Best Easy Listening This Millenium

[Frawdo]

Note: "Easy Listening" could be replaced with "Sappy" or "Music to make love to"...

I was listening to The Raconteurs new album today, and the first slow track "Together" got me thinking. Back when I was 15/16 my friends and I all made our own CDs, which we called the "Easy Listening" series. The basic premise of these CDs was that we would put them on when we had girls around, slowly dim the lights, and try and get the girls to makeout with us.

(Yes, it did work, <3 sixteen year girls)

What I realized today is that my current Easy Listening CD is horribly out of date, being made sometime around the turn of the millenium. And while the Jack Johnson album "In Between Dreams" has been working nicely recently when I need help setting the mood to have sex, I really would like to make a new updated Easy Listening CD.

So what is the best sappy music that has come out in the last 5-6 years? Here's the tracks from the old CD so you get the idea:

1. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
2. Ahead By a Century - The Tragically Hip
3. Wonderwall - Oasis
4. Slide - Goo Goo Dolls
5. Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper
6. 3 AM - Matchbox Twenty
7. Crash - Dave Matthews
8. Free Falling - Tom Petty
9. Mexico - Incubus
10. Kiss Me - Six Pence None The Richer
11. Staind - Outside (live feat. Fred Durst)
12. Another Lonely Day - Ben Harper
13. Apparitions - Matt Good Band
14. Burn One Down - Ben Harper
15. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

[Wizerud]

Well ya gotta have something by Coldplay in there. I vote for Fix You.

[Rathmort]

Wonderwall by Ryan Adams, just for a bit of a link for you

Southern Girl - Incubus

Something by Death Cab for Cutie, what I'm not sure

Tonight - Easyworld

[Samflam]

Originally Posted by Wizerud

Well ya gotta have something by Coldplay in there. I vote for Fix You.

Good choice, but I'd have to go with something off of Parachutes.
Either "Everything's not lost" or "Sparks"

Some other good mellow ones
-Anything off of Moon Safari by Air. Especially when it's time to get yo freak on.
- Along the same lines, Zero 7. Very chill instrumental ambient stuff (the odd song has vocals)
- Elbow, "An Imagined Affair"
- Iron and Wine, well, most of their stuff, but one my favorites is "My Lady's House"
- The National, "Secret Meeting"
- Travis, "Slideshow"
- Blur, "No distance left to run"
- Anything from Beck's Sea Change but if I had to choose "Guess I'm doing fine", "Lost cause", "Golden Age"
- Verve, "Velvet Morning", "The drugs don't work", "Sonnet"
- Death Cab "Transatlantacism"
- Kings of Conveinence, pretty much anything
- Feist "Mushaboom", "Secret Heart"
- Broken Social Scene "Lover's spit"
- Ben Harper, "Forever", "Waiting on an angel", "By my side"
- Sebadoh "beautiful friend"
- Tragically hip, "Long time running"
- Sloan "I can feel it"
- Mazzy Star, "Fade into you"
- Jesus and mary chain "Why'd you want me there", "sometimes always"

[Tingteng]

No Jack Johnson?

Also to me, Pink Floyd was the opposite of easy listening. More like depressing.
Don't get me wrong I;m a big fan, but it doesn't seem like mood music to me.

I'll try and come up with some names later.

[Frawdo]

Originally Posted by Tingteng

No Jack Johnson?

Also to me, Pink Floyd was the opposite of easy listening.

Well, as I mentioned, the entire Jack Johnson CD works nicely, he's sort of already assumed.

"Wish You Were Here" isn't a really regular Floyd tune, it's quite mellow and easy going.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, I've downloaded pretty much everything that has been recommended and I'll be skimming through them picking out my favorites later on.

One thing I noticed, Samflam, is that your list contains a lot of bands with female lead vocalists. As you can see by my list, almost all the songs are male leads. This wasn't done intentionally at the time, I only realized it after listening to your songs. It got me thinking though; do male or female vocals set a better mood? Or does it even matter?

[Tingteng]

Just put in the garden state soundtrack and call it good

[Szlia]

m83 : I'm Happy, She Said. If only because it's the best track title ever.

[Samflam]

One thing I noticed, Samflam, is that your list contains a lot of bands with female lead vocalists. As you can see by my list, almost all the songs are male leads. This wasn't done intentionally at the time, I only realized it after listening to your songs. It got me thinking though; do male or female vocals set a better mood? Or does it even matter?

For me, I think both male and female vocals can help set a mood, but oftentimes I find myself playing songs to match my mood.
Though there are some female vocals that always get me thinking "damn, I wish she was singing that about me". (Check out "In time" by Zero 7 to see what I mean. Her voice just kills me)
Which I guess brings me to my point: it's really more the content of the lyrics and the message that I find myself relating to. Like alot of people, a really heartbreaking song or a soothing and chilled out song can make things make sense sometimes, or make you feel more sane.
Know what I mean?

PS - Frawdo, let me know which ones you liked. I could probably point you in the direction of some similar stuff if you're interested.