This Is Our I Love Music Galaxie 500 Albums Poll

Think I could vote for any of them, but the bonus tracks on the reissue of "On Fire" push it over the edge. What a sweet band.

Either of the first two. went with "on fire," but upon reflection i probably listen to "today" more.

LOVE LOVE this band, but This Is Our Music is not perfect. Other two pretty much are though. Voted On Fire b/c I heard that first but I probably listen to Today more now.

Today. Just better songs than On Fire. Can't count bonus tracks.

Yeah, you can't count bonus tracks. First two are pretty much all great. The greater variety of Today tips me that way.

I'M COUNTING BONUS TRACKS >:P

i only have the portable galaxie 500 :(

On Fire seems to have ended up as the agreed-upon canonical representative, as it bridges the (slightly disparate) strengths of the other two. I have a feeling it will win this poll by a significant margin, & that is OK b/c damn, what a great record.

Personal anecdote: OF is one of my proudest used-bin finds. In the pre-Rykodisc mid-90s, it was nigh impossible to get ahold of b/c the Rough Trade bankruptcy ordeal. Somehow enough copies of the other two had been set aside, or distributed by a parent company, but OF was nowhere to be found. Anyway, I stumbled across the original RT issue for $5 in a little shop in Nowheresville, Ohio. It wasn't until the advent of Ebay, however, that I finally secured a copy of Opal's Early Recordings..

Before the Ryko reissues all I could find was TIOM -- on tape! Still makes me think of driving home from Santa Monica ....

love these albums so much.. going to have to go with Today, just because it was the first one I heard and in my mind the most perfect one.

x-post lol tape decks. galaxie 500 is pretty great to drive to imo.

xpost: Damn. If you couldn't find that shit in Cali, just imagine how hard it was to track down in Michigan. I guess that's not true, though. Detroit & Grand Rapids both had some pretty great resources for such things.

I have a neat Japanese import version of On Fire that is a mini replica of the LP sleeve. Someone should do LP reissues of all these records.

No "Copenhagen"? (it might be my favourite)

Otherwise, "Today".

"Flowers" is a candidate for "First track on first album is the best thing they ever did" thread (tho I know they had "Tugboat single before that). Peel Sessions is also wonderful.

Sorry NTBT. I limited it to the studio LPs released during their lifespan. It just seemed so neat and tidy: 3 years. 3 albums. 3 band members. 3 chords. Etc.

BTW, after initiating this poll, I hit up AMG & found that our own Ned Raggett had reviewed all three of the albums in question. Hats off sir & I trust you don't mind me posting links to those here (I know you don't vote in polls, but I think we can pencil you in for an absentee ballot as the lone rep thusfar for TIOM): Today, On Fire, This Is Our Music

this is our music. best atmosphere, and probably my favourite batch of their songs by quite a margin. 'flowers' is one of my bottom five g500 tracks, though i prefer today to on fire. heresy!! though frankly i don't think they released a bad song, in fact i can probably only come up with three or four i wouldn't call great.

the first one's still my favorite. the other two drag a little, sound too much like damon & naomi albums

D&N sound as much like g500 as the blues fleetwood mac sounds like the rumours fleetwood mac

Side poll: D&N/Magic Hour vs. Luna/D&B?

D&B

i engineered one of the remixes on their recent remixes EP ('words you used to say')

wow what a in the know analogy. they sound like damon & naomi albums in the sense that they're boring and today isn't

xpost: that's great, es. I need to check out more D&B, as I've only heard a bit in passing. I really love what they did on the Luna track "Mermaid Eyes," though, sappy & corny (in the best possible way) as it is.

Fun facts (for those who don't already know): Britta Phillips was the voice of Jem in the 80s, & proceeded to co-star in an reputably awful film with Justine Bateman & a pre-fame Julia Roberts.

This Is Our Music was my first love, and for that fact alone it keeps the other albums at a respectable distance, as much as I love them. I can't go otherwise than vote for This Is Our Music. There's so many achingly beautiful tunes on that one.

"I stayed at home on the Fourth of July, pulled the shades so I didn't have to see the sky"

What's wrong with "Flowers" Jim.

Serious question - just curious why you don't care for that one relative to other G500 songs.

What's wrong with "Flowers" Jim. - additionally, Jim also loathes "Kittens" & "Birthday Cake" (sorry..)

So, did anyone out there catch the G500/Cocteaus double bill back in 1990 or so (touring for TIOM & Heaven or Las Vegas respectively - oh man..)? That is definitely near the top of my would've-if-I-could've list.

don't get me wrong, flowers is a cool track, but i've immersed myself so completely in their catalogue in the past and any nitpicking on the quality of individual songs is merely hair splitting. for me, flowers felt like a bit of a weak opening to 'today', and probably the song where dean's vocals are at their least confident, to me anyway.

can't believe that 'crazy' wasn't part of the original lp - it's probably my favourite of all the non-album things they've put out.

another TIOM fan here, probably more for sentimental reasons than any other aspects.

the peel sessions disc is pretty good, the otherwise unreleased stuff had been circulating for a while but it's nice having them in decent sound. 'submission' is particularly great, with a bit of a joy division vibe going on

I always dug Naomi's subtle Hook-influenced style.

can't believe that 'crazy' wasn't part of the original lp - it's probably my favourite of all the non-album things they've put out.

OTFM

So, did anyone out there catch the G500/Cocteaus double bill back in 1990 or so (touring for TIOM & Heaven or Las Vegas respectively - oh man..)?

No, but I saw them with Lush on the On Fire tour, just after Scar came out. Haven't listened to Galaxie 500 for years, but TIOM gets my vote.

So, did anyone out there catch the G500/Cocteaus double bill back in 1990 or so (touring for TIOM & Heaven or Las Vegas respectively - oh man..)? That is definitely near the top of my would've-if-I-could've list.

They played my college! NO WAY I was going to miss that (Ned and Mackro were also there too)

I would have voted for Copenhagen too.

Another vote for This Is Our Music, although this is like being asked to choose between three beloved pets.

I never saw them on the Cocteaus bill, but did see them playing in the UK supporting The Sundays (1990-ish I think), which was one hell of a gig.

Damn, I missed out on so many good shows back in the early 90s. I was into all this stuff as a kid & had to stay home while my older friends saw all these gigs. It wasn't until I was about 15 or so that I could realistically expect to bluff my way into 18+ shows, which was invariably the policy at club & small-theatre size shows in Detroit.

All three of these are gorgeous, infallible albums. I'd say Today is my favorite -- it was the one that I picked up first, and that turned me onto the band. Seems also to be the most simple, plaintive of their albums, which works in its favor.

I love on fire but sometimes I wanna slap dean wareham and yell snap out of it

Dunno, though these records certainly *sound* mopey to a certain extent, I think there's a large amount of dry humor/wit in the lyrics ... If you can figure out what the lyrics are, that is ...

"I wrote a poem on a dog biscuit, but my dog refused to look at it.."

Yeah, exactly ... "I stood in liiiiiine and ate my Twinkie!" That always made me chuckle.

I vote for the Blue Thunder 12". Oh. This Is Our Music, then.

I remember seeing them play ULU the day my girlfriend had broken up with me, feeling terribly, self-indulgently sad, and then just losing myself in the guitar solos. There were a lot at that gig. And they were very long. I'd have forgotten which song it was by the time they finished playing.

Then my friend saw a ghost on the drive back to Southampton! I'd forgotten about that.

One of those bands I associate with being a teenager so much that it's hard to listen to now.

Live recording from the On Fire tour here: http://johnnylove-fuzztone.blogspot.com/2009/01/galaxie-500-deventer-holland-november.html

I love on fire (insert beloved indie album) but sometimes I wanna slap dean wareham (insert beloved but quirky and occasionally annoying singer) and yell snap out of it

Fixed for ILMers everywhere!

today

"Flowers" is a candidate for "First track on first album is the best thing they ever did" thread

Flowers was the first song that I figured out when I started teaching myself to play guitar. Dean Wareham and Joey Santiago were the two guys who inspired me to start learning the instrument.
That said, my vote goes to TIOM. In particular, there's something about Melt Away that really speaks to me.

dean is a good guitarist to learn to play along to.. i don't know if it's inherent simplicity or bernard sumner-esque incompetence but his parts are deceptively simple, even his solos

If it don't improve, then I'll have to move.

i just recently got the box set, used, for dirt cheap.
if uncollected was an option, i would pick that. but i guess today will do.

yeah,Flowers is one og their best, and surely the best guitar playing they recorded.
no wonder Sonic Youth love this record so much.

though my favourite Galaxie song is probably Another Day from On Fire,
esp. the first part of it

probably heresy yet again but i think 'blue thunder w/sax' is 100% my fave galaxie song

gotta be w/sax

that or tugboat, for me

Yes, same here too.

Luna is my favorite band but G500 isn't far behind.

anyone seen one of these Dean/Britta Warhol Screen Test shows? I haven't, but this pic makes it looks incredibly awesome
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/01/20/arts/warhspan.jpg

Wow. Now I want to!!

yah where is that?

OK DILEMMA- They are apparently playing this here but it's the same w/e I'm supposed to visit my Dad for his birthday. Do I get tickets and go anyway? I could always tell my Dad something came up and just go visit the next weekend.

GBX:

http://www.deanandbritta.com/blog/?page_id=218/

You can go too!!! It looks like it's this weekend in your neck of the woods tho.

perrrrfect. i finish w/midterms on friday!

looks like $$$, but maybe that is a good excuse to pick up chix

Oooh - good luck w/ midterms.

Go and then come back and tell me how awesome it was so I don't feel bad about changing birthday plans on my pops.

I wanted to book Bongwater to play a show in my college dining hall in 1988 so I called up Kramer. They had just finished a tour and were unavailable, but I asked if he had any other band that could play. He said B.A.L.L. would play for $500. I said OK, if he could think of an opening act that would play for $200 or less. "There's this band Galaxie 500, I just produced their record, it's great, I bet they'd play for $150." They did & were quite great.

I never really got beyond my love for the first single & record so I'm voting Today, which got so much play I wore scratches into its grooves.

Pillbox: I <3 your display name.

ok will do

I have seen the D&B Screen Test show, it is pretty cool-- they do an instrumental version of "Heroin" and "I'll Keep It With Mine" and new stuff I didn't know-- but you should go hang out with your dad on his birthday.

I know, I know. I'm sure I will. I can always just watch the Warhol screen shots movie thing.

xxxpost, thx ENBB, you know it was recent discussion on the 30-rock thread which inspired it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Huh!

omg a tie! (although I voted for On Fire, my second choice would've been TIOM ...)

Perfect.

Wow. Interesting.. The hard rep quotient for TIOM that surfaced toward the latter run of this poll had me thinking it was a strong contender for first, but I guess not (a three-way tie would have been ideal, but you can't have everything ;) )

disappointed but perhaps it's like nick drake in that the quality is so consistent across the board that one's favourite record is the first one heard? i dunno. tbh i was actually not that impressed when i first heard g500, seeing first the blue thunder video then picking up a cheap cassette of TIOM, but when it finally clicked i was forever hooked.

Something very pleasing about the symmetry of this poll.

Perfect result. Remember getting On Fire when it came out, then seeking out Today. This Is Our Music somehow didn't quite match those two.