What is Lounge music?

Lounge: N (pronounced L-ow-nj) 1 : a place for lounging : as a : a room in a private home or public building for leisure occupations : LIVING ROOM; also : LOBBY b : a room in a usually public building or vehicle often combining lounging , smoking, and toilet facilities 2 : a long couch 3. A very badly defined, loose-fitting genre of marketable music that in the mid 90's was used to get people to buy more jazz reissues. 4. Any music that can be played in a bar to create 'the moment'. Don't even make me define the adjective!

I see mid-90s revival lounge as the result of several factors (prepares PowerPoint presentation, with laptop connected to video projector and The Gentle People playing):

* There was a dawning realisation in the 90s that rock's rebellion was over (stuffed in the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame, blown away with Kurt, etc). It began to seem like the most shocking thing you could do was just be suave and seductive and non-confrontational.

* It was a reaction against the Lad movement. If the Lad movement was middle class people apeing the mannerisms of a vanishing working class, the Lounge movement was middle class people (like 'Count' Indigo of London's Indigo Club) apeing the vanishing aristocracy.

* As Mike Flowers twigged, at a time when Oasis were reviving The Beatles it made sense for neo-faux lounge acts to ape the Swingle Singers and other 60s lounge acts who made cover versions of Beatles songs in the Easy Listening manner. Hence the two versions of 'Wonderwall', each as retro as the other.

* Neo-Lounge was the development of Chill Out club music into something even more chilled, hence Towa Tei's genre-founding 'Future Listening' (1995) album, which takes the DJ science of his previous group Deee- Lite and applies it to old Brazilian and French records. 'I want to relax, please'.

* It was retro-futurist, and design friendly at a time when design was becoming a sort of religion for many.

* It had its own avant garde in the form of the Incredibly Strange Music wing, which dug up and dusted off the work of experimental lounge pioneers like Raymond Scott.

* It had a comedian in the form of Lenny Beige and a TV presenter in the form of Johnny Vaughan (though he later 'went Lad', the traitor!)

* Close family ties with Shibuya Kei. Yoshinori Sunahara etc bridged the gap.

* Important lounge cities: Berlin, Stockholm, San Fransisco, Milan, Tokyo. Slightly less response (in terms of clubs and bands at work) in Paris, London, New York and LA, perhaps because these are 'music biz' towns with too much invested in rawk and pawp.

* We mustn't underestimate the importance of Serge Gainsbourg. His death raised his profile outside France considerably. Without him, Lounge would have been faceless and anonymous, just Muzak. He provided Neo-Lounge with an Auteurist model to aspire to. 'Melody Nelson' is a Lounge album, but also the script for an imaginary film. None of the neo-Lounge artists have yet matched its ambition.

* Lounge is not dead. Groups like Groove Armada carry the banner today.

Required Reading: 'Elevator Music' by Joseph Lanza.

Enjoyed the presentation, Momus. Lanza is essential. You only overlooked one thing: the inevitable Phase Two, involving "ironic" karaoke performances, "lounge nights" for twenty-somethings at "sports bars," poorly cobbled-together reissues, and the hideous "swing" revival of the late 1990s.

Agree with much of what Momus said, except the stuff about it being a reaction against Laddism. Maybe the original Madame Jo Jo's scene was, but a lot of lounge-ism bears the same relation to lad-rock as Later magazine did to Loaded - ie selling fantasies of designer affluence and exquisite male grooming to men who have started to know better. Dean Martin records and the Rat Pack in general being the key elements. A louche laddism, maybe.

I read Elevator Music : it is fascintaing! It got me into Mantovani for God's sake. Later I noticed the MUZAK headquarters outside of Albany, sort of hidden, in a remote place. It increased my sense of awe for this hidden collective. They are like the Freemasons.

Many, many car keys are in this ashtray. There's rat pack lounge, eg. Swingers/tiki/thrift store art and there's a more Euro/futurist strain of it, yo Serge. There's also cardigan lounge, eg. Percy Faith/Perry Como, the stuff Midwestern grandfathers like. Nick, does today's lesson come with any sort of pie chart (and not the bogus one covering up Virtual Valerie...)?

did you guys ever get to listen to frank bennet - he's an Ozster who did great covers of jane's Addiction, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, RHCP etc - fantastic big band stuff.

I suppose I'm pretty deep into the lounge scene. I wasn't trying to get into a scene - I started buying "exotic" and weird records when I was a poor college student, and I didn't know anyone else who had those records. One thing that Momus doesn't mention that was a big factor in bringing people together was the Incredibly Strange Music book. That book didn't prompt me to start buying exotica records, but it did let me know that there were a lot of other strange cats who were into collecting this stuff, and I think a lot of us sought each other out.

Lounge is just the tip of the iceberg, though. The people who were superficially into it have probably moved on, but the people who really like non-canonical pop musics have broadened their concept of lounge to include things like library music and rare groove stuff. Also, lounge is different from exotica, although there is some overlap. I myself was more into the exotica "weird hybrids" aspect of collecting, rather than the lounge lifestyle, although I like a lot of the giants of lounge - Sammy Davis, Jr. and all.

Kerry: I thought I put the Incredibly Strange Music connection in bullet 6 (or was it pie chart 7?). But one thing I did forget was Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. Maybe deliberately.

Nice mention of the Towa Tei album, actually, it's a very good listen. I always liked him -- he had something out fairly recently, right? I know there's more of his solo stuff out there than I'm immediately aware of...

Stevie T is spot-on.

I think we a have two aspects : "lounge" as word which includes interesting musical styles that have been marginalized in years (boyd rice is a part of this lot too) but there's a darker side of lounge music too: post acid jazz groovey samples with marimbas recorded on the top .

Momus's short treatise on the subject was fairly impressive but unfortunately he didn't mention any Italian composer. Morricone and his film music are just the tip of the iceberg: Piero Umiliani, Bruno Nicolai and Piero Piccioni, among others, made great recordings too. Easy Tempo is a cult label if you're into this kind of music but sadly I don't think that they have an online catalogue yet... Yoshinori Sunahara is great of course, even if I say this solely on the basis of "Pan Am, the sound of the '70s".

true simone (naturalmente devo scrivere in inglese).60/70 less known italian pop products are hard to be belived even for an italian born person .there are subtle qualities to a great part to that music that depend of the fact that those "maestri" were classical trained musicians trying to go psychedelic : listen to "la donna con la pelle di serpente" .it's sad to admit that italian pop music has so little left to say now.

momus pretty much covers it i think, but stevie t's point is 100% on the $ the re-fetishization of sinatra/martin et al goes hand in hand with the laddism thing, no threats to masculinity here thats for sure.

Obviously I like Austin Powers — cf also pad of Martin Short character in Mars Attacks! — but the key musical moments in AP were "BBC7", a psych-pop 60s pastiche co-written by a Gogo (forget which), and Dr Evil's rap. If loungecore is being *dismissed* as an arm of laddism ,then laddism is being defined too widely. If LC is being examined as an example of the quite unexpected ideological *complexity* of laddism, then be my guest...

don't mean to dismiss loungecore, i got loads 'lounge' records, but i don't think it can be pushed as a reaction to laddism, has similar masculine 'bachelor' subtext.

Cor. A debate. 'Complexity of laddism' - well... all things are complicated if you want them to be. And then, come to think of it, many things are complicated even if you don't want them to be. But what I mean = laddism's complexity depends on your analysis. Maybe.

The debate is presupposing that laddism is a bad thing. Normally I'd happily go along with that presupposition. But should I?

I may have lost track of what 'lounge' is. I like standards, old-time songwriters, and old-time singers. Is Ella Fitzgerald 'lounge'? I don't know - maybe she appears on those CD compilations. But I guess that insofar as I like the music, I wouldn't call it 'lounge' - or 'Easy Listening' either. What exactly would I call it? No good answer. Probably just 'old-time pop' or something.

Is "lounge" really popular in Italy? There are quite a few Italians on the exotica list - enough that you would notice it, and I know from reading their posts that there are clubs in Italy that play this stuff. It seems that there is a lot of good Italian lounge music. I've also noticed that lots and lots of Italian Americans are into lounge in all its manifestations. We even had a "paisano rollcall" on the exotica list.

Si, si, Morricone e un compositore importante. Anche i dischi di label Shado. A trovare assolutamente: i compilazione 'Harpsichord 2000'.

Easy Tempo is Arling and Cameron's label, no? They're the Amsterdam wing of the genre, though their pastiche is more chameleon-like, liable to glide off into Hammond Inferno-type 80s disco. In fact many of the Lounge people from the mid-90s, being fashionable folk as well as skilled pastiche artists, are now on the 80s retro bandwagon.

well, lounge music is far from being huge in Italy, just like in any other country but if I'm not mistaken there are a few clubs whose weekly schedule includes "lounge nights". The "lounge" in question is obviously neo-lounge which is more akin to chill out. There was a short period of time last year in which lounge was supposed to be hip and a few magazines went so far as to mantain that it was about to explode... To date I haven't seen it happen...

Francesco: it's nice to see a compatriot in here ;-) You're right about the "maestri", they were classically-trained musicians who had a soft spot for jazz and chilled-down melodies

Francesco: it's nice to see a "compatriot" in here ;-)

Ops, my happiness was such as to push me to write twice the very same sentence twice :-) Or maybe it's just what I ate at lunch....

Momus: actually easy tempo is an Italian label and they both re- release lost gems such as the one I cited and neo-lounge stuff. Nicola Conte is said to be pretty ace.

easy tempo is italian as well as irma la dolce .both of them have great, long forgotten music in their catalogues. hey momus where does your almost perfect italian come from? yeah shado record is florentine based and is linked with the guys from valvola (relaxed retrofuturistic psychedelic band and nice guys). I think that the lounge trend is a little bit faded now but it influenced more than a milanese producer few years ago (neo lounge ,spiced with house ).

Indeed - many lounge people are getting back into New Wave. I'm on a private CD trading ring for lounge / exotica, and the best compilation submitted was a New Wave mix. There were even some New Wave / exotica hybrids on that disc.

Indeed, Kerry--you've stumbled on the elephant's graveyard, as it were! Lots of polished ivory here. What ARE the links between lounge exotica and New Wave? Look at those first B-52's sleeves. Admire The Contortions' wardrobe. Note the Hammond all over the place on the second Specials album. See "Something Wild." Listen to Lydia Lunch or Soft Cell or The Bongos. Now, go out and host your own neo-retro-futurist party!

Don't forget the not-as-popular flip sides as well. Consider Throbbing Gristle, who not only released albums with artwork specifically parodying exotica albums, but the dedication on the 'greatest hits' collection to Martin Denny. I think Boyd Rice was also an open fan as well back then.

I admit, generally I found the mid-nineties lounge craze somewhat tiresome, though then again I find crazes tiresome and prefer to maintain my own bloody-minded stances, which explains how both in 1990 and 2001 people get mad at me for the fact that I like Rush. ;-) I've got some reissues kicking around, that'll do. But I would love to roast Combustible Edison over a slow fire, *those* bastards bugged the fuck out of me.

"The Eighties are IN!" Discotrash 2001

Indeed lounge is big enough in Italy to warrant a dedicated magazine, Il Giaguro, The Jaguar.

I think I was getting Easy Tempo mixed up with Easy Tune.

I learned my almost flawless Italian by reading Gramsci's 'Prison Notebooks' while myself imprisoned for sunbathing naked on the President of the Republic's private beach in Ostia in the early 80s. 'Scandalo publico' is a very serious offence, and I served two years, just long enough to master the basics of Euro-Communism and Italian grammar.

Sorry, that magazine title should read Il Giaguaro. Obviously didn't spend quite enough time in that Ostia prison.

hey you italians (or anyone else), can you tell me anything about the Signor Rossi cartoons? or about other music by the guy who did that music? 'cause i got an album of that music a while ago just 'cause it was in the sale bin & looked like it'd be interesting ('d never heard of it before) & it is just THE BEST RECORD I GOT ALL THIS YEAR. I guess it'd be counted as "lounge" or 1 of those after-the-fact-imposed genera , but it's a complete mixeroonie of styles like for inst a song called "Tutenkamen Cha-Cha-Cha" (can you already tell that's gonna be GREAT?) will have a latin-type rhythm with sitar a la lots of mid-60s british rock, gregorian-chant-ish vocals, all kindsa funny stuff...i've vaguely heard all this stuff that modern groups that i don't know much about (but will make lazy ass generalisations about anyway) who do similar sorts of whaddayacallit...oh i don't even know who i'm being rude to but y'know, i've just heard a bunch of conciously "eclectic" woud-be "witty" stuff like that & i just...i dunno...*yawn*, such "knowing" "eclecticism", how "witty" (i shd "use other words"? hey so shd they)...it's annoying usually...But boy this stuff is great. Anyway yeah whaddabout the actual cartoons the music is from, are those well known in europe?...from the stills on the album cover it looks like real NEAT NEAT NEAT STUFF.

I thought Combustilbe Edison was brilliant, unlike most retro rehash. Especially The Impossible World. These days there is much loungey clips of sound ripped from context and stitched with metal laceing into a new machine of jungle jangle and electronic digifunk which writhes and weaves - dastardly?? Ursula 1000 Fantastic PLastic Machine etcetc etc I can't wait till this happens some day in the future with TUPAC

duane_ the actual cartoons ,realized by Bruno Bozzetto , are gorgeous and very clever but I can't say anything about the soundtrack's author (is he Franco Godi?). momus - talking of politics ,lounge clubs et al what about the "manifestazione qualunquista" mentioned in " una giapponese a roma " ?( I played that song at the end of every dj set for a whole year when I lived in Siena and worked for a club there ) Is that an allusion to the political movement "L'Uomo Qualunque"?

Jeez, all I needed was a couple of semesters to learn some basic Italian morphemes. If I'd spent two years in a prison, I'd surely be writing whole masterful novels by now. ;)

Franco Godi, yeah that's the fella. according to the liner notes he's pretty ubiquitous in the world of italian film/tv/ad music.

duane_I wouldn't say he's so popular but ,you know, those guys ,in the 70, had the tendency to work in different fields. one day a score for an erotic horror movie next day a commercial for a soft drink... If I was in you I'd look for the mo'plen compilations asembled by Scanna for Irma records .they contain "weirder" stuff than usual italian soundtrack records. of course you could also go for Morricone ,Piccioni,Tovajoli,Umiliani,Fidenco records . (is there still an improvised noise scene in nz?... I've collected loads of that umpredictable sexy stuff)

francesco - thanks for the tips re: italian film music...nz free-rock "scene" yeah but it's hardly a scene - scattered individuals making music in their rooms & stuff - i live in dunedin where it's supposed to be the hot spot for that stuff & nobody like that ever plays live much or anything.

Might the Dismemberment Plan's "Respect is Due" be the first and only emo-lounge track ever recorded? ( PS. Yeah, I know the D.Plan aren't really emo etc. )

Francesco: What about the "manifestazione qualunquista" mentioned in " una giapponese a roma " ?

Thanks for playing the song on your sets! The original line was, I think, 'manifestazione humanista' or something, but my friend Babis, the real reason I know some Italian because I used to holiday at his mum's house in Rome every year, suggested that in the time of Berlusconi Italians weren't so much communist or humanist as 'don't- give-a-fuck-ist', so we made up this absurd image of a 'don't-give-a- fuckist' demonstra

Catty aside coming up: One hopes Signor Momus is familiar with the works of E. F. Benson, for one suspects his Italian is no better or worse than that of his heroine, the famed Lucia. Not that I speak a word of it myself, caro mio!

PS Ned: Throbbing Gristle it was who introduced me and many others to Martin Denny. Strange world.

As far as lounge is concerned, Italy does indeed rule. Esp Nicola Conte (recommended trax: 'Il Cerchio rosso', 'Bossa Per Due', 'The In Samba'... his remixes of Yoshinori Sunahara and Montefiori Cocktail are fab, too), who I caught in action DJing a while ago, and he played insanely fun latin/mediterranean house belters. Made me dance all night like a loon. Modern italian lounge often tends to veer uncomfortably into coffe-table/muzak territory (as with most of the Irma roster), but when it hits home... it's heavenly. The Italian soundtrack composers from seventies are also quite heavenly: go get the 'Sexy Voices' comp, full of ravishingly gorgeous, sensual, erotic stuff from Bacalov, Piccioni, Trovajoli, Morriconne and other greats. Oh yeah, italo disco's great too, be it vintage or contemporary: has anyone heard, say, Gigi D' Agostino's 'Super'? It's utterly silly, and it's utterly genius. Love Bite's 'Take Your Time' I also adore.

Hey, wait a minute - w/r/t/ Lydia Lunch and No-Wave contributions were not 'Lounge' - Lydia/Contortions might have played jazz = but it was miles (davis) away from defined 'lounge'. They were not wanting to recreate swing or exotica by any means...

Oh man, where am I gonna track down some Italian disco....

I just had tea with 'kitsch shaman' Xyimalloo (Jad Fair collaborator and all-round outsider-visionary / fake ethnographer / one-man tribe) and he said that Yellow Magic Orchestra, before they discovered Kraftwerk, all had long hair and were trying desperately hard to be Martin Denny.

Melon did a great version of Quiet Village

Well, YMO did cover Martin Denny's Firecracker. And Ralf + Florian used Hawaiian sounds long before that, IIRC.

After all the talk of "Hit 'Em Up Style" I got it off Limewire and was pleased to note that the whole song's built out of lounge/exotica samples. Cheers all.

If I'd known Kerry was into exotica, I would've skipped work the other day to go to the baseball game with her.