I need some help finding some good... calming, thinking music(?)
21 replies, posted
It's rather hard, but I've compiled a list to get a generalization of what I'm looking for
The Call of Ktulu
Orion
To Live is to Die
The Unforgiven I/II/III
Nothing Else Matters
El Manana
Sandpaper Kisses
Mockingbird
Frozen Sky
Sleeping Stars
Fade to Black
Feel Good Inc
I want something with a great melody, a steady beat, it lyrics are an option and it... it has to be calming, I guess
It's hard for me to explain, really
It wasn't until the recent years that I've actually started listening to music. Help me out?
Steve Reich - Music For Eighteen Musicians
Most calming shit ever. The piece is about an hour long, so I'm only going to link one part of it.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiV9f1_PFHE[/media]
Pretty much every Steve Reich piece is really hypnotic.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKXy1FPTdvg[/media]
^ For those not in the know, "phasing" is when two musical ideas are played at different tempi. The result is that the two ideas become closer and then further apart, then closer again, like two out-of-sync turn signals at a stoplight.
tl;dr: What this guy is doing is really fucking hard.
Adagio - Underworld
By the end of this song, I'm always asleep, and it's badass. The arrangement is like a fathomless pool of sound.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY-WteA9gYA[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMQZjTHkLKs[/media]
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (album)
Selected Ambient Works Vol 1 - Aphex Twin
Give Summoning a check out. They're Atomspheric/Epic black metal. But don't let the black metal thing scare you off. Give them a listen, they're incredibly mellow, quiet, background atmospheric guitars, synth is really the main instrument. Echoed, slow, beating thundering drums. You really get lost in your own world with them. They're amazing. The vocals are very background as well, and distorted. They use black metal shrieks, but don't let knowing that through you off.
You really don't have to be a black metal fan at all to like these guys, they don't sound much like normal black metal at all, other than their shrieking vocals and tremolo guitar. Lots of their fans aren't big bm fans, if at all.
They might be a bit of an acquired taste. listen to the whole song.
Part one of their single best song:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxbG_rFrjGE[/media]
Part 2:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08sMSE3mJq0&feature=related[/media]
Oh, and Burzum as well. He's Ambient black metal. An absolute genius, real magic in his work. It's indescribable. Once again, a bit of an acquired taste. So don't stop listening just because you don't like it initially. He doesn't use that much vocal work, but that what he does isn't cliché black metal at all. It's very animalistic, I guess. Incredibly unique. Pretty much everything is a background instrument, honestly. Give both of these a good listen, you may well like them. But listen to the whole songs. I know they're long. But you really have to let the music absorb you to understand the underlying magic in it.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyRUbC6F_Uc[/media]
This one seems to be his most popular song, I think it's a little overrated but I'll post it anyway.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luFCBdS5PAs[/media]
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
The music is amazingly unique in message and style
Try some noir jazz.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P4CmKGca5Q[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJGiSqfbas[/media]
Caribou- Melody Day for example.
Oh yeah, and DEFINITELY Alcest. Amazing shoegaze/post-rock band from France, beautiful. (Although they draw some black metal influence, but you don't really notice it, except for in the first two songs where he uses distorted guitar. There's sometimes black metal vocals used, but rarely, and only on a few tracks. And it's atmospheric black metal when it is.)
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dwrrLb-uJQ[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag8FAxaD4aI[/media]
Nice ambience but it isnt as calming as you suggested. its metal :)
feel good inc compared to metal? Hmm
I think it very calming. It's better for prolonged listening than just a song or two though, you have to let yourself be absorbed by the music
Post-rock is fantastically calming.
Try out some Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor for starters
[editline]04:53PM[/editline]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I30H7mhfLe8[/media]
[QUOTE=mikeyt493;22469891]I think it very calming. It's better for prolonged listening than just a song or two though, you have to let yourself be absorbed by the music[/QUOTE]
It has nice ambience, if you find it calming like a song like feel good inc in the op then fair enough. I like it but i would try a different style even some punk rock is calming, black metal isnt that much in a world of its own
[QUOTE=Akayz;22470696]It has nice ambience, if you find it calming like a song like feel good inc in the op then fair enough. I like it but i would try a different style even some punk rock is calming, black metal isnt that much in a world of its own[/QUOTE]
I know, but I just find a real magic about the music which I can't find anywhere else.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZBoXTsAQ-k[/media]
Book of Saturday - King Crimson
Always relaxes me and doesn't hinder thinking.
buckethead's colma album...
[QUOTE=Akayz;22470696]It has nice ambience, if you find it calming like a song like feel good inc in the op then fair enough. I like it but i would try a different style even some punk rock is calming, black metal isnt that much in a world of its own[/QUOTE]
I find black metal very soothing. It's all about spinning the yarn, making an atmosphere, telling a story. Having that tremolo-picked guitar sound going softly in the background for a good part of ten minutes really fills the space; it's very easy to get lost, thinking about magic forests, mountains, and vikings. Black metal is an extremely colorful and extremely narrative style, in that regard, and does set a very pensive mood.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az_izQxE10w[/media]
Gorillaz, on the other hand, is calming in that it's just chill music. And I'd hate to say it, but stuff like Gorillaz is nowhere as deep, emotional, and meditative as black metal.
And here's another contribution:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZqJsX2Ub1o[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci_LIavsEhQ[/media]
Nah und Fern by Gas is four discs of amazing, calm, deep music that would be great to relax and think to.
[QUOTE=TheWiseTruth;22468154]Selected Ambient Works Vol 1 - Aphex Twin[/QUOTE]
and volume two
[editline]08:03PM[/editline]
especially volume two:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkVT2NwiAgY&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTJDUqXZtac&feature=related[/media]
Seriously [B]ignore [/B]the alarm clock at the very start of this video. It's not in the actual version of the track and I have no clue why the uploader tacked it onto the start.
Stars of the Lid:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PE50PZG5aw[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCOe5iMz_OI&feature=related[/media]
Oh jeez, I was about to suggest some jazz. I don't quite understand how those songs are calming. Ever try listening to Pink Floyd?
Boards of canada
[QUOTE=Pepin;22479068]Oh jeez, I was about to suggest some jazz. I don't quite understand how those songs are calming. Ever try listening to Pink Floyd?[/QUOTE]
I think it depends on your definition of calming. I won't dispute that Pink Floyd is generally calming music, but I can't listen to that stuff for longer than a few tracks before turning it off. Same feeling over and over again, it doesn't draw me in like a lot of my favorite records do. "Calm" doesn't mean it has to be devoid of any contour; I find stuff that develops and changes to be calming, because then my mind is focused on what the music is doing and filters out everything else around me.
As far as jazz goes, I don't have a calming jazz record in my collection. I've always found it to be a very antsy style of music. Even Miles Davis' cool jazz stuff seems pretty energetic to me. Although, this is just amazing:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dntaJEqH9IM[/media]
Still don't think it's very calming, however. This is far more calming for me:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qdpSGIz8aw[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JD5VT2DHDM[/media]
It lures you in, hooks you, gets you involved, brings the energy up, wears you down, then floats you down again. Put on some good headphones, it's total immersion. As soon as you forget that you have to go to work/school in the morning, take care of bills, or deal with people you don't want to deal with, you are calm and relaxed. To me, that is what's meant by "calming". Of course, I would never put any of this music on at a party; it's listening music, pure and simple.
