| 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 |
| 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 |
| Apples
in Stereo |
Her
Wallpaper Reverie |
Beatle-ish
artists laced with West Coast feelgood flavours. |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
|
Jacky
|
White
Horses |
Surreal,
anomaly yet with rather cheesy "children's hour" vocals. |
USA
CD
|
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 |
| 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 |
|
Lightning
Tree
|
The Settlers
|
Can
only be described as a song joined at the hip with
White Horses. |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| T.Rex |
Prophets,
Seers and Sages the Angels of the Ages |
Good
starting point for anyone curious to discover early Marc Bolan
for the first time. |
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 |
| Wannadies |
You
and Me Song |
The
best pop song ever? |
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
