The genre of music I love and most often listen to is “New Age / Lounge / Easy Listening”
(I invite you to listen to them!!)
Best heard alone, best heard at night, best heard in Nature (or on drives), best heard at emotionally intense times in your life, best discovered by surprise…..
Hard to pick the ‘best’ but here’s an attempt at a top 10
10. Alexendra : Gnomusy
One of the songs that introduced me into this genre, it takes me back to “Ways of Winners” days in 2003–04 :)
9. Melencoholic Ecstasy : Indian Ocean
Nice, long, lingering ….from earlier days of Indian Ocean, it crept in with a range of songs (Kandisa, Khajuraho, Kaun) but stayed on…
8. Golden Lotus : John Neptune
Can’t forget the Japanese dance curated with Ananya for this one — spotted it being played by some airline too….very oriental
7. Sitar Ritual : Badmarsh & Shri
On loop through my Turkey-I, the drums and the hums of this one are lovely, upbeat and ideal for a lonely night
6. Moon De Lounge : Joy of Elements
A very intimate instrumental, part of the Guitar Del Mar…slow, smooth and gentle….
5. Solitude : Karunesh
So much of what I listen is Karunesh — in a toss up between Beloved (a song of love) and Solitude (a song of loneliness), I’m gonna go for the deep pain that Solitude evokes for me — nothing like listening it on loop during cold post break-up nights!
4. Breathing Light : Nitin Swahney
A beautiful hopeful track that is a faithful meditation backgrounder after its initial mumbling that includes the phrase “You are free to be free to be free <echoing>”
3. Ananta : Talvin Singh
The official Relead+ soundtrack, it captures for me the creative spirit — the pause in the middle of the song is EVERYTHING…it makes the song what it really is :)
2. Dreamcatcher : Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor
Beautiful Rumi poetry with a drifty feel, its perfect for a night in the desert under the stars when marvelling at the Universe or longing for home
1. Hidden Places : Karunesh
Between Alibaba, Punjab, Call of Tribes, Joy of Life, Evening Reflections, EarthSong and many many others, I pick Hidden Places for the special quality of mystery that it evokes for me….listening to it on beaches and train journeys and night drives over and over makes it a background track in my head!