"I can hear music for the first time ever, what should I listen to?" is the headline of a Reddit post that caught my attention today. A Reddit user named deafstoryteller writes, "I was born profoundly deaf and all music sounded like trash through my hearing aids. That is until a couple days ago when I put on a new pair of hearing aids for the first time in years."
The author -- whose real name is Austin Chapman -- is a recent college graduate and filmmaker who runs the website Art of the Story. He went on to say, "Being able to hear the music for the first time ever was unreal.... Obviously, I did the only sensible thing and went on a binge of music." So far, he writes, his favorites include Mozart's Lacrimosa and a remix of "A Bad Place" by producer Christian Bauhofer (who goes by the name Minnesota).
But he wants suggestions for what to listen to next. He writes, "Give me the name of the most beautiful songs to you."
So let's do this together and make Austin a playlist. Tell us what you think the most beautiful music is and why he should listen.
Comments [68]
Simon Jeffes/Penguin Cafe Orchestra - "Silver Star of Bologna"
I would recommend PCO's albums Signs of Life, Broadcasting from Home, and the eponymous one as well. Wonder-full.
'All my Journeys' by Noonakai. So few people have heard it anyway! 'And all my journeys/ begin to make sense/ as she lies upon the bed/ My misadventures only meant me to be here/ alive with the sound of her breath.'
Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Isaac Stern version)
Puccini's O mio babino caro (Angela Gheorghiu)
Blue (Joni Mitchell)
The food court flash mob version of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus
Paul singing Yesterday on the Ed Sullivan show
The Weavers singing Shalom Chaverim
I think Wotan's Farewall would be appropriate or the final trio in Rosenkavalier. Both are truly "celestial" pieces
Clair De Lune by Debussy
Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros
Hazeltons by Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)
Opus 36 by Dustin O Halloran
I'll Try Anything Once by The Strokes
Girls by Death In VEgas
Mojo Pin by Jeff Buckley
Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Where Is My Mind? by Pixies
Sometimes by My Bloody Valentine
Chicago by Surfjan Stevens
Midnight City by M83
Lonesome Town by Ricky Nelson
The Sound Of Silence by Simon And Garfunkel
Cuckoo! by Benjamin Britten
Weekend by Real Estate
Leaving London by Tom Paxton
Lovely Day by Bill Withers
Never listen to this www.we-are-the-agency.com/
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
Respect - Aretha Franklin
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
All You Need Is Love - Beatles
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
Tutti-Frutti - Little Richard
What'd I Say - Ray Charles
Hotel California - Eagles
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazzlewood
Imagine - John Lennon
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Light My Fire - Doors
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
She Loves You - Beatles
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix Experience
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Maybellene - Chuck Berry
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
My Generation - The Who
Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
All Along The Watchtower - Bob Dylan
Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Let It Be - Beatles
Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
Jeremy - Pearl Jam
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent
Austin ... I meant to say thank you. Your request has introduced me to some wonderful new music.
In My Life - The Beatles
Hello Earth - Kate Bush
Tsintsqaro - Songs Of The Caucausus
Games Without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel
Zirkusmusik - Jürgen Knieper Wings Of Desire
New Year's Prayer - Jeff Buckley
Hot Day - Hugo Largo
Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts
4th of July - Aimee Mann
She's Gone - Tindersticks
Trouble - Elliott Smith
Cracking - Suzanne Vega
4 + 20 - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
America - Simon & Garfunkel
American Tune - Paul Simon
Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
In the Maybe World - Lisa Germano
Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues - Skip James
O Death - Ralph Stanley
Threnody For Carlos Chavez - Lou Harrison
Melody: Blow the Wind/Pie Jesu - Jocelyn Pook
Instrumental Piece No.1, fiddles - Hildegard von Bingen
Polegnala E Todora - Various Artists Bulgarian State Radio and Television
Ebben? Ne Andr Lontano (Catalani: La Wally) - Maria Callas
Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta (Puccini: La Rondine)
O Mio Babbino Caro (Giacomo Puccini: Gianni Schicchi)
Yumchen Tukar - Chöying Drolma & Steve Tibbetts
Part 1 - Philip Glass Music in twelve parts
Samuel Barber's Adagio - Kronos Quartet
Opening - Philip Glass (Glassworks)
Closing - Philip Glass (Glassworks)
In My Life - Johnny Cash
anything Bob Marley. THE most influential musician of all time.
ELVIS!! stoked for you austin! have fun on your audible adventures! theres so many i want to tell you to listen to but i think you have your ears full :)
Amelie soundtrack by Yann Tiersen
The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
Chopin
Mogwai
"Dancing" by Elisa
"The Writer" by Ellie Goulding
As a singer with a huge passion for music, reading your description on hearing music for the first time brought tears to my eyes. It was so beautiful. Thank you for blessing me with that account, Austin!
Elliot Smith - between the bars
Janis Joplin - summertime
Pilot Speed - alright
Scorpions - wind of change
The Verve - bitter sweet symphony
Pixies - where is my mind
The Smith - there is a light that never goes on
The Veils - lavinia
Cat Stevens - father and son
Modjo - lady
Nina simone - sinnerman
Norah jones - don't know why
Radiohead - creep
The Clash - london calling
Ben Harper - sexual healing
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
The Rolling Stones - paint it black
Bob Dylan - hurricane
Jeff Buckley - hallelujah
REM - losing my religion
Queen - bohemian Rapshody
Uematsu Nobuo (jap), Hans Zimmer, Mark Petrie, Sakuraba Motoi(jap), Rodrigo y Gabriella, Danny Elfman, John Williams, John Powell, Howard Shore... (composers)
Lindsey Stirling? (performer)
My mixtape for Austin:
1) Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im spiegel
2) Bonnie Raitt: Angel from Montgomery
3) Stevie Wonder: Knocks Me off My Feet
4) AC Jobim: Aguas de Março
5) Björk: Hidden Place
6) Caetano Veloso: Cucurrucucu Paloma
7) Aaliyah: At Your Best
8) Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong: The Nearness of You
9) Miles Davis: It Never Entered My Mind
10) Johnny Cash: Hurt
11) Cassandra Wilson: Tupelo Honey
12) Stephanie Winters: Precious Lord
1- Last goodbye - Jeff Buckley
2- Every shining time you arrive - Sunny Day Real Estate
3- Lovesong - The Cure
You have to include the Swell Season who have inspired a movie a soundtrack and a Broadway show, all award winners. From them Leave, Falling Slowly and The Hill have to be included.
Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros
Love Like a Sunset part 2 - Phoenix
Time - Hans Zimmer
Surface of the Sun - John Murphy
Planisphere part 2 - Justice
Air - Jean Sebastien Bach
Love is All - The Tallest Man on Earth
Mr Tambourine man - Bob Dylan
L'amour et la violence - Sebastien Tellier
Initials BB - Serge Gainsbourg
Baba O'riley - The Who
Woods - Bon Iver
Holocene - Bon Iver
Veridis Quo - Daft Punk
Echoes of Mine - M83
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
The beautiful downbeat:
Them with Van Morrison - It's all over now baby blue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-DCkdGL5s)
Van Morrison - I'll be your lover too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeo9AXn7stg)
Eddie Vedder - Rise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXVpjjpwNss)
Magnetic Fields - All my little words (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOHsgse29vY)
Gustavo Santaolalla - De Usuahia a la Quiaca (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIh1wCy8IoM&feature=related)
Muddy Waters - She moves me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmbTLK0yPB8)
The beautiful upbeat:
The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkumhBVPGdg)
Slow Club - Two Cousins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiViJkz10nw)
Black Kids - Im Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_gTiN2P-M)
Led Zeppelin - Black Dog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymkjimQyHC4)
The Strokes - You Only Live Once (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztccvaZ9_7k)
There's so many - so I could only give you what matched my mood for this night only. :)
- Would love to be listening to all of this for the first time.
Anything by Hans Zimmer, with a preference for "And then he kissed me" from Pearl Harbor's soundtrack...
Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire
Pavarotti - Ave Maria
Andrea Boccelli - Vivo per lei & Con te partiro
Extreme - More than words
Bon Iver - Skinny love & I can't make you love me
Elton John - My song
Hudson Taylor - Won't back down
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Little Joy - How to hang a Warhol
Classic film should feature highly... the marriage of vision and sound are magical... so I'll kick this list off...
Italian Job, 1969 Intro with Matt Munroe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z8aLdIejPs
Life affirming story, try these :)
Trentemoller - Miss You
Richmond Fontaine - We Used To Think The Freeway Was A River
Thomas Newman - Any Other Name
Andy Bey - River Man
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Another Rather Lovely Thing
John martyn - Solid Air
Happy Listening Austin
The Sad Song - Fredo Viola
Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars
Soulfight - The Revivalists
The Lightining Strike - Snow Patrol
Delicate - Damien Rice
The Trapeze Swinger - Iron & Wine
Nothing too crazy to begin with:
Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No.1
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Jimi Hendrix - Angel
Nick Drake - Day Is Done
Kraftwerk - Neon Lights
Depeche Mode - Somebody
Bobby Vinton - Blue Velvet
Sigur Ros - Svefn-G Englar
Air - All I Need
Björk - Venus As A Boy
Otis Redding - Sittin' On The Dock Of A Bay
Curtis Mayfield - Trippin' Out
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Neil Young - Heart Of Gold
Anything from The Beatles!, Arthur Honegger, Johan Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Richard Wagner, Antonin Dvorak and some tango as well.
Radiohead - No Surprises
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla
Björk - Joga
Animal Collective - Bluish
Violeta Parra - Gracias a la vida
Imagine - john lennon
Joy division - love will tear us apart
James - hymn from a villiage
Beatles - a day in the life
New order - blue monday
Theme from the godfather
Oasis - wonderwall
Blur - coffee and tv
Kaiser chiefs - modern way
Stone roses - she bangs the drums
The smiths - what she said
The Cinematic Orchestra's "To Build A Home"
Bright Eyes - Loose Leaves
Bon Iver - Holocene
Bon Iver - Beth/Rest
Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Skin
Elliott Smith - Alameda
Radiohead - Pyramid Song
JIMI HENDRIX! Just fuckin' JIMI HENDRIX!
The XX - Intro
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Yes - Close To The Edge
Genesis - Supper's Ready
Rush - Cygnus X-1 Book II
ELP - Take A Pebble
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things
Joanna Newsom - Sprout And The Bean
Happy Rhodes - The Chariot
Rufus Wainwright - Memphis Skyline
David Bowie - African Night Flight
Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
R.E.M. - Laughing
Queen - She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettoes)
Motopony "I'm Here Now"
Elbow "One Day Like this" or "Mirrorball"
Mother Falcon "Kathryn"
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad - Moby
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg - Je t'aime moi non plus
Hoppípolla by Sigur Ros is stunningly beautiful!
The Cocteau Twins (anything pre-90s)
J.S. Bach, Air on A G-String
Saint Saëns, Danse Macabre
"Kleine Nachtmusic", W.A.Mozart
"Casta Diva" from Bellini's "Norma" by Maria Callas
"A Love Supreme" , John Coltrane
"Heart of Gold", Neil Young
"Late for the sky" Jackson Browne
"Close to you" The Carpenters
Anything by the Beatles, Bob Marley and Leonard Cohen !
Oh, wow. What a great idea! Here's some of my favorites (so hard to pick!):
Bohemian Rhapsody, and Somebody to Love by Queen.
Spit It Out, by IAMX.
The Walk, Headlock, Wait It Out, and Xixi She Knows, by Imogen Heap.
Hear Me Out, and Flicks, by Frou Frou.
Bedshaped, Everybody's Changing, Perfect Symmetry, My Shadow, Try Again, On the Road, and Myth, by Keane.
Underworld - Born slippy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Pts7AljZQ) <3
Shauri Yako - Super Mazembe
Malaika - Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte
Many Rivers to Cross - Jimmy Cliff
Have fun exploring you've got a lot of catching up to do!
Arvo Part: Miserere
The National - Fake empire (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KehwyWmXr3U) <3
"I Can Hear Music" by The Beach Boys
"Pet Sounds" album by The Beach Boys
"Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy
...Should be a good start. :) God bless you buddy!
Lucy in the sky with diamonds - The Beatles
nearly any song sung by Ella Fitzgerald, especially when she sings with Louis Armstrong, it's absolute heaven.
Gregorian chants come first to mind
Let him feel the range of human emotion through music:
"Classical Gas" by Mason Williams always makes me stop what I'm doing and listen.
"Full of Grace" by Sarah McLachlan is the saddest song I've ever heard.
"Ballroom Blitz" by the Sweet will get you ready to party.
"Feelin' Love" by Paula Cole is sexy as all get out.
"Hallelujah" (I prefer the Timberlake/Sexton version) will bring the joy of natural vocal harmony, poetry, and crescendo to your ears.
"Bodies" by Drowning Pool will get you ready to thrash!
"Sous le dome epais" by Lakme will somehow make you feel like a flower - I can't explain it.
"America" by Neil Diamond will get your patriotism flowing.
"New York Minute" by the Eagles will bring you down and give you hope at the same time.
"A Murder of One" by Counting Crows will start your motor and get you ready to take on anything (and is an excellent driving song)
Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. It will change his life.
Barber's Adagio for Strings (Op. 11, second movement)
Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man
Telepopmusik's "Breathe"
Keith Jarret, the Koln Concert
Should definitely hear Fiona Apple's new album, THE IDLER WHEEL....
Best new music of 2012.
Profound, complex, can't stop listening.
Beethoven, Symphony 7 - Allegretto
Ernest Bloch - A Jewish Life - Prayer
Tarantella by W.H. Squire
Dvorak's cello concerto in B minor
Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles
Can you Feel It by Jackson Five
Aphex Twin - Girl/Boy Song
Burial - Night Bus
Eric Whitacre's Alleluia, or Lux Aurumque.
One of the most beautiful pieces of music I know is Antonio Vivaldi's 'Nulla in mundo pax sincera' which featured in the movie 'Shine'. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do every single time I hear it.
Sloop john b by the beach boys.
For me, the most beautiful music doesn't have words so I'll suggest classical or new age.
My classical music recommendations would be (these are my personal favorites):
-Chopin's Nocturne in E flat Major Op. No. 2
-Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu
-Massenet's Meditation de Thais
-Pachelbel's Canon in D
-Debussy's Claire de Lune
-Liszt's Liebestraum
-Saint Saen's The Swan
-Schumann's Traumerei
-Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16
-Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1
-Beethoven's Pathetique
-Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
-Dvorak's Symphony No. 9
As for new age artists:
-Enya
-Yanni
-Yiruma
Hope they can be of use. :)
I'd recommend these.
Brian Eno - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Green_World
Specifically: Golden Hours http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFDPdCuasY
I listened to this album while riding my bike along Lake Ontario. The sun was coming up, I was a little dazed, and everything just felt so fcuking beautiful. Like this music was magic.
Alexander Ebert - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_(Alex_Ebert_album)
Specifically the song Truth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9yibUR5KNI
I had been following a raw food/life guru online named Paul Risse of http://www.CleanseAmerica.com and he recommended this album. I love the album and this song is really awesome. Later on, I heard it on Breaking Bad. And I loved it even more. :)
King Crimson - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Court_of_the_Crimson_King
Specifically - I talk to the Wind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kVNl-9cS9c
There are lots of K.Crim songs to choose from, but this is just so floaty and nice.
Pink Floyd - Echoes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGwPSPIhohk
There was a time when I felt so overwhelmed... I went to the Lake and just looked out. There was a young boy throwing rocks into the lake while his grandmother read flyers. He threw rocks while I listened to the whole song, twice.
The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6tV11acSRk
It makes me cry almost every time.
Thx,
Michelle
http://www.twitter.com/ladyrubbersoul
"Symphonies" by Dan Black, "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone
Here's four I made earlier! http://8tracks.com/damfino
Here's 4 I made earlier!
My first piece (my mother played it for me in the womb and when I was a baby) and one of my favorites is Vaughn Williams, Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. I think it a pretty good introduction to music!
Some Bach, like the Well-Tempered or Art of the Fugue would also be good.
Some of the difficulty is that some music shows its most interesting qualities when you compare it to what went before. I love Spoon and I think everyone should listen to it, but is it the best place to start?
That is an awesome request! My recommendation: Regina Spektor - Us
#1: Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue."
#2: "Claire du Lune," Claude Debussy
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