Stoic.

I missed the three track caveat and thought I needed to represent my artist fully

No harm in going for it. Call it an Easter special.

I'm reminded of a Daniel Kitson bit from a few years ago...

They're just quite good. No more, no less. 

Some catchy stuff, some nice enough ideas, but blurs into meh for me. 

Largely down to vocals too. Dude's fine, I guess, but there's nothing particularly distinctive there. 

He can't hit some monster note, there's nothing in his tone to set him apart. (See Manics for the opposite of that.)

I'll put it down to a genre thing, I'll listen to any old neo-soul looking for hit, and let some average vocals pass searching for that sweet sweet hit. 

If I was more into this particular era/sound I'd equally search and forgive more.

Idlewild deep dive morning is go.

Agree 100 Broken Windows is their best album.  Didn't end up listening earlier so I've just realised Reg has posted pretty much the whole thing, ha.  I'll skip these songs and treat myself to the full album tomorrow.  I dug it out for a bit of lossless wankery a couple of years ago so I've got it in FLAC.

When I Argue I See Shapes remains the quintessential Idlewild song for me. That’s always my go-to.

I’m a fan, but for me they’re a greatest hits band – with most of those coming from the 100 Broken Windows / Hope is Important era. I see them live quite often but I wouldn’t buy a new album. I’m in the Roseability video, somewhere.

Saw them last week actually, sort of. Roddy and Rob played a few acoustic songs at a free gig for the new album launch.

Just scrolled up to see Yoss was also including 100 Broken Windows in his landfill comment.  How very dare you sir.

FWIW, after a brief dalliance in my teens, I consider the vast majority of indie to be landfill. I really turned against the genre.

Pulp are still good, though.

Back at work. Planning on seeing it out tonight / tomorrow. Was game of thronesing and trying to finish Kingdom Hearts past couple of nights.

I was going to do our lady peace if that's what you're at

Home in 10 to do part 3

Okay, so back on we go. 
Following the double whammy of 100 Broken Windows and The Remote Part, I was fully into Idlewild. In addition, I was back in Scotland, I was at university, and I was seeing, on average, a gig a week. I felt fully 'muso' (aka an actual wank). 
I was really excited about what Idlewild's follow up would be, as I had been following them around on The Remote Part tour. In 2004, their website mentioned they were going to be recording songs that had been written in both London and the Highlands. At this point, Idlewild were probably at their peak, commercially. There was the big early 00s boon of guitar bands that some wags have called 'Britpop 2.0' but that doesn't really seem to fit, given the whole aesthetic and politics of 1.0. But you had your Kaisers, Bloc Parties, Blur back, Elbow, and so forth. 
So, here came the folk direction. It was heralded by a series of acoustic gigs, of which I was lucky enough to see one. Hearing old Captain songs rendered in acoustic was definitely odd, but certainly interesting. 
And then in 2005, we got "Warnings/Promises"

So, let's start with the side-swipe, the lead single, which does not reflect anything else on the album, "Love Steals Us From Loneliness". Please note Roddy's monstrous hair in the video. It was 05. 



I'm not a fan of this at all, really, as to me it feels like a second rate version of 'You Held the World...' It also doesn't reflect the album at all, and seems not quite to fit, but hey, it gave them another hit. 

Moving on through the album, the next track I'm going to flag up (ignoring the shiteness of "I Want a Warning" is "I Understand It"



It's a sort of cross-point from the old stuff to the new stuff. You can hear the rhythms and chords of old Idlewild, but it's produced as a much more folky song. It's kind of interesting, I guess, but again, not one I love.

Moving to something I really fucking like, here's "As If I Hadn't Slept" a song I used to get through a break-up that was happening at the time. I like it because it is starting to step more into the relaxed form they would have, but the chorus is a banger still in my head. I often sing it in my head when I'm having a bad day. 



There's something about the production that reminds me of the Pixies, but that could just be my insane brain and not true at all. But that's what I think. Anyway, the line "And then you try / to hold my hand / under the table / but it's far too vague to be meaningful" is my favourite in Idlewild existence. 

Right, let's go full on. Here is "Not Just Sometimes But Always"



I'm a sucker for it, but it's not a folk song, it's an attempt at a big one for a shoutout at Glastonbury - not a surprise as they were now opening for U2, REM and The Pixies at gigs. I like it, however, even though it possibly is a little too saccharine. 

This is all skirting around the two best songs on the album, and for my money, top 10 Idlewild songs. 

Let's kick in with 'El Capitan' - the album was recorded in Los Angeles, but this feels like something that a fucking drunk band in Skye would play in an pub on a Friday night, thumping on the table.



For my money, it's their best chorus on this album, and it just doesn't give a fuck. Long let it play out. 

And then there's 'Disconnected', and you'll see the contrast.



I am/was a big fan of Ryan Adams, and the twangs going on here, possibly with a theremin, are enjoyable. This is where Roddy probably wanted to go, but he never quite got up there with choruses, which again here are rather large. 

So, in hindsight, 'Warnings/Promises' is kind of... good now, but not where I thought it was in 05/06.

So before we get to 'Make Another World' and what I would consider the 'modern' Idlewild, we need to talk about 'My Secret Is My Silence', Woomble's solo record. 

During this time, Idlewild also contributed to 'The Ballad of the Book' with Edwin Morgan again. This was a combination of Scottish Artists and Writers, and whilst the Idlewild effort is distinctly... shit, there are some great ones on there, especially Malcolm Middleton and Alan Bissett - check it out, as Steve Brule would say. 

But on to 'Silence'. Woomble wrote this as a solo album and felt he didn't have to do 'the rock' following all the hoopla around 'Warnings'. I'm not really a fan of it, although I've kept the CD upstairs, but wanted to flag up a couple of tracks - folk prevails here. Let's start with the title track, which is probably closest to Idlewild. 

 

Whatever goes on in my lizard brain, I have a weird aversion to any Scottish Folk, but I do like this song - maybe it's the familiar voice, but it's also fairly close to Idlewild - you could see it as a B-Side to a 'Warnings' song. 

The only other one I'll mention is 'Waverley Steps', named obviously after the journey to Edinburgh's train station.



Again, I guess I like it as it sort of hits some Idlewild notes. Overall, not an album for me, but maybe others may like it. 

This brings us up to the dark period - modern Idlewild. To come.

I'm cheating too, not only am I having four tracks, but I'm having four tracks and an intro.  OP updated, feel free to follow suit in the future. 

I'm not going for The Tragically Hip either, despite settling on them yesterday afternoon. 

Eilen Jewell

One of the loveliest ladies I've had the pleasure of seeing live.  Not only is her music mostly top drawer, but she seems genuinely enchanting/adorable.  Like Nick's Manic Pixie Dream but without the mania; think afternoon teaparty with The Moomins in a thousand acre wood.  Just honest to goodness goodness.  Stage persona perhaps, but that's all I've got to go on.  Apparently I've missed one of her albums; I've got Wikipedia open and I didn't realise she dropped a covers only effort in 2017.  Anyway, all her records are worthwhile but only one approaches masterpiece territory.  Queen of the Minor Key from 2011 is close to perfect and would probably sneak into my all-time top ten, so I've exclusively pulled from that for these links.       

The first two come as a package deal, so you'll need to click twice to reduce the gap.  Stay on your toes.  She leads one into the other live, so I'm counting them as one track anyway.



  

The intro plonks you straight into a smoky Tarantino soundtrack lounge surf jazz scene (is that David Lynch is sitting at the bar?), then makes way for a beautiful miscreant ballad containing such platinum couplets as 'I remember you, I showed you how to kiss/I let you shoot my hats off, because I knew you wouldn't miss'.  What's that I hear you saying? It's practically perfect in every way?  Why yes, she is. 

The band can move too, there's almost always a smattering of rockabilly on her albums.  With that in mind, the double filling of the banger sandwich is next:





You know when you see a band and the crowd are in love with an unheralded bandmember?  I suppose they're not unheralded if the band isn't all that well known, but you get the gist - I didn't realise the guitarist would be the focus of most of the love beforehand.  Jerry Miller, the ridiculously talented lead guitarist, got a huge amount of well deserved whoops and hollers during the gig.  Focus on him for these in particular, he's so fucking legit I bought the solo album he was selling after the show.  

On to the last track, hello country.  Shades of Me & Bobby McGee here, which is no bad thing as if you're going to take influence from a classic you might as well choose the greatest or second greatest song of all time.  
    


This one has steel guitar all over it on the studio cut, but not here.  I liek the black & white tho.  Oh look - goosebumps. 

Enjoy, she's a great lyricist and they put on an incredibly tight show.

All of it good. Added to collection. Nice.