Picking Up Good Vibrations

Looking for the right tunes to mellow out to, but not looking to get put to sleep?

If words are the language of thought, then music the language of feeling. The right music can vastly improve any situation. Tough part is, that there are millions of songs out there. So, it is really an endless stretch of road to discovery.

There are just as many tunes out there as there are moods in the spectrum of human feeling. Some genres are identified immediately with certain settings and feelings, some artists can surprise listeners with range. Here are a couple albums that might do the trick.

• Coltrane's Sound - John Coltrane. Anything by Trane is quality, I chose this album particularly for one of the best mellow songs in the world, Equinox. It's a lovely back and forth between trane's saxophone and McCoy Tyner's piano. Also of note would be his take on Body and Soul.

• Sea Change - Beck. Definitely a different tone from the ecclectic mad scientist with a beatbox that Beck has established himself as. This album exposes a great mellow acoustic side to him. It was written right after a pretty public break up with a long term love, so it may be a little on the down side, but it's beautifully crafted and perfect for long road trips.
  

• Monk's Dream - Thelonious Monk. Another standard in the genre of Jazz is Monk. Absolutely incredible at Jazz Piano, he redefined the rules of jazz and led the way away from bebop to a more experimental phase.

• Roderigo y Gabriela - Roderigo y Gabriela. Here's a bit of world music that is simply phenominal. This duo hail from Mexico City, but spent years studying music in Ireland, and they are obsessed with Rock n' Roll. It makes for an incredibly enjoyable blend of flamenco guitar, wild percusion and quick picking solos. Some of it will ease you down, some will make you want to move eternally.

Honorable mentions:

• Classical music. It can be overwhelming to get through a lot of it, so look for a solid compilation. I have a collection called Lovers- The Greatest Hits. All the standards, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Mozart, and of course, Ravel's Bolero. It's Bo Derek approved.
• Common One- Van Morrison. Great vibe, and some excellent stream of consciousness rambling by Van in his experimental phase. Some of the tracks go over the 10 minute mark, but each has a great soft spoken roll to it. Check out the always uplifting Satisfied.

Naturally, there's plenty more out there. Let me know if you have your own to add to the list.