Buzz In: What's Your Favorite Soothing Music?

BuzzSugar — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:30:19 -0700

Music is a very personal thing. What's pleasing to the ears of one person can be nails on a chalkboard to another. Even iPod playlists are like snowflakes: no two alike. But I find that people can be most varied when it comes to what they listen to when they need to be soothed.

The very definition of the word "soothe" is "to tranquilize or calm." Think auditory Xanax. A quick Amazon search of "soothing music" leads to mostly instrumental compilations meant to lull you to sleep. For me, these Enya-eque tunes are more boring than calming.

So, what mellows me? Well, a little Sade goes a long way. Her voice is sensually raspy, and I instantly get transported to whatever perfect-love scenario she's currently crooning about. The Beatles have a similar calming effect. It probably has something to do with growing up listening to their albums, back when I had no adult responsibilities. I asked Bella this question and she says calms the ol' nerves with The Sea and Cake.

What about you? What CD or artists do you listen to when you just want to kick back and relax?

Song of the Day: The Sea and Cake, "Crossing Line"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:02:00 -0700

For some reason, the jaunty, breezy, and jazz-inspired pop of jazzy The Sea and Cake has always sounded like summer to me. So it's fitting that the band's first full-length album in four years is coming out right as we're having an unseasonably warm and wonderful week of San Francisco weather.

The new CD, titled Everybody and hitting stores today, will sound comforting to fans of the Chicago indie-scene supergroup, which includes Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, and Tortoise drummer John McEntire. After all, these guys save the radical departures for their side projects, keeping the Sea and Cake's sound relatively uniform but consistently lovely over the years. "Crossing Line" is unexpectedly more rockin' than some of the band's other stuff but still oozing with the sound of summer. To listen, read more