| 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 |
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 |
| Allegri |
Miserere
Mei, Deus |
The
inclusion of choral works in these listings has nothing to do
with any religious context whatsoever. The point is that this
ancient music can produce some of the most stunning harmonics
in the history of creative sound ... and Allegri's Miserere is
one of the most haunting, moving and melancholic of such pieces.
|
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 |
| Bobby
Goldsboro |
Summer
(the first time) |
Song
for a rainy day. Classic West Coast smooth emotional cheese with
the ultimate, tear jerking, 7 note piano hook. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Bonzo
Dog Doo Dah Band |
I'm
The urban Spaceman...and others |
Jolly,
jolly, jolly fun. |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Corrs |
General
|
From
one brother and three perfect sisters comes all-perfect-pop with
the central dreamvoice of Andrea Corr being one the finest and
uncontrived in the current mainstream... |
USA
UK
|
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 |
| David
Cassidy |
(from the
best of album Daydreamer) eg. "I am a Clown"
|
You
may well cringe, but take a moment to review the musicality of
this screaming teens 70's pop throb. Songs like these are sometimes
rediscovered during weak pop-writing-periods, such as the present.
So they roll out the 60's and 70's formulae and flatten a great
song into a limp cover version sung by boybands and girlbands
with horribly forced voices. Why not just buy and listen to the
original and best versions instead? |
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 |
| Deee-Lite |
Groove
is in the Heart |
Still
sounds and looks great on video... What ever happened to them? |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Fairport
Convention |
Meet
on The Ledge (Box Set) |
A
best of compilation which reflects the acid folk era in its best
form. |
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 |
| Gibbons
(Orlando) |
General
|
Not
the "lets all join in hymns"... no way! but the alternativechoral
and instrumental compositions. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Glen
Campbell |
The
Witchita Lineman |
A
classic outstanding song striking all the right dreambeat harmonics. |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Gordon
Lightfoot |
If
You Could Read My Mind / Daylight Katy / The Circle is Small |
Unfortunately
you won't find all these songs on one album... but we will guide
you to the best options on the click through... |
USA
CD1
CD2
UK
CD1
CD2
|
L-G |
| Hefti |
Theme
from The Odd Couple |
ditto
description as Taxi. |
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 |
|
Jacky
|
White
Horses |
Surreal,
anomaly yet with rather cheesy "children's hour" vocals. |
USA
CD
|
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 |
| Jethro
Tull |
Life's
A Long Song EP |
A
period when this band where still relatively unaffected by over
flashy musology and still delivered emotional and heartfelt melodic
textures. (can only find "Life's A Long Song" most of
Tull's stuff after '79 misses the mark). |
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Jimi
Hendrix |
Electric
Ladyland |
Only through the free spirit in Hendrix can true soul inspired
guitar artistry make sense... .It also confirms why so many third
rate twiddly fiddly rock lead guitar players down the pub just
don't get it... do they. |
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 |
| 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 |
| Kate
Bush |
Wow
/ The Man With The Child in His Eyes |
The
Whole Story, (being "the best of") has these and a couple
of other memorable tracks. |
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 |
| 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 |
| Mahler |
Symphony
No 5, Adagietto (music from the film Death
in Venice) |
Incredibly
moving and timelessly emotional. |
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 |
| 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 |
| Mathews
Southern Comfort |
Woodstock |
Well
yes... a cool southern comfort version of a c.s.nandy song which
hit no1 in the UK charts in 1971. |
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 |
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
|
|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Quincy
Jones |
Everything
Must Change |
Quality
vocal track from the album Body Heat. |
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 |
| 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 |
| Samuel
Barber |
Adagio
|
The absolute definition of musical
melancholy...It also seems to have been rediscovered in the
last three or four years and is therefore played and "remixed"
into commercial overkill... don't let that put you off.
|
USA
UK
|
L-G |
| Satie |
Gymnopedies |
Nev |
Dreambeat
Listings