The Idler

Your Favourite Songs

WHAT A KILLER

Just one song actaully, but its epic in length and expression. They couldn’t have recorded this track by track. This is the work of a master: Cortez the Killer - Neil Young. It’s on the album called Zuma which only has about two other good songs, and I think its on Live Rust as well - that’s got lots of good songs on it, but I’ve never listened to it so I can’t recommend it, can I?

Andy Bremner

OBSCURE, BUT GOOD

Mutantes: ‘Mutantes’

Think of the communal songs they used to perform on Play Away, firmly tossed with Pink-Floyd-y guitar, Mamas-and-Papas-y harmonies, canned applause from a bad game show and the soundtrack to a medieval epic that didn’t star Tony Curtis because he was washing his quiff. And that’s just the first track. “My chest is the salt of the fruit/ Boiling in a glass of water,” we learn later. In Portuguese.

If you’re going to buy one Brazilian pop-psychedelia album in your pale, beige life, buy this one.

The Magnetic Fields: ‘69 Love Songs’

“The book of love is long and boring/ No one can lift the damn thing,” sighs Field-Marshal Stephin Merritt and, really, it would be rude to disagree.

If Cole Porter had invested in a ukulele and a Prophet 5, and decided to record a concept album with some twitchy librarian friends, it would have sounded like this. The greatest triple album since I drank too much Calvados and put The Queen Is Dead, Abba’s Arrival and the first Penguin Caf?� Orchestra LP on random play together.

Tim Footman

THE CRAZED JAPANESE PSYCHE

The Boredoms: ‘Vision Creation Newsun’

This is a masterpiece. An insane, frenzied, and in some places unlistenable journey through the crazed Japanese psyche.

The Kodo drummers have just swallowed litres of acid and are now preparing to succeed where Iggy failed in swallowing all misery whole. Be amazed by and be wary of this record.

David Scott

GUIDED BY VOICES

“Under The Bushes, Under The Stars”

This is one of my favourite records firstly because it’s lovely, but secondly for the fact that it doesn’t follow the regular verse chorus verse structure. It’s more like verse, chorus, then it stops, presumably because they can’t be arsed, apparently it’s because Robert Pollard (chief songwriter) gets bored with a song after 90 seconds.

Another idle connection is that this record was produced/recorded by Kim Deal, who fronted the brilliant Breeders for a couple of years then, um, couldn’t be arsed.

This is my only GBV record, I’ve heard that “Alien Lanes” is better.

Ed Evans

SUPERMARKET BREAD SMELLS

In Stereolabs’ ‘Emporer Tomato Ketchup’ languid times signatures and idle contemplations waft like supermarket bread smells.

Surely The Beatles ‘I’m only Sleeping’ (despite being suffocated in it’s slumber by ‘nutter’ Suggs) is deserving of a mention.

As is ‘Sofa of my Lethargy’ from Supergrass’ debut.

For your tinkling, sloshing & floating needs, FFWD, an Eno, Fripp & Patterson collaboration, should suffice nice.

And Cheech & Chong’s ‘Mexican Americans’ belongs on everybodys alarm clock.
Jeff Davey

LONE PIGEON

I If John Lennon, Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix had conducted some kind of ghastly spunk milkshake impregnation experiment, the resultant offspring may well have made music not dissimilar to that of the pidge. find him at www.fencerecords.com or www.lonepigeon.com

Richard Anderson

MAN IN A SHED

In which Nick Drake extols the many pleasures of a shed-based lifestyle. The “man” of the song’s title (clearly a cipher for Drake himself) spends his days sighing, glaring enviously at the more substantial dwellings of his neighbours and worrying about said shed’s poor state of repair which,to his chagrin, exposes him to the rigours of the elements. Rather than effecting the neccessary repairs to his rotting shed himself, the “man” uses this gentle song to persude a local girl from one of the aforementioned big houses to join him in his shed-based life.

Whilst on the surface a magnanimous gesture, a closer reading of this song’s lyrics reveals that Nick is a wily man; he intends to use this naive woman as a source of cheap labour to repair his shoddy domicile. A sure contender for a coveted place on “the Greatest Songs About Sheds In The World….Ever”?

Ed Baines

SUMMER FOREVER

I nominate the music of British composer Frederic Delius (1862-1934) as perfect for idling. Delius’ impressionistic music exists in a perpetual late summer evening which induces a profoundly meditative state in the listener.

Chris Nason

PROTO-IDLERS

Wild Wood - Paul Weller: for its exquisite world weariness and sensation of doing nothing while everyone else makes like an ant. Particualrly good for the lazy rich: “Don’t let them get you down, making you feel guilty about the golden rain that brings you riches . . .and all the good things you deserve now - right now!”. Also from some years ago, a local band of proto-idlers called the Blase Dancehall Stars had a song called Glaucoma with the following tasty couplet: “My sister moved away - gave me her double bed. I’m grateful, now I’ve twice the room to lay my weary head”. You need to hear it . . .

Muddy X

WASTERS

I can’t think of any band who carry the torch for the “waster” ethic more effectively than Arab Strap. Drug and alcohol binges, casual sex, work shy losers, lack of ambition, drunken philosophy - all this and more! No energetic big beats here my friends, just dirty lo-fi inactivity. The Week Never Starts Round Here, Philophobia and Elephant Shoe are a perfect antidote to the overproduced generic rubbish that fills the shelves of your local record store. No Idler should be without them.

Peter Hart

GOOD MOOD MUSIC

1.. “Roast Fish and Cornbread” Lee Perry - a hymn to the good things in life
2. “Dematerialise” - Scientist - a respectable instruction
3. “Ike’s Mood” - Isaac Hayes - and what a good mood it is
4.”Do Nothing” - The Specials - a bit glum but amusingly so
5.”Rainy Day” - Jimi Hendrix - applies regularly and convinces you to stay put at home

Alex Clelland

ANYTHINK

Anythink by Spacemen 3.

James Jarvis

WARM GLOWING NOISE

I just want to make a sleepy headed nod of respect to Kevin Shields. Its been ten years since My Bloody Valentines last album (the amazing Loveless) and the man refuses to give up the ghost. He said as recently as 1999 he expected an album out by the end of that year. ho ho. I think most of us can relate to the “I’ll have it for you by the end of the day/week/month/year” stance. The music of MBV is perfect for wasting a morning to, the guitars fade in out like sea breeze no pesky understandable lyrics to ponder on, just warm glowing noise. mmmm. At the moment he can found holding a guitar up on a world tour with the Primal Scream. Proberbly just to cover the rent. Oh and he’s Irish to, we’re very proud of our less then motivated over here.

Fiachra McCarthy

AVID READER

I’d highly recommend Another Green World by Brian Eno, (particularily as I see you have reviewed Heroes by David Bowie, which Eno co-wrote/produced). Eno’s record was also made in 1975 but unlike Bowie’s, doesn’t suffer from anything too uptempo, with some tracks containing only broken rhythms & slow guitar loops. Particularily good are the tunes “I’ll come running” which is actually very contemplative, despite the title and “Everything merges with the night”. As an introduction to Eno’s other soundtrack & ambient work this is great, as it is never excessive or too leaden. Best heard at twilight in a reclined position whilst glancing out the window.

Stuart Whyte
Air Studios
http://www.airstudios.com

BIG COLLECTOR

There’s about seven metres of vinyl in my flat - an odd boast to make, but there you are - so this top 5 is necessarily fairly random.
This morning however such a list might include:

White Light From the Mouth of Infinity - Swans
The Clash- The Clash
Marcus Garvey/Garvey’s Ghost - Burning Spear
Solid Air - John Martyn
Xtrmntr - Primal Scream

Plus Anything by the KLF, Motorhead, Nick Drake, Cocteau Twins, the Stooges, Johnny Thunders, Red Snapper, Archive, Baby Fox etc etc etc…
Jon Fortgang
jonfortgang@hotmail.com

ACHIEVE UNION WITH THE VOID

Miles Davis, “Pangaea”, CD 2. A 45 minute track called ‘Gondwana’. Beautiful, chilled, spacey music at its finest. You can feel your woes and cares seeping out of the soles of your feet with every second. By the time the last notes sound, you may well have achieved union with the void.

Joe McNally

LOST IN MUSIC

Listen to The Fall’s version of ‘Lost in Music’. The way Mark E Smith utters the line ‘Feel so alive’ scales new heights in underenthusiasm. Fantastic ironic idling.
Can’t agree more with the earlier suggestion of Nick Drake.
From ‘Poor Boy’:
‘Never sing for my supper,
Never help my neighbour,
Never do what is proper,
My fair share of labour.’

H Swains

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

“The Boatman’s Call” by Nick Cave The Bad Seeds An antidote of sorts to the dark and brooding bombast of earlier efforts, “The Boatman’s Call” evokes a majestic, pastoral landscape of an idle Sunday afternoon, with distant church bells hearkening the faithful against a grey and mournful musical sky. As an added bonus, Mr. Cave is at the top of his lyrical game on “The Boatman’s Call”, producing perhaps the finest first line of any song with the plaintive “Into My Arms”.

John Barner

Several you’ve overlooked or forgotten.

For the otherwise rambunctious idler, The Sex Pistols’ ‘I’m a Lazy Sod’; for the old soaks, Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Old Rocking Chair’; and for hopeless Francophiles with a streak of melancholia in them (like me), most anything for the piano by Eric Satie.
George Rafael
grafael@club.lemonde.fr

Some songs or whatever…

1. lil’ fluffy stuff- think it’s the orb, can’t be arsed to check
2. Leisure- that’s by XTC
3. and finally “Do Nothing” by the Specials, and why the hell not
4. oh yeah not to mention that song by Sepultura which I can’t remember the name of….anyway thats really it………………….
dom@illumina.co.uk

What’s it all about?

Some Velvet Morning - Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood It’s 6am. You’ve been up all night on a combination of mind-alterants of your choosing. Perhaps you’ve spent the time with people you hardly know and yet now you feel they’ll be life-long friends. Which of course they won’t. You stumble blearily into the garden, just as it’s getting light, and you hear this tune in your head. That’s when you know what it’s about.
cheers, Karl
karl23@yahoo.com

What’s the point?

Just wanted to recommend the 3EP’s album by the Beta Band. The songs never seem to go anywhere but then that’s the point isn’t it?
rebmalcs
rebmalcs@supanet.com

Sheer idleness

In sheer terms of idleness lets not forget the Stone Roses and the Stereo MC’s for their time spent between albums, 5 and a whopping 9 years respectively. My favourite record to idle to is Mogwai ‘young team’ mainly because the songs don’t inspire you to do anything and the last track, ‘Mogwai fear Satan’, is 18 minutes long so if someone asks you to do something just reply ‘alright, once this has finished’.
James Cannon

Check this

x-ray-spex “I CANT DO ANYTHING” just check out the lyric
“I can’t write
and I can’t sing
I can’t do anything
I can’t read
and I can’t spell
I can’t even get to hell
I can’t luv
and I can’t hate
I can’t even hesitate
I can’t dance
and I can’t walk
I can’t even try to talk”

is there anything they could do?
Not a particularly lazy tune though- sounds like a pint of expresso with 5 grams of speed in it!
Richee
richeee@ntlworld.com

Rich melancholy

Roberta Flack’s version of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” - an excrutiatingly slow and precise vocal delivery lends this song an immensely moving tension between the langourous joy of revelling in the moment (”tonight the light of love is in your eyes”) and absolutely tragic resignation to the knowledge of love’s mortality (”but will you still love me tomorrow?”).
*snif*

My suitor

I nominate my suitor by Berntholer a belgian band from ages ago. It’s a very well written song.
sean
sean@edwardss35.fsnet.co.uk

Peggy Lee

“Is that all there is?”

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that’s all there is my friends,
then let’s keep dancing
Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
If that’s all… there is…
anon

Nightmares on Wax

After reading through your page of reader-recommended top idler tunes, i concluded that it would be a crime to omit the sublime “Car Boot Soul” lp by nightmares on wax from the list. take it from me, this album is horizontal. it can inspire phenomenal feats of laziness.
ian d-b
ian@sweet.uk.net

Talking Heads - Once in a lifetime

Talking Heads’ paean to the hollowness of the work ethic. Gotta be the top tune of the last 20 years.
Scott Duncan
scottduncan@ntlworld.com

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Ultimate Idler top five

Lay back in the sun - Spiritualised
Mellow song - Blur
Kelly watch the stars - Air
I’m tired - Bernard Butler
Who know’s where time goes? - Fairport Convention

Must be the ultimate Idler top five as they’re they’re all off CD’s within reach of my desk
Mark Towler
Mark.Towler@ul.ie

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Dolly Parton

I love you I’ll make your bed - Dolly Parton
Jamie Dobson.

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Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits

Some folk reckon that listening to Tom Waits is only acceptable after dark, drinking whisky from their favourite glass. It’s a fair point in many respects; listening to someone sing about booze, hookers and beat-up automobiles doesn’t sound as a good on bright, sunny day. Yet at least one track on ‘Swordfishtrombones’ proves the contrary. The opening lines of ‘In the Neighbourhood’ - ‘Well, the eggs chase the bacon ’round the fryin’ pan’ demand to be heard on a hungover Sunday morning when there’s little else to do but struggle to find an open greasy spoon. The rest of the record is equally brilliant, the first time the gravel-voiced troubadour really started pushing musical boundaries and playing instruments he made in his barn.

Nigel Smith
nigel@mooseworld.net

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Nick Drake

Nick Drake… the man who put the mal firmly into malcontent , and planted the id in idler. I play this at work and people spit in my direction, call me miserable and tell me to put on Spiller or something more “up for it”. What do they know!? For a man who obviously found life so intolerably hectic, Drake’s music is testament to an idle soul.

Witness the most idle singing style in the world! Take heed of his idle, yearning, sunshine soaked lyrics! Bryter Layter is an album of idle wishes, lefty on a dusty shelf by a world which knows far too well what it wants. Drake was, more than anything, a frustrated idler. In his own words… “I don’t like it at home, but I can’t bear it anywhere else.” If you’re an idler on edge, and considering going out to the shops, remember… why do it now when you could do it layter!

Joel Bailey
Joel@london.virhinbiz.net

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Top One

My top 5 tunes to loaf to:
1. Lying in Bed Barefoot by Vegas (Project by Dave Stewart and Terry Hall) I can’t think of any more that really fit quite so well with loafing, but I have been lately listening to Bad Card by Bob Marley and The Wailers.

Richard Penfound
Richard@scip.org.uk

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Notsosensibles

perhaps one of the finest idling songs is Lying on the Sofa by early 80s punks the Notsensibles - a song about not being able to get off the sofa to make a cuppa.

Ian Aitch
Iain@underbelly.demon.co.uk

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Thievery Corporation

Thievery Corporation’s the Mirror Conspiracy. Not exactly that new, bought it ages ago. Just didn’t get round to listening to it until last week. A very chilled album.

Yusuf Moosajee
Gt97ybm@brunel.ac.uk

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Top five, dudes

Dudes, Top 5 tunes to loaf by:

Ministry - Jesus built my hotrod
Kenny Rogers - Ruby Don’t take your love to Town
Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music
Rolf Harris - Two Little Boys
Om - John Coltrane

Jonny Halifax
Jonny.halifax@virgin.net

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Omissions

In a recently published list approximating to “Now that’s what I call Idle”, I couldn’t help but notice that there were a couple of omissions.

For instance, dodgy spiritual geezer though he may now be, how come David Sylvian wasn’t on there. A man who once spent more time making-up than making music over the last 15 or so years he’s had a fantastically languid output (both in terms of frequency of issue and stylistic content). His LP “Secrets of the Beehive” takes some beating.

“The Blue Moods of Spain” does it though. Why Spain aren’t more successful is a puzzler - they are the perfect soundtrack to a red wine-fuelled late night ‘I’m going to sit in the dark and stare at the ceiling’ session. More appropriate even than Smog or Tindersticks. The LP’s centrepiece “World of Blue” is majestic and really has to be heard. It makes Arvo Part sound frantic!

I’d also suggest Union Wireless. OK so a couple of tracks on “Saturn Ascension Experiments” (if that’s what it’s called - I’ll have to dig it out again when I get home) sound disturbingly like the Moody Blues but their long, loping Krautrock-styled things are great

That’s for starters anyway.

Gareth

Gareth Williams
Gareth.williams@sra.gov.uk