I normally can’t sleep with any noise, let alone music, within earshot, but I make an exception for the album Z by My Morning Jacket. Infact, that album puts me to sleep even if I’m not trying to be.
I love that track, as well. I also really like the instrumental “As it Fades” (a fan video can be seen on youtube right here) from the new album for relaxing moods.
Thanks to years of conditioning in high school and college, there is almost no Pink Floyd that I can’t happily, easily, and blissfully fall asleep to. My personal fave is side 1 of Animals.
“House of Cards” off the new Radiohead CD is pretty Brian-Eno / U2 sounding, could be good for drifting off.
Not a plug (OK, maybe a little plug).
How about songs that you wish didn’t put you to sleep? “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan always makes me feel tired. Something about the slow tempo and the cadence of her voice just shuts down my higher brain functions. Unfortunately, the radio station we listen to at work plays this song at least once a day. And each time, I groan, “Oh no, here’s Valium Chick.”
This entire thread could be about Low . They’ve made a career out of slow, quiet, sparse beauty. Their song Do You Know How To Waltz? is particularly nice for nap time listening.
Metallica’s ‘Black Album’ puts me right to sleep after a bit. Enter Sandman has nothing to do with it, I normally doze off after ‘Don’t Tread On Me’.
Ravel’s Bolero. I think it’s sort-of accidental Pavlovian conditioning, though. Waaay back in college we played that at the end of our chemistry fraternity initiation ritual. By which time we’d all been up for ~48-hours. And my part involved sitting behind the speaker at the end, looking solemn.
So I got used to struggling to stay awake (lest I faceplant into a candle and set my face afire) while the Bolero played softly behind me. Now, any time I hear it… head starts nodding, eyes get heavy. (although I no longer suffer vague and sleepy dread of catching myself on fire)
There are 3 songs off the top of my head that I refer to as “Audio Seratonin”.
“Don’t Know Why” by Nora Jones
“Selfless Cold and Composed” by Ben Folds Five
“Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” by **The Smiths ** (Annie Lennox also does a gorgeous version of this song)
Oddly enough, I’ve always considered Black Sabbath’s Paranoid just the right thing for dozing off. It was one of my first tapes and has been quite comforting over the past 19 years.