Poll-vo

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:5z5rlACHFoGbrM:http://fusionanomaly.net/polvocelebreatethenewdarkage.jpgMASTERPIECE

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is this missing the first EP or is the chronology of choices all janky?

http://www.chrisnj.com/archive/polvo/images/todays.jpg

i think celebrate was their peak, but it was too short (as an EP). today's active lifestyles is probably my vote.

lazy comet is so brilliant.

The Polvo EP is their first EP, I think it the chonology above is just using the date for the reissue.

okay that makes sense, i never heard anything after exploded drawing... one of the great early 90s bands.

Yeah like I said I went with the Allmusic.com dates and entries.

lazy comet is super rad

flashbacks of driving around town stoned

the first and last tracks in Active Lifestyle are the best things they've done

Lots of people hate Exploded Drawing- I see why it is one of the harder to swallow, but not to the extent where it should be hated as it seems to be by many.

The hook in "Crumbling Down" is my favorite thing on the album!

Exploded is just not as weird and special as Active/Dark age are

Exploded is pretty weird.

dudes
fast canoe + feather of forgiveness = so classic

I love Exploded Drawing!- but I can see why it is difficult. I can't see why it is hated (if you are a Polvo fan) was all.

it just needs some songs subtracted

i saw polvo on february 29th once. they introduced "lazy comet" by saying "we play this song once every four years"

AWESOME!

while in fact it's one of their most popular setlist songs

Anyone ever see "My Kimono" live?

jesus my kimono is good

It sounds like it could have been an on-the-spot jam too.

Keep on votin!

Vote vote vote

this is tough. exploded has my favorite polvo songs, but celebrate is probably the best release.

never actually heard this eclipse but i own everything else.

i don't think Exploded Drawing is more complex or difficult than their earlier work, if anything it's way more accessible.

i thought they took less chances on this one, they were getting stranger and stranger while always keeping a handle, however perverse, on the level of "pop" they'd be willing to compromise.

with exploded drawing, i thought the weirds were less weird... more forced and unnatural. i have not heard that record in many, many, many years. but i listened to the first few years of their input incessantly in my car for a good several years.

^^^horribly rushed post, pardon the repitition and lack of focus.

TAL

Dark Age.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

with exploded drawing, i thought the weirds were less weird... more forced and unnatural.

yeah when I first heard that album I thought "huh did they all of a sudden decide to tune their guitars right?" Fast Canoe is pretty sweet though

pretty much a toss-up btw Celebrate the New Dark Age and Today's Active

I wish they had an album full of "Beggar's Bowls". Most of their songs just don't rock hard enough; they kind of just hang there limply and forgettably. Dark Age was the closest they came to consistently rocking.

Beggar's Bowl is a great song but they wouldn't be Polvo without the qualities that (probably) make up what you are saying sounds limp and forgettable. What they do sounds incredible to those who like that kind of thing. Just like... I guess every artist-fan relationship.

Beggar's Bowl is the least interesting Polvo song I have heard, as stated above, but I still haven't listened to all of In Prism (and this just my opinion, I don't wanna discuss how cool it is that they have a groovier drummer and are really hammering away on that song). Doug Mosurock's review almost got me there, but I am just going to sit on it for a while until I forget it's there. Whereas, if I was assured that most of it wasn't that much like Beggar's Bowl, maybe I would just jump right in ... Anyone see the show in NYC?

after years of automatic "celebrate is so totally the best and most focused thing they ever did"-think i've decided that while it may be the most focused and is definitely an all time a+ jam of a record, TAL is what i'm actually tryna listen to most these days

maria is so excited to see polvo tonight. i didn't even know she was a fan! you think you know someone...

I'm curious about the results of this poll—I like TAL, but have never really looked further into the band (I don't even know how I ended up with TAL, but I like it). Curious to see what the next step should be, as certified by ILX.

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

Not really surprising I guess!

whoah, though, no votes for the new one, which inspired this little revival. that's sort of weird. where's all the "beggars bowl" love?

Doesn't have to be your favorite one to love it

beggars bowl was -- start to finish -- the best thing they played in brooklyn last night

so there

Beggar's Bowl is the least interesting Polvo song I have heard

I'm surprised to hear this (even knowing nothing about your taste or how much Polvo you've heard). That song kicks ass! The use of feedback and the bridges are great. Lots of cool subtleties buried in there.

I have heard every Polvo song except the ones on the new album, as stated above (I REALLY dorked out on them in the 90s, and still listen to them plenty, for sure, so I OWN every Polvo album/EP/7inch, as far as I know). I am pretty cool with bands changing, too, I mean, I fucking love Shapes and Exploded Drawing (which has aged really well for me, at least). So, I am not disputing that Beggar's Bowl kicks ass, it is the ways in which it kicks ass that kind of leave me cold and don't push my buttons so much. I mean, there are a ton of little guitar filligrees and moments that are OK, but every Polvo song has those (in my mind), that is a big reason why I love them. In the Polvo thread itself I tried to express it better, perhaps, but Beggar's Bowl in particular hits this weird place with me where it sounds like some uber-competent but kinda soul-less heavy modern rock band decided that Polvo was their new favorite band and decided to write a song in the style of Polvo. It didn't feel like them, which I just did not think could happen with this band. It's almost like a Guitar Player version of the band, which in theory makes me happy, I mean I am not anti-chops (and always thought that Polvo had them, in most ways that matter), but it's kinda like they all bought Corvettes or something. New ones.

have you ever listened to black taj?

man I listened to the new one this morning and loved it SO MUCH. I haven't listened to their older stuff in a long time, and back then it really wasn't my scene, so I can't say what I'd think of the "classic" polvo now but I really took so much pleasure from the new one. esp. "beggars bowl" tbh. just such a solid groove & rich mood throughout. great great album!

I'm hoping that, when I listen to it as an album, and thus add some context to it, that the song will "make sense" to me a little more, as I really do like everything this band has done. I should stop talking about it, it is really a feel thing. Generally I am happy that so many people who didn't listen to Polvo back then really like the record, as I would be excited for them to get some newfound recognition and maybe keep it up for a while.

I have a Black Taj record (think it is self-titled from Amish Records), haven't listened to it in a long time. I should try to find it, had trouble getting into it when I got it, but I may have been expecting too much. I maybe liked Polvo too much to listen to it without bias.

man I listened to the new one this morning and loved it SO MUCH

I think I was living under a rock in the 90s, since I never heard of Polvo until this new disc was released. I just downloaded it, and I must say I like the jagged guitars. Sounds really vital for a comeback-type record (I assume -- maybe wrongly -- that's what it is).

I guess the next disc to tackle is Today's Active Lifestyles?

I'd go with Celebrate the New Dark Age. Today's Active Lifestyles is great too, but not as perfectly enjoyable as Celebrate the New Dark Age to me. Plus, a good EP is about the best listening experience, and this is maybe my favorite EP of all time. It's an EP that leans towards being full album length, too, not the 12-15 minute variety. (I think it's like 25 minutes or something).

Just tagged the EP for my eMusic Saved-For-Later list. Thanks.

Sure, hope you like it. Definitely has some cool and occasionally jagged guitar playing, which is what made me fall in love with Polvo in the first place.

Cor-Crane Secret shoulda got more votes

(I assume -- maybe wrongly -- that's what it is)

that's what it is

not sure how long they were inactive (10 years?) but they re-formed about a year ago

daniel, please report back what you think about CTNDA and TAL, i'm curious

Will do.

but it's kinda like they all bought Corvettes or something. New ones.

actually doesn't really sound like corvettes as much as dodge challengers or maybe even brand new RAMS

can you say HEMI?

daniel, please report back what you think about CTNDA and TAL, i'm curious

― cutty, Sunday, 27 September 2009

Really enjoying Exploded Drawing. The jagged guitar assault isn't always my thing, but there's a prettiness and cohesiveness to the songs that holds them together for me. And I like how they add a palate-clenser sometimes, e.g., the banjo-sounding Passive Attack and the Spaghetti Western-sounding Light of the Moon.

The new disc is better, tho (IMO, obv).

You didn't mention anything about CTNDA and TAL though!

Getting to them.

(Had to take a break from Polvo to listen to their polar opposite -- The Clientele's new disc).

Heard most of the new LP yesterday. I liked it in a superficial sort of way ("hey! that sounds like Polvo!"), but nothing really grabbed me and the whole thing had a strangely jockish hard rock vibe. Lazy, hazy psychedelic abstraction that I used to love so much seemed almost entirely absent. Not sure that any of this is a bad thing, or even true for that matter, but it made for a slightly disappointing/alienating first impression. Then again, maybe I'm hoping for too much, given that TAL is the last Polvo record I really got into.

I love the Clientele! Old and new. How is the new one? Or just answer that in a Clientele thread...

I was actually headed to a Clientele thread now (new disc is awesome, btw).