What are the softest music acts you like?

Tons of stuff that I like is "soft" music . . . it's kind of difficult to say what would be the "softest"--that designation could describe so much different stuff.

Is Brian Eno's Music for Airports "softer" than Doris Day's "Autumn Leaves"?

Is Oregon's "Moon and Mind" softer than Daniel Lentz' O-Ke-Wa?

Those are just a few of my favorite pieces of music that might be "soft." But that's not even the tip of the iceberg, and it's not even to mention soft rock/yacht rock.

 

Arvo Pärt.

 

Bread

Gilbert O’Sullivan.

 

Abba, Frank Sinatra, Carpenters, Sarah Brightman, Susan Boyle, Agnetha Faltskog, Angela Bofill, Dionne Warwick, Gordon Lightfoot.

 

Already posted.

 

Though there are many softies that I like, the softest ones I can think of at the moment are:

Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love You
The Fleetwoods - Come Softly To Me
The Mamas & The Papas - Got A Feeling
Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Bread - Aubrey
Dan Fogelberg - Longer

 

Oh, I'm a fan of many of the "soft" families, and now that I've unfortunately developed pretty serious tinnitus in my left ear, it's become a necessary go-to. Some are:

• The entire yacht rock family: Surprise! Big fan of many of the icons, particularly Pages and Dane Donahue.
• UK folk: Loves me some Pentangle and Fairport Convention, and the more mellow acoustic Donovan stuff can be great. And I actually prefer the acoustic folky Led Zeppelin to the more rockin' version. Sue me.
• Pretty much the entire '70s Joni Mitchell catalog.
• Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys: Like everyone else on this site.
• Philly soul: You gotta love The Stylistics.
• Lowrider soul: Visit The Numero Group for more information.
• Sunshine pop: Not always soft, usually kinda weird, but floats my boat, particularly The Free Design.

 

Aztec Two-Step

 

I don’t really categorize music as soft and hard. I like a lot of music that would be considered soft - Belle and Sebastian, Donovan, Erasure - but I think there’s a difference between music that’s soft and music that’s just puny. Obviously it’s in the ear of the listener, but the soft stuff I don’t like typically isn’t because it’s soft, it’s because I consider it cloying, obsequious, pandering crap.

 

David Lanz.

 

,Jack Jones, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett

 

Give it to me soft, baby!

 

I never ever listen to anything nice... and easy. I always listen to things that are nice... and rough. But sometime I'll start out the evening listening to something nice... and easy. And then I move on to things that are nice... and rough.

 

Most Gerry Rafferty fits the bill

 

I forgot to add ABBA in the opening post

 

Soft Machine
The Soft Boys
Soft Cell

 

Metallica -- at least their first 5 albums

 

Both of the others were “ one and done” unfortunately…

 

I managed to find an extremely cheap copy of the Big Blue Hearts album, It's excellent. Still haven't heard The Brightwings though.

 

Perhaps my favorite soft music track: Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Railroad Man”

 

This looks like a must listen.

. . . youtube is endless, here it is