| Artist |
Title |
Description |
Buy
at Amazon USA or UK
|
Suggested
By
|
| Air |
The
Virgin Suicides (sound track) |
Still
swimming in a sea of major/minor melancholy but no sign of the
voices from Moon
Safari which gave that extra dimensional edge... but still
brilliant. |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Bran
Van 3000 |
Drinking
in LA |
Classic
cool groove of the 1990's. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Brian
Eno |
Music for
Films / Music for Airports
|
The
godfather of ambient who has been an influence to many sound shapers
and synth-heads. |
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 |
| Carpenters |
Close
to You |
Songwriting
perfection from the Bacharach School of Smooth. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Cat
Stevens |
The
Best Of |
Covers
a fair chunk of his intelligent, outstanding repetoire. |
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 |
| David
Bowie |
Space
Oddity |
Some
of the lesser known acoustic tracks on this album need dusting
down and reintroduced to those who might never have realized how
earthy and sensitive Bowie's songwriting could be. |
USA
UK
|
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 |
| Delius |
In
A Summer Garden |
Perfect
afternoon tea side dish with the cucumber sandwiches |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Diana
Ross |
Do
You Know Where you're Going To (Theme from Mahogony) |
Kind
of song balance which brings the best out of Diana Ross. |
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 |
| Dusty
Springfield |
The
Look of Love |
Bacharach/David
masterpiece... the finest swansong for Dusty Springfield. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Elephants
Memory |
Old
Man Willow (from the soundtrack of Midnight
Cowboy) |
Eerie
psychedelic with an assorted arrangement of key and swing changes.
This is on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack mainly by John
Barry. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Everything
But the Girl |
Eden
/ Love Not Money |
Both
these early albums shouldn't be forgotten since there are one
or two choice tracks between them both (UK Eden, USA Love Not
Money as Eden not available in USA). |
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 |
| Future
Sound of London |
Dead
Cities |
Clever
use of the musical canvas creating tonal perspectives to a very
high standard with no noticeable naff synth sounds. |
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 |
| 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 |
| jQuincy
Jones |
$
(The Heist) soundtrack |
Lost
classic, which is bound to be "rediscovered" by trendy
media spotters at some point... and thereby used in a car commercial
as has Bulitt and Jimmy
Smith. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Julie
London |
Cry
Me A River |
Smoky,
sultry queen of cool lounge jazz. |
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 |
| Leftfield |
A
Final Hit... etc |
Headphones,
horizontal, summer night, empty field. Stir emotions with stunning
tracks like A Final Hit. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Liquid
Alice |
(theme
from) The Liberec Affair / on Eclipse |
Retro
but timeless classic reminiscent of the 60's 70's cold war romance
themes... On Eclipse produces atmospheric filtrations and sonically
well animated title description. |
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 |
| Mash
(Johnny Mandell) |
Theme
from Mash |
ditto
descritpion as Taxi. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Massive
Attack |
Unfinished
Sympathy (from Blue Lines)
Teardrop.
(from Mezzanine)
Protection
(with Tracey
Thorn on vocals)
(from Protection)
|
Essential
sonic solutions to encircle and pacify any emotional angst.
"Protection" eminates a stunning infinite groove. Take
a look at the promo maker Michel Gondry, an outstanding visionary
who directed this and also the listed Cibo
Matto videos... Perfect audio to visual interpretations. |
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 |
| Miles
Davies |
Lift
To the Scaffold (sound track) |
If
only there were stations which played just this pure definition
of smoky melancholy, instead of the meaningless thwacky-bass-UK
funk-muso-crap which otherwise pollutes the "Jazz" airwaves. |
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 |
| Miles
Davies |
Kind
of Blue |
The
definitive of smoky jazz... so smoky in fact it's best to leave
the windows open to keep carcinogens at safer breathing levels. |
USA
UK
|
|
| 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 |
| Portishead |
Dummy |
Mostly
tracks of a dreambeat nature. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Quincy
Jones |
Everything
Must Change |
Quality
vocal track from the album Body Heat. |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Traffic |
Mr
Fantasy |
Essential
for a retro- psychedelic night in sandwiched between an episode
of The
Prisoner and
Blow Up. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Tricky |
Hell
is Round The Corner (from the album Maxinquaye) |
scratchy-mello. |
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 |
| Youssou
N'Dour and Neneh Cherry |
7
Seconds |
Stands
out even further in later years as a classic pop song with emotional
substance. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
Dreambeat
Listings
