... but a classic - not only does it only have two chords - it was no.1 in the UK - and Thom Yorke likes it.

You may know it as the theme from The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy. From the people who brought you Takeit Easy...

Subtle, melodic, beautiful.

Soul Coaxing – Paul Mauriat
Love Is Blue – Paul Mauriat
Lillian Lust – Dudley Moore Trio
Song For Suzy – Dudley Moore Trio
Washington Square – The Village Stompers
Mr Ghost Goes To Town – John Buzon Trio
Telstar – The Tornados
Overture from Tommy – The Assembled Multitude
Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt – The Shadows
Time Is Tight – Booker T & the MGs
Classical Gas – Mason Williams
Joy – Apollo 100
Hocus Pocus – Focus
Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield
Java – Floyd Cramer
Take Five – Dave Brubeck
Third Man Theme – Herb Alpert
Cast Your Fate To The Wind – Sounds Orchestral
The In Crowd – Ramsey Lewis Trio

are all tunes that I'd gladly wash up on a desert island with

This cannot be posted too many times. Here's the album version rather than the famous OGWT clip. It was even a hit single!

was the theme of the last North West Massive meet-up. I proffered this track on one of my CDs which just seems to go great right now with the Bisto girls playing in the pool in the garden in the glorious sunshine

The Small Faces - Wide Eyed Girl On The Wall

...my favourite track by his pre-Focus band Brainbox (and one of my favourite instrumentals ever) is this 1970 B-side, 'Mobilae', which feature his replacement Rudy Queljoe on guitar. It's simple but beautiful...

Fantastic, precise playing. I've often tried to count the time of this and have always failed. This is why:

"During the song the two guitars of Belew and Fripp, respectively, move through the following sequence of pairs of time signatures: 5/8 and 5/8, 5/8 and 4/4, 5/8 and 9/8, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 10/8 and 20/16, 15/16 and 15,16, 15/16 and 14/16, 12/16 and 12/16, 12/16 and 11/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16. Throughout the drums play in 17/16."

Admirable restraint by Bruford for managing to stick to 17/16 for the whole song.

CAUTION: may contain Chapman Stick, Simmons electronic drums and Octobans.

Just the perfect soundtrack for summer in October

Pepper Box by The Peppers

Originally by the Surftones. Covered, better, by Pixies.

YYZ

is probably "Sylvia" by Focus, but I love this too:

RAH Band - The Crunch

...the legendary Link Wray yet? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the Rumble Man:

the incomparable Jeff Beck with, I think, the best interpretation of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Sit yourself down
Turn the lights down low
Turn the volume up
and enjoy

Ronniw Earl & The Broadcasters - Baby Doll Blues

Shake That Rat by Nick Lowe:

Machine Gun by The Commodores:

and Stingray by The Shadows:

But I love this

The Beatles - Flying.

it is a great toon:

This always makes me smile

(Gerry Mulligan/Walking Shoes)

and there's already a Shadows track may I humbly suggest

or a bit of the master John Barry

it has to be this

I'll give you some bass

Here's an instrumental with lyrics.

I don't want to romanticise the band's drug intake, which is no doubt responsible for the exhaustion and the death of desire, but this always sounds to me like someone who has reached the end of language. Nothing to say, or nothing he can phrase.

Which is a tragedy from such a fine lyricist.

someone mentioned the mighty Rush. surely their finest instrumental moment is La Villa Strangiato from Hemispheres. Stone cold brilliant.

Then a fine Gary Moore piece from the mid eighties, "The Loner".

but I love it. Halcyon (beautiful Days) by Mono.

Why don;t they just do instrumentals?

Music For A Found Harmonium. Two ways.

As it was

And as Patrick Street decided to do it.

With Amazing Results

My first is from the Word CD a few months back... Those Northumbrian pipes fair make the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

(Penguin Café and Kathryn Tickell - Landau)

And this is another beauty which I turn to every so often...

(Pat Metheny & Charlie Haden - Spiritual)

Sunspots

B+A-The Beta Band
Theme From The Wish-The Charlatans
Ovary Stripe-Kasabian
Theme For Great Cities-Simple Minds
Hunted By A Freak-Mogwai
Blood Money-Primal Scream
Grasshopper-Ride
Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer-The Afghan Whigs
If They Move Kill 'em-Primal Scream

…but this still sounds fresh as paint to my ears.

(Jessica – The Allman Bros Band)

But nice on a sunny Sunday morning as well.

Pick anything really.

Green Onions, Time is Tight, Soul Limbo, Hip Hug Her etc

This is excellent from The Small Faces too. NB - excellent 60's French Pop show.

over the years will know/love this

"The Team That Meets in Caffs". Fookin ace roight?

...that I would eventually post a Mahavishnu Orchestra track (almost all of which are instrumentals). So I might as well steel myself with some Resolution and get on with it. (Little-known fact: I was once in a band called Resolution, circa 1989, fronted by Peter 'Duke Special' Wilson. We didn't play any Mahavishnu Orchestra material, though. We couldn't. Well, at least I couldn't and the others wouldn't have wanted to!)

Plenty to choose from, particularly in the period 72-85.
This one happens to be playing while I prep for college tomorrow;

Am I the only person who rates this?

There is a gorgeous tune written by Dave Swarbrick that isn't on youtube called My heart is in New South Wales. I found this mandolin version of it but just use your imagination and replace the mandolin with a plaintive fiddle:
http://youtu.be/EBeJFv2Ra5A

This tune by Ric Sanders of Fairport is lovely too:
http://youtu.be/VzgPr1nOwwE

Tull version

BTW Colin, you alluded to Cornick's ejection from the band on a recent thread. I know he was informed he was out at some US airport and not allowed to see the band subsequently. Know more?

Pythagoras's Trousers. I've listened to it for years and am still amazed at the sound.

I love instrumentals, including many of the afore-mentioned. Here's a bumper bundle:

Walk on the Wild Side - Alan Tew
Swingin' Safari - Bert Kaempfert
Wigwam - Bob Dylan (a few la-la-la's)
An Ending (Ascent) - Eno
Lipstick - David Carbonara
Sacco & Vanzetti - Ennio Morricone
Caravan - Gordon Jenkins
Jerusalem - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Americans Abroad - Mark Souzzo
Miserlou - Martin Denny
God Moving Over the Face of the Water - Moby
Central Services/The Office - "Brazil" soundtrack
One of These Days - Pink Floyd
Ski Sunday - Sam Fonteyn
Love at First Sight - Sounds Nice
Laika's Theme - Divine Comedy
Atlantis - the Shadows
Wonderful Land - the Shadows
Little Organ Fugue - Swingle Singers
Bullitt - Wilton Felder
Theme for Great Cities - Simple Minds
Return of Number 2 }
Number 6 Throned } "The Prisoner" soundtrack
On the Rebound - Floyd Cramer
Overture to the Marriage of Figaro (trust me, this has a hell of a beat) - Mozart

and best of the lot:

Light of the Charge Brigade - Viv Prince

Billy Corgan may be a grade A nimrod but this rather lovely ditty starts their best album and is then followed by the silly but brilliant Tonight, Tonight.

Keith Jarrett - Koln Concert

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

of Bert Kaempfert's best of LP on Polydor from the late 60s is one of the best "best ofs" I've ever heard:

Wonderland By Night
Living It Up
Catalania
That Happy Feeling
A Swingin' Safari
Afrikaan Beat

Did thousands give their lives in the Punk Wars for this?

(Anyway, I prefer Francis Lai)

this always reminds of growing up in the 70s. I remember an early evening TV current affairs show used it for title music. can't remember the name of the show though. Great tune.

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 60s. Mad, beautiful music .

here's some spaghetti western music. hope this works

.... and the series wasn't bad either

... I wish

might sound a bit dated/cliched now but i still love:
Japan - A Foreign Place

probably as crass ethnic chinese style as you can get, but it works for me as an instrumental...

Very 80s nowhere on YouTube. It's what I'd play on my yacht if I had one.

Da Doo Ron Ron

Not the most innovative but nevertheless the complete "dog's bollocks" of a guitarist.
Please forgive limited use of mouth.

However, I'm playing this quite a lot lately, in fact the whole album is tremendous