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

https://i.imgur.com/r0yqTn2.jpg

1. Songs: Rank your top 25 songs by the Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers/Gutter Twins/Greg Dulli solo/any other Afghan Whigs-related projects you feel like. Covers are eligible.

2. Albums: Rank up to your top 7 albums by the Afghan Whigs/related projects. EPs and live albums are eligible too.

3. Covers: Rank up to your top 10 covers by the Afghan Whigs/related projects. Live covers and studio recordings are all eligible.

Since there's little meaningful distinction between Dulli's various projects now post-Afghan Whigs reunion I've opted to include everything together. I definitely encourage anyone who isn't as familiar with the non-Whigs stuff to check it out, Dulli's really quite consistent.

Send ballots to ilmafghanwhigspoll AT gmail dot com. Order ballots from highest (#1) to lowest, without numbers, and include your username.

Voting closes approx midnight GMT on 5 June 2021 (~2 weeks time)

I'm ready (to poll this)

just announcing that i will be voting for this and it will be really high on my ballot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuOJOMqZag

that's a good one

oh wow, i haven't listened to amber headlights in forever but i'm looking forward to revisiting it after hearing that

last night
last night was alllllll riiight

i wanna see you again

i love "follow you down" but idk the melody just sings so much when it's fighting through a full-bodied rock song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aijmyej68ZU i found this early version of "My Curse" from 1988. apparently it was originally recorded for "Up In It" & was then titled "Caiaphas" but the head of Sub Pop refused to allow it on the record (according to Dulli here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/ae5zbj/rank-your-records-the-afghan-whigs-greg-dulli)

oh i messed that up, here's the timestamped link: early my curse

I love the way Dulli writes/talks about his own music

also I'm extremely glad Black Love, the movie, never got made. I feel like there's only about a 20% chance that would have been not awful.

he's actually clarified in a bunch of interviews (https://www.stereogum.com/1905006/qa-the-afghan-whigs-greg-dulli-talks-20-years-of-black-love-shares-acoustic-version-of-going-to-town/interviews/) in the last decade that there was never actually a Black Love movie planned. he had written a screenplay he was trying to get made at the time but it was an adaptation of Ann Imbrie's Spoken In Darkness and nothing to do with Black Love.

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

Not looking good for finalizing a ballot.

i believe in y'all

My brane hurts

i believe in y'all

What’s the submission date? Sorry if I’ve missed the answer to this already

Was supposed to be today, theoretically was extended to tomorrow

I can’t even rank the tracks on Gentlemen, never mind the whole oeuvre.

Can I just post Gentlemen and Black Love and be done with it?

I just realized I have some bootleg comp of covers, b-sides & rarities called "Now We Can Begin." Nice to have a bunch of odds and ends in one place.

end date is: please get your ballots in as soon as you can, but if people need more time that's fine. no hard deadline at the moment, just want to get as many ballots as possible so we can have something of a decent rollout since turnout has been pretty low

if you're having trouble, remember you can do an unranked ballot! (just make sure to say so in the email)

Will get mine in today - just need to relisten to the last few albums chronologically... on it.

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