic opener - the strings coming in at around 1:20 are like the sun coming up.

Great images Billy.

Very happy with the list so far, some thoughts.

Good Thing and Stars Above Us are great songs, I still have no idea why they released Side Streets as the first single from that album. I put Milkbottle Symphony in my top ten, it may sound a little too similar to Annie's My Heartbeat but it's just so moving and that fake ending is so good.

I'm suprised the number one vote for Popular, it's one of the weaker songs on the new album for me. Delighted to see Over The Border make it, just a brilliant opener and I just love the "New Order, Dexys, anything on Postcard" line.

Great selections from Good Humor so far. That album starts off so well but I never really remember anything after The Bad Photographer. Splitscreen was the highest track in my list from that album, another case of that really should have been a single. I recently read they wanted Lose That Girl as the second single really, would have been a good choice.

Even though I'm a big fan I don't know all their B-sides and rarities. I had that Boxsette from a few years back but I sold it as I just never played it. I do know Fake 88 and Paper is great B-side. Will have to check out I Buy American Records and We're In The City.

Urban Clearway, Carnt Sleep and Like The Swallow would have been in my list if we could have had another ten choices. Just listening to Foxbase Beta recently, the version of Swallow on there is incredible.

One thing I've been thinking about as part of assembling my ballot is that I tend to go for Saint Etienne at their more serious.

Not in the sense of only wanting respectable ballads like "Hobart Paving" or "Former Lover" (though I adore both), but more that I typically respond to them most strongly when they're utterly deadpan even in frothy pop mode.

Which means a big yes to tunes like "He's On The Phone" and "We're In The City" and "Shower Scene" and "Tonight", whereas I'm decidedly cooler on, say, "Who Do You Think You Are", "You're In A Bad Way" and most of Good Humor (though I certainly don't dislike any of these).

I was then thinking about which tunes come closest to that more winking, arch quality that I still unreservedly love, and it's stuff like "Nothing Can Stop Us", "Join Our Club" and (to a rather lesser extent) "Hug My Soul" - perhaps these are tunes that can persuasively be taken either way, as either sly and "framed", or totally self-invested and unself-conscious.

Sadly, I only acquainted myself with W&M about 24 hours before the deadline but "Over the Border" still found its way in to my provisional top 20. Increasingly think I should have left it there.

I could explain the number one vore for "Popular", but I'm not going to.

vote, obv.

Over The Border is wonderful. It did possibly sound a little cheesy at first but you can't doubt the SE. I adore the sound of Sarah's voice there. I voted for that song as one of my favourites.

There are a few songs I don't know up there. D/ling them now so, yeah this thread is already delivering.

Looking forward to the next tunes. This is a great poll - loving the images so much.

i love that WAM is a great club album but it's doubling as an introspective and shy music fan album too.

I dunno, Tim: "Who Do You Think You Are" strikes me as giddy AND arch. Sarah Cracknell's voice can't "do" pure giddiness like, say, Kylie can't; detachment is built into it.

Detachment is built into it - I think most of my favourite SE tunes still feel detached.

But I think there is a distinction between detachment and archness - "Who Do You Think You Are" (which I still really like, mind) sounds openly amused at itself in a way that "He's On The Phone" does not even though the sense of irony and framing is contextually stronger for the latter tune.

Interesting that you raise Kylie though - Words and Music strikes me as very deliberately referencing Kylie's Fever both sonically and vocally (the title connection with Paul Morley's book may be a connection here).

It's like the album that Kylie might make if she could admit to (and internalise within the songs) that sense of distance vis a vis pop and youth. Tunes like "Tonight" literalise the wistfulness that comes with listening to the better late-era Kylie (at least if the listener is aware of the fact that they are no longer "young" in the pop sense).

I'm a little disappointed with the results so far (only two tracks from my ballot have appeared) although maybe that means my favourites will start placing later. I'm also particularly surprised "We're In The City" placed so low; it is such an incredible song! No complaints though, Saint Etienne are probably the act with the highest percentage of tracks that I like ...and they have A LOT of tracks!

Also LOVING the images :)

Erm, Billy - for those of us with images switched off (and youtube etc blocked at work), there's no way of knowing what tracks are placing! Can you put the basic information in text form above the image please.

And can I also have a recap in text form?

Jeff, no problem.

Recap of 50-33:

50. I Buy American records (84,4,0)
49. Goodnight Jack (86,4,0)
48. Action (86,4,0)
47. We're In The City (86,5,0)
46. Carnt Sleep (87,4,0)
45. Popular (90,3,1)
44. Railway Jam (90,5,0)
43. Urban Clearway (92,5,0)
42. Split Screen (96,4,0)
41. Fake (91,5,0)
40. Paper (99,4,0)
39. Stars Above Us (100,4,0)
38. Like The Swallow (102,5,0)
37. Mr Donut (109,6,0)
36. When I Was Seventeen (110,6,0)
35. Over The Border (111,5,0)
34. A Good Thing (111,6,0)
33. Milk Bottle Symphony (115,5,0)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8203849390_743854ce01_b.jpg

London Belongs To Me (1991, Foxbase Alpha 129 points, 5 votes)

http://open.spotify.com/track/2VR2Bn7yYfZo34qD3pfXWS

Listened to this again today and instantly regretted not voting for it. A lot of Foxbase Alpha, which I love, sounds a little brittle, but this is lush and comforting.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8202759305_0446d5135d_b.jpg

31. Archway People (1992, You're in a Bad Way b-side, 131 points, 7 votes)

http://youtu.be/dMjYXDjw8Bo

I love these songs so much! ...and I didn't even have space for them on my ballot. Can't say I regret it though, I love what's on my ballot even more.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8346/8203849560_a0f2a89c64_b.jpg

30. Kiss and Make Up (1991, single, 132 points, 8 votes) Include 16 points for Sarah Cracknell version.

http://youtu.be/Zw32-oDZ0kQ

http://open.spotify.com/track/7MH4aAKaTTDcpaFBYQY1GP

I've never heard this, oddly - I think it was reading about it that inspired me long ago to buy a Field Mice compilation. It wasn't even on it.

Photo's a bit of a con as Moira Lambert did the vocal originally.

London Belongs to Me is the most Saint Etienne of all Saint Etienne songs, or maybe second after Mario's Cafe. I love how they combine timeless, classic pop ambitions with pinpoint, London-in-the-90s detail - you can actually trace the route of this song down Parkway to the tree in Regent's Park. Even Mr Donut, which is about tour fatigue and should therefore be horrible, comes to life because of those little details: "Paul's still in the duty free." I can't think of many bands that use christian names so regularly and evocatively. I was very excited the first time I saw a branch of Mr Donut at Narita airport.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8340/8203977520_2cc9c6bb32_b.jpg

29. Method of Modern Love (2009, single, 133 points, 7 votes)

http://youtu.be/X6GCVhPzHe0

http://open.spotify.com/track/5T4o0vK0C5M5NH76PYrSY7

Where are they standing in the London Belongs To Me photo?

'kiss and make up' is really delightful

im glad 'split screen' placed as i dont think it is really st et canon @ all but im in awe of it basically

not sure id ever heard 'we're in the city', love it!

xp One of the South Bank buildings isn't it? Royal Festival Hall? National Film Theatre? It's that kind of architecture and it's close to the London Eye.

xpost

Royal Festival Hall I'd guess.

They had a curatorship at RFH didn't they?

Sometimes I find Richard X beats a little monotonous and boring, and MOML is one example. Otherwise the track is pretty much perfect.

I was wondering why I couldn't see the railway, but I guess it must be quite a bit lower.

only sometimes, daavid? [/Jeff hobby horse]

btw i voted 'split screen' #1 so idk why that isnt noted fwiw

P.S. thanks, Billy, for the revised roll-out format. It was no fun flying blind.

Xp Curating at the RFH. I remember this well, simply because I was sitting in A and E at my local hospital after someone drove a car over my foot, and the TV was on in the waiting room showing BBC News 24 and Bob and Pete were being interviewed outside the RFH about what they were doing there. It took my mind off the pain in my foot.

Enjoying the results so far. Wasn't aware there was a version of "Kiss and make up" with Sarah on vocals. Where would I find this?

Kylie got a couple mentions upthread - these records are borrowing an awful lot from Spinning Around

btw i voted 'split screen' #1 so idk why that isnt noted fwiw

Had a panic there. It was counted, just didn't transfer it to the image.

Wasn't aware there was a version of "Kiss and make up" with Sarah on vocals. Where would I find this?

It's on London Conversations: http://open.spotify.com/track/7MH4aAKaTTDcpaFBYQY1GP

xxpost
Worth recalling too that in 1993 Bob and Pete worked with Kylie on two songs, though I'm not sure either of them got released. I like to think "Hug My Soul" was their response - "see what a perfect record we could have made for you if only you'd kept faith in us".

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8202886583_0fb3820d9a_b.jpg

28. Burnt Out Car (2008, single, 134 points, 7 votes) 23 points for Xenomania mix, 18 points for Balearico mix.

http://youtu.be/r61X9SIz9nQ

http://open.spotify.com/track/3LZtM7Z1USvJBQMYKNKtHe

London Belongs to Me is the most Saint Etienne of all Saint Etienne songs, or maybe second after Mario's Cafe. I love how they combine timeless, classic pop ambitions with pinpoint, London-in-the-90s detail - you can actually trace the route of this song down Parkway to the tree in Regent's Park.

― Deafening silence (DL), Tuesday, November 20, 2012 6:49 PM

Mmmmn, had always thought "London Belongs To Me" was one of their more canonised non-singles, as it was one of the first songs I'd tracked down by them either via Freaky Trigger or old-ILM (tuns out it wasn't part of Tom's 90s singles list, but j3ss'). I wonder how many people first heard of World of Twist via this song?

Also I remember SR canonised it in his "peerless, pivotal" moments of the 90s.

xp I thought Balearico and Xenomania were one and the same and only the credit changed on later comps, like Dust>Chemical Brothers. The original demo's pretty weak so I wonder if all those votes are actually for the same mix.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8202886711_6ac4a966fa_b.jpg

27. Finisterre (2002, Finisterre, 135 points, 6 votes)

http://youtu.be/VaoFJzV-eWQ

http://open.spotify.com/track/10hCZAQtDVOaHUXjeFHI5v

xp Must admit I'm not too sure about the history of BOC, wikipedia would suggest they're different.

"Burnt Out Car" was originally slated to be a single in 1996 and remixes were commissioned. The release was eventually dropped but the Balearico Mix surfaced on the Casino Classics remix collection and the Continental album. The original mix was not released until 2006, when it appeared on the outtakes collection Nice Price.

The track was re-recorded and produced by the Xenomania team for the 2008 release. The single was backed by three b-sides spanning the 7" and CD single as well as a remix by Mark Brown

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8058/8202886781_ea8868cc6f_b.jpg

26. Filthy (1991, single, 135 points, 6 votes) Includes 26 points for 'Studio Kinda Filthy'

http://open.spotify.com/track/0LJPvH8USZvrflYwWh1Q6M

xp- Balearico and Xenomania mixes are almost identical, but not the same. I may be wrong but iirc Brian Higgins was involved in both. The "Original Mix" (not really a demo) is completely different but imo also excellent. Here's a nice blurb ex-ILMer Brittle-Lemmon wrote about it:

http://trembleclef.blogspot.ca/2006/04/saint-etienne-burnt-out-car-original.html

I plan to upload it to Youtube later today (I'll share the link here).

This was a single?! How did it do?

Should have added the prefix Promo.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8057/8204134424_6791e74fed_b.jpg

25. Tonight (2012, Words and Music by Saint Etienne, 135 points, 7 votes)

http://youtu.be/v8Mv9z3H8Ow

http://open.spotify.com/track/65BviQRtOTSwozG27OWQDZ

xp Says Wiki: "Burnt Out Car was originally slated to be a single in 1996 and remixes were commissioned. The release was eventually dropped but the Balearico Mix surfaced on the Casino Classics remix collection and the Continental album. The original mix was not released until 2006, when it appeared on the outtakes collection Nice Price."

Although the original/demo sounds like a terrible choice for a single so I've always felt like the remix was the "real" version.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8487/8203043213_45d861e4e5_b.jpg

24. Shower Scene (2002, Finisterre, 136 points, 7 votes)

http://youtu.be/r4muDh4R_HA

http://open.spotify.com/track/63xKOt0ewVM7XvdtzpGgWr

Shower Scene is fabulous; my no.3 and favourite discovery from this poll. I'd've had it no.1 but for time and a couple of old favourites I had to rank higher.

Amazing video too!

I love the rhythm and especially the soft warp beep-boops on the seven and eight

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8203043329_be7f4b1fdd_b.jpg

23. Lightning Strikes Twice (2005, Tales from Turnpike House, 146 points, 7 votes)

http://youtu.be/Arq5mjR0h48

http://open.spotify.com/track/1AWkhQtyCDuMjdrI8MrcTI

amazing pic. great track.

finisterre wasn't in my top 6 albums but still, it's pretty tremendous all the way through.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8204134658_c0227989f1_b.jpg

22. Hate Your Drug (1994, Hug My Soul b-side, 152 points, 6 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/nKJzIy12628

It wasn't me but yay for the #1 vote! Fantastic track!

No idea how I missed "Hate Your Drug" off my ballot - works a wonder on the German vers. of Tiger Bay prior to "Marble Lions". So emo!

Also I remember SR canonised it in his "peerless, pivotal" moments of the 90s.

― Tim F, Tuesday, November 20, 2012 7:33 PM

Ah, that's probably it, too:

""London Belongs To Me" is staggering. Imagine a collision between the aesthetics of Talulah Gosh and A.R. Kane, twee and torrential, camp and sublime. The song begins as one of those idyllic interludes in a Sixties movie, a light-headed, walking-on-air shimmer of harpsichords, vibes, flutes and mellotrons. But at the chorus, everything goes topsy-turvy: gravity absconds in a mist of dub-reverbed percussion; Wiggs & Stanley's arrangement cascades stardust and moonbeam, a downfall of precious gems."
+
"Britpop's pinnacle arrived four years before that concept was realised as the Blur/Oasis hegemony of nostalgia and parochialism. "London Belongs To Me" offers a vision of Englishness inclusive enough to encompass the dream-hazy dub-reverb cascades of A.R. Kane, the poignant piano vamps of Italo-house, and the winsome wistfulness of Sixties French girl-pop."

That's funny, I had the Burgess quote 'gravity all nonsense now' running through my head this morning

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8203180587_b4c1bb5879_b.jpg

21. Former Lover (1994, Tiger Bay, 159 points, 6 votes)

http://youtu.be/J8c1wHMBif0

http://open.spotify.com/track/236m1R04WHtJFw6DsNcDSo

Glad to see "Method Of Modern Love" place. It's a lot like Kylie's "The One", but even better.

fantastic

Kiss & Make Up has hugely underperformed for its eight votes

Adore "Former Lover"'s rippling/"Everybody's Talkin'" guitar, and "In Milan, when I was a kitten" is a fairly arresting first line.

xp Yes, 16.5 points per vote, lowest in the top 50.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8340/8203180673_6cce10b8a3_b.jpg

20. Hug My Soul (1994, Tiger Bay, 159 points, 6 votes)

http://youtu.be/ZQ5y-rNcA1o

http://open.spotify.com/track/1eCrxigSV8jmL94Dx3k6l2

I gave "Hate your drug" the number one spot on my poll. I think my number two is a more popular choice but something about that song is so melancholy and mysterious, and those queasy chord changes! A beautiful piece of music all round, and one of my favourite songs by anyone, let alone St Etienne.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8482/8204283624_c2a379028a_b.jpg

19. Pale Movie (1994, Tiger Bay, 162 point, 8 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/AXxlycDer3o

http://open.spotify.com/track/5vtenQzL1i591fJmABPxzl

Pale Movie is too much, I don't have the stomach for it

Next up, my number one.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8203192565_ab7dffbb7f_b.jpg

18. Teenage Winter (2005, Tales from Turnpike House, 171 points, 6 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/CctWXk38QSA

http://open.spotify.com/track/64glNxdFyiNXwTjpwQLFbS

This got some lovely write-ups but left me cold. I'm not too fond of their character sketches.

Adore "Former Lover"'s rippling/"Everybody's Talkin'" guitar, and "In Milan, when I was a kitten" is a fairly arresting first line.

― etc, Tuesday, 20 November 2012 21:01 (18 minutes ago) Permalink

"Former Lover" was in my top three or four, I adore it so much. Its placement after "He's On The Phone" on the German Tiger Bay is quite startling, there's never been a more succinct but demonstrative example of the sheer breadth a band can cover.

Ismael I do not understand your taste in SE at all! Though I approve of your love of "Shower Scene".

I'm trying to work it out myself - some kind of balearic/minor key/wistful/continental sophistication/impersonality/suburbia nexus I'm thinking (like that rules anything out)

Now for something completely different.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8066/8203192701_92febf7151_b.jpg

17. I Was Born On Christmas Day (1993, Xmas EP, 173 points, 9 votes)

http://youtu.be/uY8pi60nBxI

http://open.spotify.com/track/29i5I7n0Qe988XuQMqL6kW

I'm trying to work it out myself - some kind of balearic/minor key/wistful/continental sophistication/impersonality/suburbia nexus I'm thinking (like that rules anything out)

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 20 November 2012 9:27 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Would it be fair to say that you don't like them as much when they get too literate?

I dunno, I can't really place what a literate St Et is. I definitely don't like them trying too hard for pop perfection - Christmas Day is a horror to me

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8204284150_bd3d2b9c43_b.jpg

16. Join Our Club (1992, single, 187 points, 9 votes)

http://youtu.be/OYdrwH12Ia4

http://open.spotify.com/track/6ZVNjsGRavceJsJl0PhwQW

That's it for today. Back with the top 15 tomorrow.

I dunno, I can't really place what a literate St Et is. I definitely don't like them trying too hard for pop perfection - Christmas Day is a horror to me

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 20 November 2012 9:32 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was thinking of your comments upthread about character sketches and weak songwriting, and disliking "Pale Movie". Whereas stuff like "Stars Above Us" doesn't really place too much emphasis on the literary side of songwriting, and something like "Shower Scene" is only tenuously a song qua song.

OTOH I guess that doesn't square with your dislike of "We're In The City".

I think that's fair Tim - looking at my ballot I've got a few tight pop songs on there, but they're definitely outnumbered by the more meandering stuff. Again, my Pulp ballot would divide similarly. To me they're both mood bands, but the mood is inherent in their own character - when they're trying to force a celebration or wear a mask, I don't buy it. I'm guessing it's because I identify quite closely with what I perceive as their 'real' personalities, so artifice stands out immediately (unless I share it).

While I have a lot of time for "I Was Born On Christmas Day", the doubling-up of "town" in "Did you know they pulled the town hall down? / I don’t think you’d recognise this town" has always bugged me. Nice blurts of tuba (or whatever that is) - actually, there's a lot more going on in this than I remember.

Great to see Archway People place, it was the only B-side I voted for in the end.

I wasn't sure how popular Method of Modern Love would be, happy that it made it so high. Same with Tonight, they are quite similar tracks but Tonight is like the downbeat version. Love the added "It's been so long" bit on the album version.

Teenage Winter was my number three. It is lyrically one of my favourite songs ever. As someone who has to put up with way too much Red Chilli Peppers through their life I especially love the line about them.

Finisterre is a song that started very low down on my list but as I kept going through their tracks it ended up in the top ten, great chorus. Shower Scene is my second favourite on that album but it would have been in the next ten of we could have had more choices.

I think Kiss & Make Up is my least favourite song in the list so far. When listening to Too Young To Die I'd always want to skip it and just get straight to Nothing Can Stop Us, which was annoying as I had it on tape back in the day.

So a lot of their singles have just placed in the list. Starting to wonder which ones might miss out. I'd guess Side Streets, Soft Like Me, I've Got Your Music and The Boy is Crying. Not sure how popular the two singles off Good Humor are?

xxpost I'm interested in yr reactions Ismael because I feel vaguely similarly but then distinguish between the celebrations and masks which convince me (because, I guess, I believe them for as long as the masks are worn, even if they are masks) and those which don't strike me as really wanting to be believed.

"Pale Movie" is interesting because it falls into the first category for me even though "objectively" it bears the hallmarks of the second.

But then maybe (the extended) Tiger Bay is just a special case for me generally... despite being all over the place its character feels very unitary to me.

Ironically perhaps SE are really an albums band for me, their disparate strands acquiring greater force and resonance when set up against one another. Too Young To Die is an amazing series of tracks but I wouldn't really want to listen to them like that.

(conversely it's partly the lack of such swings that make GH and SOW their least successful albums for me)

I'm gonna go ahead and try to predict the top 15 (in no particular order):

Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Nothing Can Stop Us
Spring
Avenue
Mario's Cafe
Calico
Hobart Paving
He's On the Phone
Lover Place The Bass
How We Used To Live
Marble Lions
People Get Real
Like A Motorway
Sylvie
Heart Failed

Not sure about last two ...we'll see.

You've got me thinking about artifice now. I'd've said I liked a bit of pretence in my pop, but now I wonder if it only works if there's something weird about the artist - St Etienne and Pulp seem too ordinary to pull it off, whereas Bowie's got something unknowable that lets me believe all his guys are some part of who he is. Bad comparison, they are leagues apart ... their more posturing indie contemporaries, Suede or Blur say, emitted an ambition that allowed me to believe they meant it, no matter how ludicrous 'it' sometimes was. St Etienne seem comfortable being ordinary, probably lovely people - how can they convince me that they really want to be the Supremes or Cola Boy, when they convince me more as fans of those?

I'm sorry, I can't believe I've taken this down the 'meaning it' road.

xpost Heart Failed will be top ten easy. Not sure about How We Used To Live and Lover Plays Bass from that list.

I'd add Who Do You Think You Are and You're In a Bad Way.

Given I don't even know what "Lover Plays The Bass" is, I will be impressed if it makes the top twenty.

OTOH this poll is quite notable for how well b-sides and rarities have performed, but I guess that goes hand in hand with being a SE fan.

xpost Oh yes, I had forgotten about those. They'll definitely be there. Now I'm thinking maybe "Lover Plays The Bass" won't be there which would be sad, but not unlikely. I stand by "How We Used To Live" though.

Tim, listen to this immediately! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpW5ZftEEUg

Oops sorry for the embed. I know this is not the place :/ Can it stay there, or could a mod please remove it? thx

You've got me thinking about artifice now. I'd've said I liked a bit of pretence in my pop, but now I wonder if it only works if there's something weird about the artist - St Etienne and Pulp seem too ordinary to pull it off, whereas Bowie's got something unknowable that lets me believe all his guys are some part of who he is. Bad comparison, they are leagues apart ... their more posturing indie contemporaries, Suede or Blur say, emitted an ambition that allowed me to believe they meant it, no matter how ludicrous 'it' sometimes was. St Etienne seem comfortable being ordinary, probably lovely people - how can they convince me that they really want to be the Supremes or Cola Boy, when they convince me more as fans of those?

I guess for me the difference is that most of the time I don't see Saint Etienne as promoting a particular persona at all, the "artifice" as such is about inhabiting a particular feel rather than a personality or social phenomenon.

There's a vagueness at work in spite of - or perhaps because of - the accretion of details.

So the character sketches on "He's On The Phone" and "Like A Motorway" and "Pale Movie" seem like they should add up to a fairly specific notion of the subject matter ("got the cash / feeling flash / in Leicester Square") but they don't really - the snatches of concrete detail are more like the lines the listener colours between.

The vagueness is an interesting point because you *can* capture something very specific in an accretion of very few details, which when it convinces - Paul Simon is the master - brings the person to life. Whereas Saint Etienne's don't for me. They're not outright clunkers - Damon Albarn's are mostly that - but they are a missed opportunity, a gap that I don't want or feel able to fill myself. A dynamic singer might be able to sell it to me, but that's not Sarah's strength.

But! Saint Etienne do have some lyrics that I would describe as clunkers, but for some reason work - to take two of my favourites, Popular and Side Streets, these are lyrics that say far too much, but they're so mundane that I don't doubt they're heartfelt. Which makes them very charming.

And where they cut the details altogether ("I've never felt so good, I've never felt so strong") they hit a vein as rich as any house record, which is something that doesn't rely on character at all.

Ah, see I think the vagueness is very deliberate and for the most part successful - if anything, it's when the lyrics get too clear that I think the songs can be undermined slightly (like, perhaps my relative issue with "Who Do You Think You Are" is that it hangs together too well as a pop song).

For me Saint Etienne work in their allusiveness, and the ultimate unknowability at the heart of their tunes (whether in pop mode or meandering mode) is the point rather than some failing.

Robert christgau is in love

http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/expert-witness-blogpost.aspx?post=53c932c3-a018-46ff-9f63-bf6fb6317898

His rediscovery of SE in the last few months is one of the most heartening surprises of the last couple years.

Hello everybody

We've somehow managed to smuggle (after paying import duty of course!) around 450 copies of the US edition of Words And Music By Saint Etienne back into the UK.

We've had tons of emails from folks around the world requesting to buy copies of the CD and can finally announce that these will be offered through our online merchandise shop here from 7pm (UK time) on Wednesday 28th November. So, thanks for your patience!

Words And Music US Edition is a two disc set housed in a slip case with a card insert, with our usual (ahem) high standards, designed by Paul Kelly.

Disc one is as per the standard edition of Words And Music By...
Disc two More Words And Music By.... contains 10 songs we recorded during the sessions for WAMBSE. Eight are brand new, the other two were on now deleted comps.
01. Solid Gold - previously unreleased
02. Your Valentine - previously unreleased
03. Jan Leeming - previously unreleased
04. Racing Car - previously unreleased
05. Landscape - previously unreleased
06. Manhattan - previously only available as the B-side of the 'Tonight' 7" single
07. You're Not Alone - previously unreleased
08. Just Friends - previously only available on Q magazine cd
09. Fairground Rock And Roll - previously unreleased
10. Lullaby - previously only available as the B-side of the 'I've Got Your Music' 7" single

The price for the US edition is £12.99 plus shipping and once these remainders are sold that's yer lot.

We've just got back from Spain which was a gas - the Kutxa Kultur centre in Getaria, surrounded by Balenciaga wedding dresses, has to be the most surreal venue since Chessington World of Adventures!

Looking forward to seeing you on our Christmas jaunt.

Lots of love,

Sarah, Bob and Pete

xxx

yeah bought that @ the live show i saw; listened 2 it in my car on the drive home and not since. i should revisit. also i shouldve bought extra copies

"She's always modest, always cheerful, always kind. I've never seen anyone quite like her."

Aw, xgau

^ It's true! About 3 weeks I saw SE live for the first time and the thing that impressed me most was Cracknell's subdued yet undeniable stage presence. You can't take your eyes off her!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8206434230_bf7d86cf33_z.jpg

15. Sylvie (1998, Good Humor, 188 points, 7 votes, 1 number one) Includes 33 points for Trouser Enthusiasts' Tintinnabulation mix.

http://youtu.be/xbS9vH7tjOU

http://open.spotify.com/track/5LTAGZYfbaEh2tJaZCdTSp

Never been a fan of the original (or anything on GH)... but absolutely love the Trousers Enthusiasts' mixes of this and Lose That Girl.

Some day I'll get caught up on everything by this band. I didn't listen to them during their heyday. For the last year or two, I've been thinking Good Humor is my favorite album of the '90s, though.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8482/8205316385_a49c3da137_b.jpg

14. Marble Lions (1994, Tiger Bay, 206 points, 9 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/46FCicXL6eo

http://open.spotify.com/track/5iSoVhj6YDEZICEi9dWWW3

Marble Lions is the best, I had it about tenth but it could've gone much higher.

Marble Lions is a heartstopper.

"release the sun into the empty cathedral" gets me every time

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8205316589_3ea47dfcef_b.jpg

13. Girl VII (1991, Foxbase Alpha 209 points, 8 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/lHU51iBEIis

http://open.spotify.com/track/3ngTuDdoeFSdouChwPK6DC

Just had track 5 on Foxbase Alpha, so let's have track 6.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8205316777_200f44a1d0_b.jpg

12. Spring (1991, Foxbase Alpha, 222 points, 10 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/QM4f1lDjLj8

http://open.spotify.com/track/2D1D5Q7IFQMagR1LCkg5Ah

Another beauty. This is their best London song imo. It may be partly responsible for so many happy weekends of my life exploring the place and its less-heralded environs, from Raynes Park to Rayners Lane.

And Spring is also sweet, but not as sweet as Girl VII.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8206406440_13e47d13fc_b.jpg

11. People Get Real (1992, Join Our Club b-side, 227 points, 9 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/U4hfEY3I1cg

http://open.spotify.com/track/4yGi031jqW4PIfRGYK67hE

'spring' was my #1, just wonderful imo, top 5 song alltime for me.

Is it a 'Long Train Running' sample on Girl VII btw?

I don't think it is, I think it's just someone playing guitar

lol @ 'Jan Leeming', such a SE title

hurrah @ 'Girl VII'/'Spring' placings - didn't have room to vote for these so pleased at the placings

scratching head @ 'Join Our Club' and 'People Get Real' both placing so high. The weakest of the early singles by far IMO.

Top 10 coming up soon.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8063/8206904490_0ae8fd7405_b.jpg

10. Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi) (2000, Sound of Water, 249 points, 10 votes)

http://youtu.be/Pq3Oqp1Ub_g

http://open.spotify.com/track/38Rb3G7WyTbVdDWm8HIdI2

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8206904576_5b69f60cba_b.jpg

9. You're In a Bad Way (1993, So Tough, 284 points, 13 votes)

http://youtu.be/OEDAGNYYa1o

http://open.spotify.com/track/5TejHC7sOvdrArzvBEXsz9

There's something pleasingly early Depechey about 'Back of a Taxi'. You're in a Bad Way I do not like at all.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8205813905_e5f01d6a5f_b.jpg

8. Who Do You Think You Are? (1993, single, 290 points, 11 votes, 2 number ones) Includes 21 points for Aphex twin remix.

http://youtu.be/Xxqka4FTvFc

http://open.spotify.com/track/1HOoTesB5hvTIACXiTrdbY

Was amazed how highly this placed, it's a 30-40 placer for me.

Aphex Twin remix is quite something http://youtu.be/Ms-asJ_d9cw

Ugh yes, Who Do You Think You Are? is terrible. At least I think that's all my hatees out the way now.

"Who Do You Think..." was my #1.

Massive jump in points coming up.

WDYTYA? is great. They own the song now (and should do more covers of 70s soft pop - although OTOH I can see Bob rejecting this suggestion outright on shooting fish in barrel grounds).

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8206904768_1dcc386780_b.jpg

7. Hobart Paving (1993, So Tough, 362 points, 15 votes)

http://youtu.be/PmpBdpdmQTE

http://open.spotify.com/track/3153JenFGVByV1al2mE8fi

Didn't vote for this, but it's lovely. I thought it'd be higher tbh.

You're in a Bad Way I do not like at all

What's wrong with you?

http://open.spotify.com/track/3153JenFGVByV1al2mE8fi

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (1990, single, 374 points, 13 votes, 1 number one) Includes 26 points for Weatherall remix.

http://youtu.be/vZAajrxvDs4

http://open.spotify.com/track/2YJvSzrxJOLiFafQpOxNPT

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8350/8206904846_8f853691e8_b.jpg

I thought that might win.

Simply one of the greatest debut singles and cover versions. I wonder how their career would have went if they'd covered 'Ambulance Blues' instead.

Woah, I thought that was nailed on for no.1. It was my no.2, for conceptual reasons.

Less than half the electorate voted for it!

Only last week I found out it's about Joni Mitchell

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8207059004_74ab660b0e_b.jpg

5. Mario's Cafe (1993, So Tough, 396 points, 15 votes, 1 number one)

http://youtu.be/bisXgzls2f4

http://open.spotify.com/track/1icazRRdTUf6KX5AGeeNKQ

The bit where the filters kick in at 4'10 and it soars away into the stratosphere is my single favourite moment in their catalogue.

Gotta go home now, but x-ing fingers for my #1 :)

Just watching the performance on 'The Beat' and there's a quite amazing break in the middle which fortunately never made it to record.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/8205968849_339b0fe9c3_b.jpg

4. He's On The Phone (1995, Single, 410 points, 15 votes, 2 number ones)

http://youtu.be/Ddr9EpezslU

http://open.spotify.com/track/0QZt0QyDHnwvEnuqRdM5UE

TOO LOW

Honestly thought this or "Only Love..." would be #1. Glad to see "Girl VII" do well; "Hobart Paving" & "Mario's Cafe" never really stood out on So Tough for me, though.

I can guess the number one. I predict a 'big jump'..

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8484/8205968921_94a62cb361_b.jpg

3. Like a Motorway (1994, Tiger Bay, 425 points, 17 votes)

http://youtu.be/MP4Pxpu4W2k

http://open.spotify.com/track/1NpsWAXVNBR7J177J11Vs3

Looking like every song up to "Hobart Paving" on So Tough will end up having placed (I assume "Avenue" is to come) but none of the four tracks afterwards.

This makes sense to me as there's something about the album's atmosphere that makes it blur into itself more and more as you work your way through it, and it took me a long time to appreciate those four tunes as individual tunes. They're each amazing though. I voted for "Conchita Martinez", and nearly "Leaf Hound" and "Junk The Morgue" as well.

None of the three big SE deep house tunes placed but since I didn't actually vote for them I can't complain :-/

Oh, a surprise! Had no idea this was so rated.

'like a motorway' over 'he's on the phone' is...really weird to me

Like A Motorway more of a consensus pick. He's On The Phone is either the best tune ever or not on yr radar. My number 1 obv.

I think I may have rated LaM over HOTP

I can guess the number one. I predict a 'big jump'..

Have you been peeking?

Anyway, it's a massive jump...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8337/8207059270_740a5b15f7_b.jpg

2. Nothing Can Stop Us (1991, Foxbase Alpha, 594 points, 20 votes, 3 number ones)

http://youtu.be/bSuxnF8dOPU

http://open.spotify.com/track/3c91pk1YYjtwDYIteHSma8

i've always thought LaM was kind of dull tbh. "phone" would absolutely have been my #1 had i voted

I dug the LAM remixes..

Shall we do this then?

and ooh..

Huh, so this was the non-"Avenue" track left - had no idea that this was so popular, was wondering if there were a mass of votes for "Cool Kids Of Death" tbh.

I was the other #1 vote for "He's On The Phone", but I have a lot of time for "Like A Motorway" and where it sits on Tiger Bay - it tries for something big and v.nearly succeeds.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i329/yorkshiresky/avenue1.gif

1. Avenue (1993, So Tough, 641 points, 21 votes, 6 number ones)

http://youtu.be/yjVroDPC6Aw

http://open.spotify.com/track/78lhLRj8bR7NK2zCcBDWug

Woo! Not my favourite anymore, but it was once, so.... But mostly I'm amazed that Nothing Can Stop Us came as a surprise!

..oh the poll's no good!

(not really)

"Bob:
It's everyone's favourite. But I can't believe we put it out as a single - as if they were going to play it on the radio! We were so bloody cocky! We were so full of ourselves! We'd got to Number Twenty-One and thought "Right! Top Ten here we come", and then put that out! ... Those muffled voices in the background are actually me and Pete discussing Manic Street Preachers, left on the track really quietly.
Pete:
But you can't make out the proper words either.
Bob:
That line at the end? It's "Oh, the clown's no good."
Pete:
It was our advice to McDonald's, regarding their current advertising campaign."

Top two chopped and changed for much of the voting and were tied on the penultimate day, but Avenue pulled away with the last 3 ballots.

That's it for today, full results roll out tomorrow.

Thank you, you've been a lovely audience...

I didn't realise until last year that "Like a motorway" was based on the old folk tune "Silver dagger" until I saw a documentary on BBC4 about the folk revival in the 60s and there was someone singing "Silver dagger" and I was going "But...but...that's 'Like a motorway'" I've since read that "Tiger bay" was all about reworking folk songs in their style.

Very happy with the results. "Avenue" was my first St Et purchase, from the bargain bin in Woolworth in Penarth, late 92 and I was hooked from there. Loved it, and the b sides too, and worked backwards from there.

Thanks Billy!

Am I the only one for whom Tiger Bay remains a pleasant, innocuous listen -- aside from the three big tracks?

i just recently heard the song they based HotP on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS2H2cBNFn8

happy with that no.1

Somewhat predictable results. Avenue obviously deserved to win; it's officially my favourite track of the '90s. So well done, ILM.

I guess the biggest surprises for me were "Girl VII" placing so high (never imagined people here liked it that much) and "How We Used To Live" not placing at all! What does ILM think of it? I always thought the consensus was that it was at least the best track on SOW... i thought wrong. But seriously, if only for the middle section, it deserved to be here.

Awesome job and a big thank you to Billy! You've done my two favourite ILM polls so far!

I've always thought of "Like A Motorway" as Saint Etienne's "Being Boring".

...I admire it more than I like it.

I thought you were going to write, "When it's on I think it's their grandest achievement."

Am I the only one for whom Tiger Bay remains a pleasant, innocuous listen -- aside from the three big tracks?

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 November 2012 9:40 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I assume by "the three big tracks" you mean "Like A Motorway", "Hug My Soul" and "Pale Movie"?

For me the slower, atmospheric sections of the album - "Former Lover", "Marble Lions", "Western Wind/Tankerville", "Boy Scouts of America" - are essential to the album's vibe, which I find enchanting and crystalline in a way that no other SE album goes for.

The addition of "I Buy American Records", "Grovely Road" and "Hate Your Drug" (all of which made my top twenty) only intensifies that mysterious, melancholy feel, to the album's benefit.

I know what you mean by "crystalline" -- for me their art consists of limning a mood or a place while remaining on the happy side of vague, for which the timbre of Cracknell's voice deserves enormous credit -- but it's an adjective more fit for So Tough and So Tough. Like Sound of Water (now there's an apt SE title), TE is on the vaporous side of things.

Am I the only one for whom Tiger Bay remains a pleasant, innocuous listen -- aside from the three big tracks?

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Up until recently I would have agreed with this but it clicked with me big time. I never noticed how beautiful songs like Marble Lions and Urban Clearway were for some reason. It's probably their least instant album.

Very happy with the results. Thanks for all the effort Billy.

I ended up putting Avenue at number one but it was neck and neck with Mario's Cafe for a while. The top ten doesn't have any big surprises, I'm just a bit disappointed Like a Motorway is so high. It's a good song but I dont really understand how it's become one of their most popular singles.

Yeah, Avenue was always going to win, I thought. Sylvie was my number one. I thought that would poll higher but I guess I pulled it up. I always intended to put People Get Real as number one but on listening again I realised Sylvie meant so much more to me - for daft reasons that have little to do with the song apart from me replacing my niece's name in the chorus and it running through my head almost constantly for four years.

Also yay - Girl VII "Tufnell Park... Plumstead Common" is great - and one of the reasons I thought moving from one to the other might be acceptable. I was wrong.

I don't get that people don't love Like A Motorway.

I know what you mean by "crystalline" -- for me their art consists of limning a mood or a place while remaining on the happy side of vague, for which the timbre of Cracknell's voice deserves enormous credit -- but it's an adjective more fit for So Tough and So Tough. Like Sound of Water (now there's an apt SE title), TE is on the vaporous side of things.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 November 2012 10:27 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So Tough is my second favourite for the same reasons, it doesn't really seem like an either/or issue for me.

I do think Tiger Bay contains Sarah's best ever singing though: the mixture of control/reserve and emotion and/or allusiveness on stuff like "Former Lover" and "Marble Lions" and "Boy Scouts of America" is pretty jawdropping IMO. Which is supported by how carefully judged the arrangements are, simultaneously expansive and spartan, which push her forward rather than envelop her.

A big difference with Sound of Water for me (excepting "Sycamore" which it seems only I love) is that Sarah's vocals simply don't attain that same level of power (leaving aside moments of actual not-very-goodness, like on "Don't Back Down" where she frequently sounds flat) - perhaps because the arrangements are, yes, vaporous, but also cluttered, which unsuprisingly results in murkiness a lot of the time.

i still remember the first time i heard a saint etienne song. it was off 'good humor', on a listening station at a borders in rockford IL. it took me about five seconds into 'woodcabin' to fall hard. i probably listened to that more than any other album i owned (save perhaps 'second toughest in the infants') over the next few years. i was out of the saint etienne loop until 'finisterre' and then dug back deep into their catalog. i thought for a time they were one of those bands (like the the with 'dusk' or catherine wheel with 'chrome') where i would only get into one of their albums and nothing else, but eventually i grew to enjoy everything they put out, whether it was on a more minor level like 'sound of water' or to the point where i thought it was one of the greatest albums of all time, like the first three. i decided to go to a saint etienne show in 2006 and met my wife there. weeks before i married her i wrote them and told them all of this in more corny terms and the three band members wrote back with rather emotional congratulations and well-wishes. there i days i feel i owe everything to them.

I'm another who rates "Sycamore" FWIW. (#4 on my ballot, no less.) Seems I'm otherwise Mr Consensus, sort of: the top 2 are my own top 2, in the opposite order. Followed by "People Get Real".

And nice work Billy!

Yes excellent work Billy.

Nag I'll be interested to see your ballot.

Mine was:

1. He's on the Phone
2. Avenue
3. London Belongs To Me
4. Former Lover
5. Marble Lions
6. Calico
7. Shower Scene
8. Sycamore
9. Hobart Paving
10. People Get Real
11. We're in the City
12. Join Our Club
13. Like A Motorway
14. Nothing Can Stop Us
15. B92
16. Hate Your Drug
17. I Buy American Records
18. Conchita Martinez
19. Grovely Road
20. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

1) Spring
2) Hobart Paving
3) Nothing Can Stop Us
4) You're In a Bad Way
5) Mario's Cafe
6) Been So Long
7) Like a Motorway
8) Former Lover
9) Slow Down at the Castle
10) Marble Lions
11) Tonight
12) Mr. Donut
13) Stop and Think It Over
14) Burnt Out Car (Balearico Mix)
15) Filthy
16) Angel (Alternate Mix)
17) I Was Born on Christmas Day
18) When I Was Seventeen
19) A Good Thing
20) DJ

My remaining selections were:

Finisterre, Mario's Cafe, Hug My Soul, The Way We Live Now, Goodnight Jack, Like A Motorway, Action, Railway Jam, New Thing, Angel, You're In a Bad Way, Carnt Sleep, Flight To Tashkent, Sun in My Morning, Northwestern

May've been quite different if I'd spent more quality time with Tiger Bay and Good Humor over the years. Only had a tape dub (!) of the short version of the former back in the day, for instance, but these threads have convinced me to get a copy of that Euro TB disc just now, for remedial study.

I think I could have included almost anything off Tiger Bay - "Cool Kids Of Death" (& the Underworld mix) never used to be a favourite, but jumped out at me on re-listen prior to the ballot; "Fake 88" was something I hadn't heard until the nominations thread but took a shine to. Looking forward to getting to grips with their new album as well as their post-TB output.

01. He's On The Phone
02. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
03. London Belongs To Me
04. We're In The City
05. Avenue
06. I Buy American Records
07. Girl VII
08. Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi)
09. You're In A Bad Way
10. Like A Motorway
11. Former Lover
12. Choc Stock (Live In Sheffield)
13. Boy Scouts Of America
14. Who Do You Think You Are?
15. Golden - Anglo American
16. Cool Kids Of Death
17. Fake 88
18. I Was Born On Christmas Day
19. Kiss & Make Up
20. 6ths ft Sarah Cracknell - Kissing Things

Great story Omar! Mine:

1. This Is Radio Etienne
2. Only Love Can Break Your Heart
3. Shower Scene
4. Popular
5. Girl VII
6. The Sea (PFM Mix early fade)
7. Stars Above Us
8. Nothing Can Stop Us
9. Lose That Girl
10. Goodnight

11. Marble Lions
12. Side Streets
13. Goodnight Jack
14. Spring
15. Avenue
16. B92
17. When I Was Seventeen
18. The Process
19. Urban Clearway
20. Tankerville/Western Wind

and albums...

1. Finisterre
2. Continental
3. Foxbase Alpha
4. Words and Music
5. Tales From Turnpike House
6. Tiger Bay

Tracks

01 Nothing Can Stop Us
02 Milk Bottle Symphony
03 Urban Clearway
04 Hug My Soul
05 Who Do You Think You Are?
06 Teenage Winter
07 Avenue
08 London Belongs To Me
09 Sun In My Morning
10 Woodcabin
11 Hobart Paving
12 Like A Motorway
13 Side Streets
14 Split Screen
15 You Can Count On Me
16 Like The Swallow
17 I'm Too Sexy
18 You're In A Bad Way
19 B92
20 Kiss And Make Up

('Only Love...' is amazing of course, but I knew it wouldn't need my help. I'm still (!) on the fence about 'He's On The Phone', but again I knew it would do well regardless.)

Albums

1. Tales From Turnpike House
2. Foxbase Alpha
3. Good Humor
4. Too Young To Die <-- technically, the VHS edition!
5. Tiger Bay
6. Up the Wooden Hills

tracks

1. Avenue
2. Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi)
3. Stoned To Say The Least
4. Like The Swallow
5. Like A Motorway
6. Studio Kinda Filthy
7. Spring
8. Hate Your Drug
9. Nothing Can Stop Us
10. Fake 88
11. Girl VII
12. Calico
13. Leafhound
14. Goodnight Jack
15. Cool Kids Of Death
16. Who Do You Think You Are
17. Railway Jam
18. Saturday
19. Archway People
20. Urban Clearway

1. Avenue
2. Like a Motorway
3. Mario’s Café
4. Nothing Can Stop Us
5. Hobart Paving
6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Weatherall Remix)
7. He’s on the Phone
8. Ready or Not (Cracknell solo)
9. London Belongs to Me
10. Teenage Winter
11. People Get Real
12. I Was Born on Christmas Day
13. 4:35 in the Morning (Kid Loco Mix)
14. Marble Lions
15. Girl VII
16. Mr Donut
17. Lightning Strikes Twice
18. Filthy
19. I Buy American Records
20. Heart Failed (in the Back of a Taxi)

But there's nothing in this top 50 that I don't like.

1 - Avenue
2 - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
3 - Nothing Can Stop Us
4 - Anglo-American (Golden)
5 - He's On The Phone
6 - Le Ballade De Saint Etienne
7 - How We Used To Live
8 - Keep Nothing
9 - Burnt Out Car
10 - She's The One
11 - Over The Border
12 - Spring
13 - We're In the City
14 - Mario's Cafe
15 - 7 Ways to Love (Cola Boy)
16 - Hate Your Drug
17 - DJ
18 - Method Of Modern Love
19 - Lover Plays the Bass
20 - The Way I Fell For You

With the caveat again that I don't know anywhere near their whole discography, I still feel compelled to comment on the absence of "Erica America" from a top 50. It's "a song another band's career could have been" etc. That it would not even make a top fifty is, I have to say, one of the most striking things I've ever seen in an ILM poll.

I could have easily submitted a top 100.

1. Avenue
2. Nothing Can Stop Us
3. Teenage Winter
4. Hobart Paving
5. Mario's Cafe
6. Former Lover
7. Sylvie
8. He's On The Phone
9. Ready Or Not
10. Tonight
11. Goodnight
12. Shoot Out the Lights
13. Stars Above Us
14. Urban Clearway
15. DJ
16. Marble Lions
17. Are We Gonna Be Alright
18. Like A Motorway
19. Lightning Strikes Twice
20. Heart Failed (In The Back of a Taxi)

Rank Title Total Count Average Number ones

1 Avenue 641 21 30.52 6
2 Nothing Can Stop Us Now 594 20 29.70 3
3 Like a Motorway 425 17 25.00 0
4 He's On The Phone 410 15 27.33 2
5 Mario's Cafe 396 15 26.40 1
6 Only Love Will Break Your Heart 374 13 28.77 1
7 Hobart Paving 362 15 24.13 0
8 Who Do You Think You Are 290 11 26.36 2
9 You're In A bad Way 284 13 21.85 0
10 Heart Failed (in the back of a taxi) 249 10 24.90 0
11 People Get Real 227 9 25.22 1
12 Spring 222 10 22.20 1
13 Girl VII 209 8 26.13 1
14 Marble Lions 206 9 22.89 1
15 Sylvie 188 7 26.86 1
16 Join Our Club 187 9 20.78 0
17 I Was Born On Christmas Day 173 9 19.22 0
18 Teenage Winter 171 6 28.50 1
19 Pale Movie 162 8 20.25 1
20 Former Lover 159 6 26.50 0
21 Hug My Soul 159 7 22.71 0
22 Hate Your Drug 152 6 25.33 1
23 Lightning Strikes Twice 146 7 20.86 0
24 Shower Scene 136 7 19.43 0
26 Finisterre 135 6 22.50 0
27 Filthy 135 6 22.50 0
25 Tonight 135 7 19.29 0
28 Burnt Out Car (remix) 134 7 19.14 0
29 Method Of Modern Love 133 7 19.00 0
30 Kiss And Make Up 132 8 16.50 0
31 Archway People 131 7 18.71 0
32 London Belongs to Me 129 5 25.80 0
33 Milk Bottle Symphony 115 5 23.00 0
34 Over the Border 111 5 22.20 0
35 A Good Thing 111 6 18.50 0
36 When I Was Seventeen 110 6 18.33 0
37 Mr Donut 109 6 18.17 0
38 Like the Swallow 102 5 20.40 0
39 Stars Above Us 100 4 25.00 0
40 Paper 99 4 24.75 0
42 Split Screen 96 4 24.00 1
41 Fake 88 96 5 19.20 0
43 Urban Clearway 92 5 18.40 0
45 Popular 90 3 30.00 1
44 Railway Jam 90 5 18.00 0
46 Carnt Sleep 87 4 21.75 0
47 We're In The City 86 4 21.50 0
48 Action 86 4 21.50 0
49 Goodnight Jack (Good Humour) 86 4 21.50 0
50 I Buy American Records 84 4 21.00 0
51 DJ 82 5 16.40 0
52 Calico 79 4 19.75 0
53 Seven Ways To Love 77 4 19.25 0
54 Ready or Not (SC) 73 3 24.33 0
55 Downey CA 72 3 24.00 0
56 Woodcabin 71 4 17.75 0
57 Leafhound 68 3 22.67 0
58 The Bad Photographer 67 4 16.75 0
59 Side Streets 64 3 21.33 0
60 Lose that girl 62 3 20.67 0
61 The Process 61 3 20.33 0
62 Angel 60 3 20.00 0
63 B92 60 4 15.00 0
64 Goodnight (Jack (Turnpike)) 55 3 18.33 0
65 Sycamore 54 2 27.00 0
66 Conchita Martinez 49 3 16.33 0
67 Anglo American (by Golden) 47 2 23.50 0
68 On the Shore 46 2 23.00 0
69 She's The One 44 2 22.00 0
70 Are We Gonna Be Alright 43 2 21.50 0
71 Boy Scouts of America 43 2 21.50 0
72 How We Used To Live 42 2 21.00 0
73 Boy is Crying 42 2 21.00 0
74 The Way We Live Now 41 2 20.50 0
75 This is Radio Etienne 40 1 40.00 1
76 4.35 In the Morning (Kid Loco mix) 39 2 19.50 0
77 Don't Back Down 39 2 19.50 0
78 Erica America 36 2 18.00 0
79 Sun in my Morning 36 2 18.00 0
80 Stop and think it over 35 2 17.50 0
81 California Snow Story 34 2 17.00 0
82 Amateur 33 1 33.00 0
83 Stoned to say the least 33 1 33.00 0
84 I'm Too Sexy 33 2 16.50 0
85 Cool Kids of Death 33 2 16.50 0
86 Dutch TV 32 2 16.00 0
87 Groveley Road 30 2 15.00 0
88 Star 29 2 14.50 0
89 Madeleine 28 1 28.00 0
90 Tell Me Why (The Riddle) 28 1 28.00 0
91 Junk the Morgue 28 1 28.00 0
92 Le Ballade du saint Etienne 26 1 26.00 0
93 Been So Long 26 1 26.00 0
94 The Sea (PFM mix) 26 1 26.00 0
95 Jack Lemmon 25 1 25.00 0
96 Tankerville/Western Wind 25 2 12.50 0
97 Keep Nothing 24 1 24.00 0
98 Haunted Jukebox 24 2 12.00 0
99 Desert Baby (SC) 23 1 23.00 0
100 Zipcode 23 1 23.00 0
101 Slow Down At The Castle 23 1 23.00 0
102 Fascination 22 1 22.00 0
103 Stormtrooper in Drag 22 1 22.00 0
104 Must Be More 22 1 22.00 0
105 Clark County Record Fair 22 1 22.00 0
106 Red Setter 20 1 20.00 0
107 Chock Stock (live in Sheffield) 20 1 20.00 0
108 Shoot out the lights 20 1 20.00 0
109 New Thing 19 1 19.00 0
110 Etienne Gonna Die 19 1 19.00 0
111 Wilson 18 1 18.00 0
112 Suburban Autumn Leiutenant 18 1 18.00 0
113 You Can Count On Me 17 1 17.00 0
114 This is Tomorrow 15 1 15.00 0
115 We're Coming In Loaded 15 1 15.00 0
116 Flight to Tashkent 14 1 14.00 0
117 Saturday (SC) 14 1 14.00 0
118 Anymore 14 1 14.00 0
119 Driving Home for Christmas 13 1 13.00 0
120 Lover Plays The Bass 13 1 13.00 0
121 Last Orders For Gary Stead 13 1 13.00 0
122 I've Got Your Music 13 1 13.00 0
123 The Way I Fell For You 12 1 12.00 0
124 Artieripp 12 1 12.00 0
125 Northwestern 12 1 12.00 0
126 Kissing Things 12 1 12.00 0
127 52 Pilot 12 1 12.00

Slight discrepancy between the raw data and the poll where ties occurred.

Big surprises for me; 'Who Do You Think Are'. making top 10, as discussed above. 'Seven Ways To Love' not doing a little better, such a great sugar rush of a record and 'How We Used To Live' only making number 72.

This Is Radio Etienne killing it in the averages

Incidentally I couldn't view the Avenue gif on my work's pc, so if anyone else can't see it this is what it looks like:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8490/8208540813_1117d5886a_b.jpg

A few people on flickr kindly let me 'borrow' their images, Dexter_mixwith, PJMixer, scanner-fm and Simon Godley who supplied the opening image.

They're worth having a look at.

Foxbase Alpha 2134
So Tough 1997
Single 1685
Tiger Bay 1350
B-side 840
Tales from Turnpike House 834
Good Humor 798
Other 675
Words and Music.. 565
Finisterre 545
Sound of Water 498
Sarah solo 51

1 Teenage Winter
He's On The Phone
Stars Above Us
Over the Border
Fake 88
Mario's Cafe
Join Our Club
Tonight
A Good Thing
Lightning Strikes Twice
Avenue
Milk Bottle Symphony
Seven Ways To Love
You're In A bad Way
How We Used To Live
When I Was Seventeen
Railway Jam
Hobart Paving
Driving Home for Christmas
20 Nothing Can Stop Us Now

1 Tales From Turnpike House
So Tough
Words and Music
Foxbase Alpha
Sound of Water
6 A Glimpse of Stocking

a lot of so tough sounds kindof thin or too fey or s.thing 2 my ear; the only track off it in my top 20 is conchita martinez

'like a motorway' over 'he's on the phone' is...really weird to me

― GAY HIPSTER BATMAN ON HIS WAY TO A CIRCUIT PARTY (donna rouge), Wednesday, November 21, 2012 4:08 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

completely agree

I recall So Tough striking me as kind of thin on first listen, but seemingly for different reasons. And mainly the second half. It was the first one I bought (marked down to a few dollars, a cheap way to fulfill my obligations to an old school mail-order record club!). In my case I didn't really know what to do with things like "Conchita Martinez" or "Junk the Morgue" at all. I must have wanted snappy poppy songs like the handful of singles I'd heard. Fey was okay, meandering and seemingly amelodic, not so much. In addition, tracks like "Leafhound" still seem tepid.

Of course, the first album had contained at least as much meandering abstraction between the pop songs, so caveat emptor etc. Curiously, after becoming accustomed to that, the more or less non-stop pop approach of Good Humor is probably the reason why I still tend to think of it as somewhat unexciting.

I mentioned it upthread, but ..

I guess here's ten more tracks you could have voted for,

http://saintetienne.greedbag.com/

These were available from 7.00pm last night, but their servers were massively overloaded for the first three hours or so.

Anyway, I got mine, and there's still some available now.

Not for long, I'd guess.

01. Solid Gold - previously unreleased
02. Your Valentine - previously unreleased
03. Jan Leeming - previously unreleased
04. Racing Car - previously unreleased
05. Landscape - previously unreleased
06. Manhattan - previously only available as the B-side of the 'Tonight' 7" single
07. You're Not Alone - previously unreleased
08. Just Friends - previously only available on Q magazine cd
09. Fairground Rock And Roll - previously unreleased
10. Lullaby - previously only available as the B-side of the 'I've Got Your Music' 7" single

heres my weirdo ballot btw; great job on this poll billy dods!

Tracks –

(most pts > least)

Split Screen
Finisterre
Amateur
He’s On the Phone
Are We Gonna Be Alright
Action
Jack Lemmon
Method of Modern Love
Desert Baby
Must Be More
The Bad Photographer
Popular
Kiss and Make Up
Sylvie
Mr. Donut
When I Was 17
A Good Thing
Lightning Strikes Twice
Conchita Martinez
Like A Motorway

Those CDs all gone now :(

Was pondering earlier that I'd have usually jumped at the opportunity of a Saint Etienne oddities disc but that Words & Music has put me off them a bit.

Loved What Are You Doing Today, Mervyn Day? and was even enjoying the demo of Western Wind earlier.

Come at me! I love these records.