FAVE MUSIC - looking for something calming

[divagirl]

HI - I'm Amy and this is my first post in this room. I'm usually over in a/b, so HI to anyone I haven't met yet. :happy

I am wondering if anyone has a few favorite songs, singers or groups that really calm them. I have a music degree and am always on the lookout for great music and artists I haven't heard yet, and I'm really on a mission for calm stuff. I'll put my ideas here, in case anyone else is on this mission with me!

:stars some Sarah McLachlan stuff, though I think I've kind of worn her cd out over the years
:stars Norah Jones
:stars Patty Griffin
:stars Dar Williams
:stars Paul Simon
:stars Fernando Ortega
:stars a few songs by Robbie Williams - the low-key ones
:stars some Beatles songs
:stars some Radiohead stuff
:stars R. Carlos Nakai - a Native American flautist - rad stuff
:stars Michael W. Smith's slower ballads - beautiful

That's all for now - I'm eager to hear your ideas!

Amy:butterfly

[Catherose]

Hey Amy-

I've seen you around but I don't know if we've ever "met"- I'm Catherine!:supergrin

Jerry Garcia's album The Pizza Tapes is really calming in my opinion... it's just him, another accoustic guitarist, and a mandolin... one of my favorite memories ever is listening to this album while driving on the Pacific Coast Highway in California... it was just sooo beautiful and relaxing.

The song "Embryonic Journey" by Jefferson Airplane

Maybe some Bob Dylan?

I'll tell you if I think of anything else...

Catherine

[lostgirl]

Hi, Amy. I love music and find it to be very therapeutic. I love Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones, too. But I also find anything by Enya very soothing. Tara MacLean is another one who is not very popular but whose music I love. Her first, self-titled CD is the best, in my opinion. If you like piano music, Jim Brickman is great also. A couple of individual songs I really like are "Morning has Broken" by Cat Stevens and "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. If you like country, "I'm Moving On" by Rascal Flatts is great--very life-affirming if you're determined to leave your old ways behind. I'm not a huge country fan, but I really love that song!

Well, that's it for now. Hope you find something here you like!

Kelly

[tiger cub]

i like :notes Enya's "Sheperd Moon" :notes
i'm also totally hooked on the titanic soundtrack right now :supergrin

[AngelBarbie]

Hello, :hugon Amy :hugoff
Well for me, I love Dido, her album "No Angel" is fantastic. As are ablums by Moby and David Gray.
Another one I like listening to is "The Chill out Session two-thousand-&-Three, winter collection.

Favourite music depends what mood I am in at the time! Sometimes I just gotta listen to upbeat stuff to lift my mood.

The Cold Play and Pink albums are both also very good.

:gimmehug :love

[Louisa]

Hi Amy,

I'll share a few of my personal favourites:happy

My favourite artist of ALL TIME is Tori Amos and for calming songs of hers, I would recommend the following:
(nb:i would actually recommend them all but...:sarcasm)

****************(a thousand) oceans
Crazy
hey jupiter
carbon
gold dust
yes, anastasia
honey
a sorta fairytale
cooling
purple people

- - - - - - - - - -

I also recommedn Sarah McLachlan, Charlotte Martin and Enya

That's all I can think of for now!

Happy listening!

[frodosgirl]

:flower "In the Sun," Joseph Arthur
:flower "Lucky Ones," Bif Naked
:flower "New York State of Mind," Billy Joel (I am such a Billy Joel junkie
:flower "Forever Young," Bob Dylan
:flower "Bonfire," Lamb

Loreena McKennitt has some good music out, as well. And, of course, Ben Folds is a minor deity, but his music isn't really "calming" per se. Maybe 'Alice Childress'.

[Sweet Sangria]

Of course I agree with all the Tori Amos ones!

Try these little-know gems:
:stars Lauren Christy- Self titled CD
:stars Dishwalla- Opaline
:stars The Cider House Rules Soundtrack

[Louisa]

:hugonSweet Sangria:hugoff

I thought you might...:winky

(I noticed your name a couple days ago...:supergrin)

[ruthieeee]

heya Amy!!!!!!!!

the most calming music i have is Sigur Rós...they r my fave band ;) their album Agaetis Bryjun is especially relaxing...i love sven g v englar and sfarflur. they r an icelandic band and they rule!!! ;)

love,
ruthie

[fairy]

For calm, chilled out music I recommend these triphop groups:

:bullet Portishead (a british group... 'Dummy' is the better of their two albums, I think)
:bullet Morcheeba (another british group...try 'Big Calm')
:bullet Air (a french group, but in english...all of their albums are good)
:bullet Skinny (a british group... hard to define but their album, 'Taller', is really good)

And, given that you like Sarah Maclachlen, you will probably also like these:

:bullet Beth Orton
:bullet Paula Cole
:bullet Natalie Merchant
:bullet Erykah Badu (she's more R&B/soul but her songs are all very uplifting and chilled out)
:bullet Alicia Keyes (again more R&B-like but lots of calming ballads etc.)

[fairy]

... oh, also, try Eva Cassidy's stuff. She has a lot of albums out, all of the songs being covers of old classics (e.g 'Imagine', 'Fever', 'Over The Rainbow', 'Fields Of Gold'). She has the most beautiful voice in the world :happy

[Seabiscuit]

I'm another :notes music fishy here!
:notes Celine Dion has some great stuff
:notes Michelle Branch is way :cool too!
:notes The Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron soundtrack
:notes another Enya fan here!
:notes Jewel
:notes Amy Grant

[divagirl]

thank you!!! I am checking out your suggestions - Ruthie I am loving Sigur Ros!! Fairy - I forgot to mention Air before - I love their stuff. Thanks for the other suggestions - it seems we have pretty similar tastes. :happy Sweet Sangria - you're right about the Cider House Rules soundtrack - it's beautiful. :stars

any more????:supergrin

amy

[llamaface]

I find really weird stuff calming(happy hardcore for example) but I'll try to pick out the uber-weird stuff.

:drawpink Jeff Buckley - 'everybody here wants you', 'hallelujah'
:drawpink silverchair - 'after all these years', and the acoustic version of 'ana's song'
:drawpink anything by Hayden. Hayden is like the king of what my friend Mack and I call 'sad bastard music'
:drawpink Matthew Good Band - anything from the 'loser anthems' ep, 'apparitions', 'strange days', 'suburbia', 'running for home'


that's it off the top of my head. If I think of any more I'll let you know.

-Raven

[divagirl]

ooohhh - I love Jeff Buckley too!!! Great ideas Raven - thanks :happy

love,
amy

[Cressie]

:hugon Diva :hugoff

Thought I'd add my two cents worth

:bullet Be Good Tanyas - little known but quite Nora Jonesey
:bullet Nick Drake
:bullet John Martyn
:bullet Joan Baez
:bullet Josh Ritter

xxxx
Cressie

[Kensington]

:funky The new Tori Amos cd is fabbo.

:funky I also love the soundtrack to "Last of the Mohicans". Tho, um, besides calming me it also kinda makes me horny! :yay

[divagirl]

:bounce

[sunbliss]

I rely on calming,soothing music, here are some of my favs:

:stars Elton John
:stars Chicago (the classics)
:stars Cowboy Junkies- I really recommend! :supergrin
:stars Air Supply
:stars The Police
:stars Sting
:stars Fleetwood Mac

:love Sunbliss

[lilsweetie]

Portishead - Roads
:love Sarah Brighton - Deliver me :love excellent!!!
Googoo dolls - Iris
Are you sad? - OLP

[The Rescuer]

Howdy. :singing

Some albums that calm me.

:winky Rufus Wainwright (self titled)

:winky Eva Cassidy (the voice of an angel!)

:winky Tortoise (mellow jazzy instrumental)
I reccommend TNT

:winky Listening to the Jayhawk's Tomorrow the Green Grass is like drinking chamomile tea

:winky Whiskeytown's Pneumonia

I plan on looking into other's sugggestions!
Thanks for the cool post.

Miss Understood

[BeckaBear]

here are my ideas...

:singing cindy bullens "somewhere between heaven and earth" (can be found at www.cindybullens.com)
:singing lori mckenna "paper wings and halo" (can be found at www.lorimckenna.com)
:singing faith hill "cry"
:singing indie arie "video"
:singing john mayer "your body is a wonderland"
:love jen

[L@UK]

...just wanted to second Louisa and Kensington...

Tori Amos is the way forward, man!!

Shes got some really beautiful stuff..

Ill just add a few of my calming favourites on to Louisas list:

:stars Bells for her (the live version is fantastic :winky )

:stars Cloud on your tongue

:stars Scarlets Walk (faaaaaab track)

:stars Concertina

:stars Winter

But the album Scarlets walk, is probably the most calming of the lot... its so amazing.

[purple_tao]

:gumby!!!

You didn't say HOW CALM you want to be :muhaha. I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to music. I love most!! But for me, these work wonders:

:notes Kate Price (Celtic singer) Her "The Isle of Dreaming" cd is THE BEST

:notes Dean Evenson & Li Ziangting, "The Tao of Healing". It's recommended for use during massage therapy, acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, relaxation..... Has a distinct Oriental flavor.

:notes Ronnie Seldin "Heart of Zen". He's a shakuhachi flute player (Japanese flute). Just him playing his flute on the CD. I love it, but I suppose it could grind on someone's nerves if they don't like Japanese flute music.

More mainstream would be:

:notes Lorenza Ponce "Imago" Beautiful voice, gorgeous violinist, wonderful lyrics, all around top-notch CD.

:notes Boney James (sax/jazz). ALL of his CD's a great, but my fav is "Sweet Thing". Very mellow jazz. One or two songs on each of his CD's have vocals. Most are instrumentals.

:notes Sade "Love Deluxe". I turn to mush listening to this one. Can anyone have a more beautiful voice?

And then, if you want the retro-psychedelic "calm", might I suggest either/both "The Wall" and/or "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. I'm a zombie everytime I listen to them :sarcasm.

There are tons more, but I see you've already gotten so many other suggestions. Just thought I'd add my two cents' worth :supergrin

:peace

[divagirl]

:bounce

[elektra]

:hugon Amy :hugoff

I'm going to jump in with a classical perspective here. Once a music history major, I'm down with all that. :winky

Tchaikovsky's fifth and sixth symphonies: most beautiful melodies ever and totally emotional. Also, the piano trio in A minor -- simply lovely.

Verdi's Requiem

Philip Glass's Violin Concerto: it's minimalistic in style, therefore lulling and calming. Gorgeous piece.

Purcell's "Dido and Aenas"

any of the Borodin string quartets

Schubert's string quartet "Death and the Maiden"

Chopin Nocturnes (a sure bet for tranquility)

Debussy Preludes (books one and two for piano)

Try some of those. I'm sure you'll find something to ease you right into a calm mood. Good luck!

:love
Elektra

[divagirl]

Ooooohhh :hugon elektra :hugoff

THERE'S my music history fishy friend!! :supergrin I haven't seen you around much lately but have never forgotten that you're a fellow classical lover... :touched These are great suggestions. :stars***ANY FISHY WHO NEEDS SOME CLASSICAL MUSIC IDEAS - IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START THESE ARE AWESOME***:stars

Thanks for chiming in. It's really good to see you.:love

love, amy

ps - what are you doing w/ your major? I'm planning to start my masters in library science/musicology as soon as my husband's military stint is done. (I can only handle teaching elementary for so long...:ummm:sarcasm)

[elektra]

:hugon :love Amy :love :hugoff

Hi, there. Yes, I'm still swimming around here. I take breaks every now and then, but always return when I'm especially lonely and need understanding.

Last time we e-mailed I told you about my musical education; I was, of course, drowning in the disease last summer, so I have since decided not to return to music school and not finish off that degree. It came down to the fact that the head professor and I just had no relationship and for me to go through all the torment of staying in school while so depressed I needed support from a prof, and he wasn't gonna be the one.

I'm also a (hopefully) budding writer and book lover. I'm transferring schools after this past year being on hold or a drop-out, whatever you prefer to call it. I'm going to study Writing and Publishing. I've been lucky enough to be passionate about two different art forms; I gave one a shot, and now it's time to attend to the other. :happy

But I"m still playing piano. I work at a church and it is not only great money, but I am forced to practice every week and I can't let that slide. I've had that job for a year now with no signs of stopping. It makes me feel good that I'm making money with music. All those lessons are finally paying for themselves. But I'd play anyway. Or at least I started to want to again after I stopped being SO sad ALL the time. :shy

I'm so happy to hear you're going to go back for another degree in music! Congrats on making that decision. I totally understand about not being able to teach forever. I taught privately for two years and it's draining, much less so than in a classroom. I admire that you have a job like that. I'm not patient enough and would be a terrible classroom teacher. And I"m hoping that you deciding to go back to school is a surefire indicator that things are a lot easier in your life right now. Are you feeling better at the moment? I do hope so. I read your posts, even when I don't respond, because I've always felt a kinship with you, dear :fishy . Take care!

:love
Elektra