Sonic Bliss 24-24 (Show # 1000 !)

Sonic Bliss #24-24

June 16, 2024

SHOW #1000

My 37 favorite Sonic Bliss tracks

(40 didn't fit in 3 hours)

#37 JEFF BUCKLEY - Everybody Here Wants You

If Jeff Buckley hadn't died so young he would have reached superstar status.  This song should have been a monster hit, but so few people in radio at the time were adding songs based on actually hearing them instead of image.  

#36 FAITHLESS - Don't Leave

A quiet, desperate plea to keep a relationship together.  Name dropping Joni Mitchell doesn't hurt. Rollo Armstrong's fingerprints are all over this list.  

#35 FEIST - One Evening

This was the first song I ever heard from Feist, that I played over and over and over the first night I heard it. 

#34 BOARDS OF CANADA - Aquarius 

In 1998/99 I listened to internet stations from around the world and X-FM in Dublin played about a 3 hour loop of songs over and over, no announcers, and this weird little song caught my ear, but with nobody to identify it, I didn't know what it was.  Stumbled across it a few years later and finally found the name    

#33 ULRICH SCHNAUSS - Shine

Another song found while "music mining" for the show.  Most of Ulrich's music is instrumental, but this one has vocals and I think it's him singing.  

#32 SASHA DOBSON - Without You

She was once in a country band with Norah Jones called Puss N Boots, but this solo track blows any of that out of the water with it's simple, warm Bossa Nova rhythm.

#31 RADIOHEAD - Exit Music (For A Film)

Of course there was going to be a Radiohead track on the list.  I went with this beautiful, but dark masterpiece that builds intensity until it's very dramatic crescendo and release. 

#30 HNNY - Sunday

Not much to the lyrics and a repeating string section sampled from another song, but this may be just about the most dreamy and relaxing song on this list.  

#29 DELERIUM & SARAH McLACHLAN - Silence

This song actually was a hit in Detroit, where we often get Canadian crossover thanks to the Windsor radio stations.   This came out not long after "Sadeness" by Enigma, which took the world by storm.  I want Sarah to do a whole album with this feel. 

#28 SCIENCE FOR GIRLS - 14 Days

I don't know much about this artist, all I ever found was one album, but this was played on repeat on a long drive home right after stumbling across it. 

#27 AIR - Cherry Blossom Girl 

This isn't the only Air song on this list, there is another right near the top.  They are touring their Moon Safari album in 2024 (October 10 in Detroit) and even though this is on another album, I sure hope they play it. 

#26 KOOP - Waltz For Koop

This Swedish duo would cobble together pieces of other music (typically jazz) to make new songs and they have several gems, but to me this is the most memorable.    Sad that they stopped making music. 

#25 HANS ZIMMER - Time

From the Inception soundtrack, it's amazing what Zimmer does with 8 simple notes.  Would love to see him live. 

#24 EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL - Hatfield 1980

For a song about living in a crime-ridden slum, it sure has a fantastic chilled-out groove.  Hatfield is much nicer these days. 

#23 WEST INDIAN GIRL - Dream

I really don't know anything about this artist, but absolutely love this song.  The band name comes from a strain of LSD that was around in the 60s.   This song is a good trip. 

#22 GOLDFRAPP - Drew

There are quite a few Goldfrapp songs in the Sonic Lunch library, but this one is stunningly, stirringly beautiful

#21 UNKLE w/THOM YORKE - Rabbit In Your Headlights 

This extremely dramatic and dark song comes from the brilliant album Psyence Fiction.  The spoken word part in the middle is actor Danny Aiello from the movie Jacob's Ladder.   More from this album later on this list. 

#20 VANESSA DAOU - Near The Black Forest
This acid jazz song comes from the terrific album Zipless.   I always wanted her to release more music but it really doesn't happen often. 

#19 ANDREA LINDSY - La Belle Etoile
While music mining for a segment of French-language pop for Under The Radar, I stumbled across this waltz-driven gem from this French- Canadian singer.  The Beautiful Star

#18 FIONA APPLE - The First Taste
This sure doesn't sound like music from an 18 year old, with it's very swanky Bossa Nova vibe.  From her incredible debut album Tidal

#17 COCTEAU TWINS - A Kissed-Out Red Floatboat
Of course they were going to make the list.  Like many Cocteau Twins songs, I have no idea what the title (or lyrics) mean, but it's easy to get lost in all the shimmering guitar effects and Elizabeth Fraser's  gorgeous voice, which we don't hear much anymore, sadly.   

#16 THIEVERY CORPORATION - Para Sempre
Saudade is one of my favorite albums of all times and to me this is the song that stands out. When it's cold and grey here in Michigan, I listen to this and imagine driving on a sun-soaked road right along the ocean, like Pacific Coast Highway, without the rockslides. 

#15 HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL - I've Been Thinking
A slinky groove with the voice of Cat Power and a very memorable chorus, and that guitar hook sounding like a cat's meow. 

#14 DOMINGUES & IVES - The Meditation from "Thais"
The electronic interpretation of the intermezzo from Jules Massenet's 1894 opera "Thais".   This is from a 2004 album called Classics Re-Grooved, with electronic covers of 15 classical pieces.

#13 UNKLE - Bloodstain
This was another song that X-FM in Dublin kept playing (and never identifying) back in 1998, but this one was easier to find.   The singer is Alice Temple, who was also the first female UK and Europe BMX bicycle champion.

#12 PORTISHEAD - Roads
The dramatic show-stopper of a song from the album Dummy, which inspired a lot of the music on this show that followed.  This was also featured in the movie Tank Girl.   Too bad this group just stopped making music.  Geoff Barrow seems to be rather bitter about how Portishead has been received as a "chill" band. 

 #11 MOODSWNGS - Spiritual High (State Of Independence)
The same voice that gave us intense rockers by the Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde absolutely shines on this stunning early trip hop track based on a Vangelis song.  This actually was a reason she decided to sing some more jazz oriented music later in her career.  

#10 KOSTARS - Red Umbrella
Vivian Trimble and Jill Cuniff of Luscious Jackson came up with this side project while touring with their original band.   This lo-fi 70s inspired album is called Klassics With A K and is the only thing they ever released.  It's a terrific album,  which I liked better than any Luscious Jackson album, and I really liked LJ.  

#9  1 GIANT LEAP - The Way You Dream 
This song features Whirimako Black, Asha Bhosle and the instantly identifiable voice of Michael Stipe of REM.   This dream pop masterpiece made me hope Michael Stipe would do an entire dream pop album.  Maybe he will...........someday. 

#8 ESTHERO - That Girl 
There are a lot of great tracks on the album Breath From Another, but to me this is the standout.  There is some sort of spoken word bit underneath the mix.  Never could figure out what she's saying.   I have emailed Esthero about this and have yet to get an answer. 

#7 ART OF NOISE - Moments In Love
I call this an 80's backseat make-out jam, because that's what it was.  There are dozens of mixes of this song, I wish I could tell you what this version is called.  

#6 PAUL WELLER - Wild Wood
This is a slightly-remixed version of this amazing song done by  Geoff Barrow of Portishead.   If this remix didn't exist the original version would still be on this list.  

#5 MONO - Life In Mono
Mono didn't last very long.  As far as I can tell the album Formica Blues is the only thing they released, but it gave us this Baroque Chill masterpiece.  (Used in the trailer for the 1998 film adaptation of Great Expectations)

#4 HOOVERPHONIC - 2Wicky
The entire space-age vibe of this song is based around the guitar sample of Isaac Hayes' version of Walk On By.   I'm not always big on sampling, but obviously, I can make exceptions.    

#3 AIR - Playground Love
The second song by Air on this list.  From the film The Virgin Suicides.    It's that sax, man

#2 MASSIVE ATTACK - Protection
When this came out I played it on our Alternative station in Lansing.  By the Autumn of 1994 the whole grunge thing was so tired and worn out.  Everyone was trying to sound like Pearl Jam and here comes this beautiful anti-grunge Trip Hop song featuring the amazing voice of Tracey Thorne of Everything But The Girl.   The consultant couldn't understand why we'd play this.  He lacked a soul.

#1 ONE ESKIMO  - Astronauts
Nobody asks why you fall in love, you just do.   Why do I love this song so much?  Couldn't tell you, I just do, it's absolutely beautiful and stirring and peaceful and everything we wanted Sonic Bliss to be.  A demo of this song was actually the reason the One Eskimo project got off the ground, so I'm not the only one that hears it.  I know the term Eskimo has become offensive to many, so from this point forward we'll credit this song to Kristian Leontiou.    

Thank you for supporting 1,000 weeks of chillin' out.   Thanks to Darren Revell for Big Sonic Heaven - our inspiration.  Thanks to Rob Walker for letting us fill a void.  Many more weeks are planned.