Recommended easy listening. Relaxing, soothing background music.

ebb tideFuranku Chakkusufīrudo

Ebb Tide Frank Chacksfield

This piece is another one that really makes you feel it’s easy listening.

However, it’s often the case that songs that seem that way at first glance are actually composed by famous composers.

This track is a classic example—it’s well-known, but listeners simply don’t realize it due to a lack of knowledge.

Place to BeUehara Hiromi

Hiromi Uehara – Place to Be

This also falls under the jazz category, but it’s a piano instrumental.

The melody conveys both the strength of Japan’s recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake and uniquely Japanese values like wabi-sabi.

It’s a moving piece, yet because of its jazzy tone, it’s also a song I often listen to when I want to relax.

ElectraAirstream

Electra

When you feel a flutter in your heart or a touch of melancholy, you naturally crave slow-tempo electronica, don’t you? “Electra,” released by Airstream in 2005, is a track that evokes nighttime cityscapes and scenery.

Hip-hop-flavored drums and melodious synths resonate throughout.

Pay attention to the guitar arpeggios that appear midway through the song as well.

It also carries a lo-fi vibe and the charm of a film score.

It’s a slow-tempo number you’ll want to play on sleepless nights.

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Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus [Orfeu Negro]

This song, for instance, is surely what everyone imagines when they think of easy listening.

The restrained yet properly engaging piano is a thoroughgoing display of craftsmanship, deliberately arranged so it never gets in the way.

It’s perfect to put on when you want to concentrate, like when studying for exams.

OblivionAstor Piazzolla and his band (Asutoru Piazzora)

Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla and his band (original)

I wouldn’t be surprised if this song were used in a travel commercial.

Just listening to it makes you feel as if you’re on a trip somewhere.

In contrast, the latter half of the piece carries a sense of wistfulness and evokes a certain nostalgia.

Milonga del ÁngelAstor Piazzolla（Astor Piazzolla）

Astor Piazzolla-Milonga del Ángel

This piece is so well-crafted that it wouldn’t be out of place in an Italian mafia film.

In fact, it might already have been used in a famous movie, but with my lack of study and limited knowledge, I can’t say for sure.

That said, there’s no doubt that it’s a masterpiece and a wonderful song.

For a Few Dollars MoreEnnio Morricone (Ennio Morikōne)

For a Few Dollars More (Yūhi no Ganman) — Ennio Morricone

I think there are hardly any people who don’t know the film “For a Few Dollars More,” except perhaps among the younger generation.

It was such an influential Western that whenever people heard this music, everyone would mimic a quick draw.

It feels like a time that’s hard to imagine nowadays.