| Artist |
Title |
Description |
Buy
at Amazon USA or UK
|
Suggested
By
|
| Adventures
in Stereo |
Adventures
in Stereo (1st album) |
One
of the ultimate musical definitions of Dreambeat .... just get
lost in Adventures in Stereo,in the garden, in the country on
a late summers evening. You'll never want to wake up from the
halcyon dreams of a lost childhood this music draws you into. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Air |
Moon
Safari |
Apart
from a deceptively unimaginative album title which sounds more
like a cheap perfume, this is otherwise an ingenious blend of
supersmooth melody and psychedelic, thematic lounge.... "All
I Need" being one of the finest, deep cutting songs of the
1990's. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Alex
Reece |
various
(temporary generalization) |
A
general listing for a fine craftsman of sub atmospheres blended
with classy club syncopation, however the instrumental tracks
take precedence in this listing. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Andy
Williams |
Music
To Watch Girls By |
Recently
rediscovered for a car commercial... but why can't fashion victims
enjoy past M.O.R for what it is, instead of it having to be reboxed
as trendy retro, lounge, cool? Reason is that a lot this type
of music including Bacharach
was considered nylon-polo-neck-naff during the afghan clad 60's
and 70's but in fact Stairway-To-Heaven-Heads were subconsciously
or secretly loving it... but hey... er... man..., who would have
dreamed of telling your greasy mates then that you loved the new
David Cassidy
single? |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Anna
Karina (with Serge Gainsbourg) |
"Anna"
(notably "Sous le Soleil Exactement" |
In
1961 Serge made a French TV film musical, which featured the acting
and musical talents of little known Anna Karina (by the way Anna
played one of the models in Blow Up). This soundtrack, which sounds
incredibly advanced for its time is truly a lost classic for those
lounge trippers out there, but has now been re-released. The Japanese
import version (thru amazon.com) comes with the original release
artwork cover. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Apples
in Stereo |
Her
Wallpaper Reverie |
Beatle-ish
artists laced with West Coast feelgood flavours. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Art
Blakey |
Soundtracks
for "Des Femmes Disparaissent" and Les Liasons Dangereuses |
Ultra
cool, slightly quirky, catchy, thematic late 50's Paris jazz. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Astrud
Gilberto |
The
Girl From Ipanema |
Smoky
melancholy, sublime and distant. The fragile, unpretentious voice
of A Gilberto made famous by the cocktail classic The Girl from
Ipanema. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| B52's |
Bouncing
of The Satellites |
More
bubbly but also more offbeat than their later "Loveshack"
commercial success. You could listen to Bouncing of The Satellites
driving along a coast road on sunny days forever ... Are you searching
for another great summer? |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Bacharach,
Burt |
General
|
Yeah yeah... over the last few
years it's become very trendy to mention Burt...king of contemporary
cool. But strip away any pseudo references made and respect
the quality songwriting of Bacharach (and David) for what it
is... he may become "passé" in pretentious
circles, but those with unaffected taste can enjoy these songs
forever.
|
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Beach
Boys |
Good
Vibrations / God Only Knows |
Both
of these classics are bound to be found on a Best Of... |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Bran
Van 3000 |
Drinking
in LA |
Classic
cool groove of the 1990's. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Byrds |
the
Notorious Byrd Brothers |
Definitive
60's soft psychedelia. Classic summer road music. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Cardigans |
First
Band on the Moon |
There
are one or two tracks which really stand out on every Cardigans
album so listen through. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Carol
King |
Its
Too Late (from the album Tapestry) |
A
song and a voice you can never ever tire of. Tapestry is a classic
album of the 70's but timeless due to its un-effected and transparently-produced
qualities... a perfect balance. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Catatonia |
Dead
from the Waist Down (from the album Equally Cursed
and Blessed) |
Like
the Cardigans there is always a couple of great tracks to find
on every Catatonia album. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Chicane
|
Offshore
/ Early |
Drift
into it... past the dawn. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Cibo
Matto |
Sugar
Water (from the album Viva! La Woman) |
Cute,
groovy and underrated. Underscored with intelligent sampling and
production which is complimentary to the main vocals. |
USA
CD
|
L-G |
| De
La Soul |
Three
Feet Deep and Rising |
Slowly
forgotten masterheads of hip hop. Brilliant feels, edgy rhythms
and memory churning sample usage. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Deee-Lite |
Groove
is in the Heart |
Still
sounds and looks great on video... What ever happened to them? |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Dodgy |
Home
Grown |
Songs
that, when played years on make you feel like the mid 90's was
like the mid 60's Summers of Love. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Dominique
Durand - from the band Ivy |
"Worry
About You" from the album Long Distance |
db
listing - top music choice
Ivy are a lo-fi gem from New York who have slipped almost unnoticed
into the top ten of favourite background music for tv shows and
movies. "Worry About You" is an outstanding offering from the
band's album "Long Distance", and surpasses even much of their
probable influences such as Portishead etc. Ivy make it into this
listing on that one track alone, but what gives them a place on
the top of the Dreambeat
Essentials is Paris born singer Dominique Durand ... An ultimate
dream-voice laced with pure pop melancholy. Simple, sultry - radiating
natural, liquid-emotion. Classy, without sounding over-trained
or contrived … Anna Karina, Francoise Hardy, Stereolab and a touch
of St Etienne instantly spring to mind....
...read
the rest of this Looking-Glass review |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Doors |
Riders
on The Storm / Light My Fire |
With
tracks like these never close The Doors behind you... |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Francoise
Hardy |
Le
Temps De Lamour / Comment Te Dire Adieu |
Unique
blend of distinct '60's French cool and offbeat melancholy, contemporary
pop. A little delicate around the edges, (which gives it such
an endearing dreambeat charm) |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Glen
Campbell |
The
Witchita Lineman |
A
classic outstanding song striking all the right dreambeat harmonics. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Hefti |
Theme
from The Odd Couple |
ditto
description as Taxi. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| hJuliana
Hatfield |
Spin
the Bottle - from the album "Become What
You Are" |
Great
lyrics, guitar parts - bubbly beats and whirly tunes mixed with
shades of giddy US grunge. Juliana has the sweetest voice, which
completes a perfect equation of sublime girl-guitar-popdeliciousness!
Ooh behave! |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Hooverphonic |
2wicky |
Belgium
Subultracool drum n' bass team, which takes the best of all ambient
worlds with a splash of Portishead. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Isis
Project |
The
Isis Project - Guy Chambers and Sophie Hunter |
The
Isis project was released in mid 2005 and sung by UK based actress
Sophie Hunter, the niece of Jane Birkin.
Playing this CD from the beginning, the album promises to be a
consistently beautiful collection of tunes, written by Guy Chambers,
that strongly reflect the style and textures of 60's French singers,
such as Francoise Hardy, Anna Karina and Birkin herself. The first
two tracks, 'Chère Isis' and 'Les Amants d'Edimbourg' reflect
this genre perfectly, but by the third song the music bizarrely
falls flat into an amateurishly produced collection of meandering,
self-absorbed, and often over-flourishing compositions.
Programmed with a hotchpotch of uninspiring drum and synth samples,
the remaining tracks give the impression of scratch-pad demos
rather than professionally arranged studio productions.
The only thing that saves the remainder of this album is Hunter's
truly beguiling voice. What on earth went wrong with the direction
of this album after the first two tracks is anyone's guess, but
the Isis Project could so easily have been one of the finest
concepts of its kind to be released this decade. Buy the album
all the same, because along with a beautifully designed CD casing,
the first two songs are worth every penny, but the spell may easily
be broken if you play the rest. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| James
Taylor |
Fire
and Rain (From the album Greatest Hits) |
Songs
in the same perfect melting pot as Carol
King. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| jAntonio
Carlos Jobim |
General
|
The
master of pink champagne lounge although be selective because
he, also, can go a bit heavy on the cheese. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| jBob
James |
Theme
from Taxi (Angela) |
There
are few TV themes which capture the ambience as a prelude to the
program itself...this is one such theme which does exactly that. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Jimmy
Smith |
A Walk
on the Wildside / The Organ Grinders Swing
(both featured
on the Compact Jazz album)
|
The
best and most dynamic interpretation of the Elmar Bernstien masterpiece.
A top down, October evening drive down to St Tropez.... turn it
up loud... Hammond heaven....mmm.... nice. "The Organ Grinders
Swing" will now be known to those familiar with the Renault
Clio adverts. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| John
Barry |
Theme
from The Persuaders |
Classy,
super-cool, fantabulous theme of themes. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| John
Barry |
The
Best of... |
Well,
you can't have too much of a good thing. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Kaoma |
Lambada |
Forget
the holiday fever hype surrounding this track... the song itself
was really sooo cute. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Led
Zeppelin |
L-Z
III side two tracks 1 to 3 |
A
set of deeper, real and refined melancolic accoustic songs which
seem to have otherwise gone over the heads of the usual Stairway
to Heaven brigade. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Leftfield |
A
Final Hit... etc |
Headphones,
horizontal, summer night, empty field. Stir emotions with stunning
tracks like A Final Hit. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Lenny
Kravitz |
Mr.
Cabdriver (from the album Let Love Rule) |
Scratch
pad song of which its rehearsal studio style rawness makes it
tireless. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| LL
Cool J |
Walking
With A Panther |
Back
track rapping with Cool... when mobile phones were the size of
riding boots. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| lMichel
Legrand |
Theme
from Summer
of '42 |
Michel
Legrand's sensitive composition which melts in your mouth. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Love |
Alone
Again Or |
Absolute
pinnacle of 60's acidpop.... just a beautiful song... press repeat. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Lush |
Sweetness
and Light |
Magical. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Mamas
and Papas |
California
Dreaming |
The
ultimate anthem in the spirit of West coast 60's melancholy. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Mash
(Johnny Mandell) |
Theme
from Mash |
ditto
descritpion as Taxi. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Mazzy
Star |
Fade
Into You (from the album So Tonight that I might
See) |
With
a voice (and looks) like Mazzy Star the majority of the productions
so far don't justify her potential. But this track works well,
out of context. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Melanie |
Ruby
Tuesday |
This chart version by Melanie of a Stones
acid-classic carries an equally beautiful, but different aproach
to the arrangement. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Miles
Davies |
In
A Silent Way |
The
origin of contemporary freestyle so subtle and underscored you
could play this eternally as incidental background to your own
life ... a circle, never ending... just press repeat on your player...
and drive... and do things. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Monkees |
Head (soundtrack)
also I'm
a Believer
|
A most original concept created
by The Monkees with some help from Frank Zappa. A cross blend
of musical extremes and sounds which, retrospectivly has since
paid off... becoming a cult classic 30 years later (see Head
in the film listing for further details).
Play "I'm A Believer"
back to back with The Archies' "Sugar Sugar".
|
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Nilsson |
Everybody's
Talkin (from the film Midnight
Cowboy) |
Just
a good "round and round like a windmill" song. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Nouvelle
Vague |
Nouvelle
Vague |
db
listing - top music choice
Released in early 2004 but only recently discovered by TV advert
makers (so you now hear extracts of this album on everything ...
which is kind of a shame), Nouvelle Vague is an amazing reworking
of 1980's new wave songs sung in a Latin style by the cutest sounding
French female singers. Yes ... it's a bizarre mix of musical genres,
but it works brilliantly.
Truly outstanding, and the best album of its kind to appear in
the first decade of the 21st century. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Plimsouls |
The
Oldest Story in The World / A Million Miles Away (from
the album Everywhere at Once) |
One
of the original West Coast jangly guitar bands with attitude who
dissapeared in 1984 only to return for a one off album in'98 sounding
very much like they used to. However we guide you to the an early
80's gem. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Radiohead |
Street
Spirit |
A
cross between Mash
and traditional english folk song.. in fact it sounds like a whole
of things but its still a groovy track. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Radiohead |
Talk
Show Host |
You
can also find this on the sountrack to Romeo and Juliet. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Robert
Miles |
Children |
Whirly
whirly feel-good... but shame about the token club-Ibiza-hammering-on-a-cardboard-box.
|
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Roberta
Flack |
Killing
Me Softly With His Song |
Same
story goes here as with the David Cassidy description but this
track was covered reasonably well but spoilt by completely out
of place flavour-of-the-month rap chat...so... hear this, the
timeless original. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Roni
Size/ Reprazent |
Brown
Paper Bag (from the album New Forms) |
Roni
Size became flavour of the month with some of the trying-desperately-hard-to-be-trendy
creative media set a couple of years ago... shame when that happens...
it somehow puts you off... but this one off track is special none
the less... so no long term damage done. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| rThe
Rolling Stones |
Ruby
Tuesday |
Flowing,
songwriting perfection and a beautiful arangement. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Saint
Etienne |
So
Tough |
Surreal
angelic, melancholic.. and therefore has the required ingredients
to make this another classic album of the dreambeat genre St Etienne
shares first place with Adventures
in Stereo and Air's
Moon Safari as three out of four of the best "dreambeat
sound" albums of 1990's. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Saint
Etienne |
Only
Love Can Break Your Heart |
The
original 1990 release in is the one to hear... not the later remix
with the annoying extra vocal spin in. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Satie |
Gymnopedies |
Never
fails to have you drifting into warm, Monet, lilly wonderlands. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Serge
Gainsbourg |
Couleur
Cafe |
As
well as being one Gainsbourgs album titles this track alone can
also be found on "Expresso"... a various artists compilation
of which 50% of the selection is OK... the other a bit naff. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Simon
and Garfunkel |
General
|
One
or two outstanding, unforgetable songs on most of their early
albums. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Smoke
City |
Underwater
Love |
Haunting. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Sneaker
Pimps |
Underground |
Oh
Wow!! |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Stereolab |
General
|
Haunting
tones and drones of a lo-fi dreambeat signature. A Looking-Glass
favourite. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Stina
Nordenstam |
Little
Star |
Beautiful,
upclose vocals from an artist who, astonishingly seems to be otherwise,
little heard of. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Talk
Talk |
It's my
life / Life's what you make it (from the album
The Very Best of Talk Talk)
|
From
a weak musical era that is easy to forget are two tracks from
an album which should not be forgotten. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Talking
Heads |
Once
in A Lifetime (from the album Remain in light) |
Timeless
and therefore should be played regularly... not just once in a
lifetime. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Vanessa
Paradis |
Joe
Le Taxi (from the album MandJ) |
Best
and most original track on the album, since the production otherwise
is in contrast muso-naff However the track MandJ grows on you.
|
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Vaughn
Williams |
General |
One
of the most accessible English composers of the last century...
an endless stream of simply beautiful visionary music |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Wannadies |
You
and Me Song |
The
best pop song ever? |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Wendy
and Lisa |
Valley
Vista (from the album Eroica) |
Prolific
Wendy and Lisa, originally with tafka-Prince, this effective acoustic
track stands out alone.. In fact has a very similar feel to....Led
Zepplin 3 side two... |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| William
Byrd |
General
|
A
general listing for this prolific 16th century composer who was
a scholar of Tallis.
As mentioned elsewhere forget the religious aspects, just soak
up the ethereal ambience. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Young
MC |
Brainstorm |
Quality
rap artist Young MC, Lyrically fun hip hop well produced and well
accessible. "Album Filler" does lots more than just
that. SpotonMC. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
Dreambeat
Listings