Songs to Wake Up in the Middle in the Night to

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When I go to sleep, I load on a few CDs and sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night with the CD player still playing. Sometimes, it scares the crap outta me 'cause my mind is not registering what is going on (Massive Attack's Mezzanine) or sometimes it just depresses the hell outta me and I stay up all night (Pulp's The Fear) and sometimes, it's just soothing and pleasant (any Godspeed You Black Emperor!). Any similar experiences?

― Alex Huynh, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Anything by Status Quo on the Argos adverts. Impossible to sleep through.

― Greg, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I once put on FSOL to go to sleep to, and didn't, erm, program out We Have Explosive. Which wasn't fun to wake up to. I also woke up all my sisters because I had it on a bit loud.

― Ally, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I used to put on Low's "Curtain Hits the Cast" before sleep, until I realized what seemed to happen every time: I'd drift off four or five songs in then wake suddenly during "Do You Know How to Waltz" wondering who switched discs or crammed drugs in my mouth.

Similar results with Mercury Rev's "Deserters' Songs," which has entirely the wrong arc for sleeping. In the "surprising" column: Melt-Banana gets me too sleep quite peacefully.

― Nitsuh, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"To," damnit, "*to* sleep."

― Nitsuh, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Early 90's I used to fall asleep listening to Hugo Largo's 'Drum'. I played it recently wondering just how I could sleep through all that damn acoustic racket and her poetic screeching...

― Jason, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Falling asleep to Biosphere's 'Substrata' is a lovely experience except for all these crackly, walking on eggshell type noises towards the end. Steve Reich's 'Music for 18 Musicians' is perfect for inducing auditory hallucinations in the semi-conscious state. 'Shleep' by Robert Wyatt is pretty cool except the last couple always shake me out of my slumber.

― Johnathan, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"In a beautiful place out in the country" - or whatever the Boards ep is accurately called. Freaked out a girl I was sleeping with, as she apparently awoke many times during the night, and since there are only 4 tracks, she kept hearing the same thing everytime she half- opened her eyes... I love it.

― Simon, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

twin peaks soundtrack - cruising off into the depths of my dormir, and then into the fucking night comes on...playing that soundtrack over and over again made my fish kill itself by jumping out of its tank...LAURA!!!

― Geoff, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I always found Kraftwerk 'Trans-Europe Express' perfect bedtime listening. Recent favourites are that last 6ths lp (going to sleep is the only thing that endless last track is good for) and the International Airport LP (although this is better for afternoon naps on the sofa). However I have got into the habit of listening to the BBC World Service these days (mostly cos it seeps into your head while you are sleeping and you get ace dreams about military coups in Pakistan and vaccination programs in Africa), but this is not recommended on the evenings Peel's program is scheduled, as you are likely to be awoken at 4.30am by the sound of MC Elephant or somesuch.

― stevie t, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I had a habit of putting on BLOOD by This Mortal Coil before going to sleep for a while, only to be jarred awake by the slightly disturbing baby chirping that goes on during the appropriately titled "Baby Ray Bay." Odd.

― alex in nyc, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Geoff -- not blocking out "Into the Night" when going to bed - what a terrifying idea! Man, you are more courageous than I ever will be!

― Simon, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I can't sleep if there's music on. Too distracting.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Trans-Europe Express, that is a GRATE idea. I don't know why I never considered it before.

― Josh, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well I wake up to Classic Slow Jams blasted from my next-door neighbor's back window. Approx. 3-5am EVERY NIGHT. Problem is I'm not certain about which apartment it's coming from so my only alternative is some kind of blanket note taped to their door. I am *this* close to thinking about doing something about it....

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tetsuo Inoue's "World Receiver" is ideal for drifting off to (if I had a stereo in my bedroom); the last track, barely there, repeats over and over and over and over....

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Imagine a highly slumber intrusive 3:00am instrumental rendition of "Rubber Duckie" wafting up, live, on the summer air from an apartment balcony six floors down. Now add the drunken tuba.

― Kim, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the only song i lucidly remember falling asleep to is "perry mason" by ozzy osbourne.

― drills, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Galaxie 500. Especially 'Today', despite it having more up-tempo tracks than the two others. There's just something about it. Also, Tindersticks, but that induces a rather deadened, unsatisfying sleep, not unlike that obtained with the use of pills.

― Nick, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

always seems to be piano magic's halloween boat.

― gareth, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think it kind of depends WHERE you're falling asleep. Kraftwerk and LOTS of Stereolab are always great to fall asleep to when you're going up the motorway in the back seat of someone elses car. I've always got to sleep easily to The Cure's Disentegration or a Field Mice compilation tape when on long coach journeys at night with rain splattering against the windows (played loud on a personal stereo of course).

― flowersdie, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like any chilled, bleepy trance/drum and bass stuff. LTJ Bukem's Inner Journey (or whatever it's called), anything by The Orb and Banco De Gaiaa's Maya are my personal favourites. Sometimes it's good to check out a new CD whilst dozing off as you tend to respond to it sub-consciously, and when listened to in the cold light of day the tunes are weirdly familiar without full recognition from your poor little brain. Whatever, I can't sleep without music on, it's just too quiet and I just end up listening to the blood pump round my ears or the cars bennying past the window at ridiculous speeds, which is *not* pleasant.

― Add, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I find it very difficult to sleep with music on. Better things for me are short albums, which wind slowly down, and then when the music is over, I find myself in the proper place for sleep.

Some examples are: "Dreamweapon" by Spacemen3 (come on, did you really think I was going to say anything else?)

Side 2 of Love & Rockets' "Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven". The Haunted When The Minutes Drag into Saudade segue is absolutely perfect.

Also, an odd choice perhaps, but side 2 of Joy Division's Closer. Although it is not soothing at all, it very good for taming manics. (and I'm not talking about boys in eyeliner).

― masonic boom, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hmm, I didn't think about sleeping on the road. Listening to the Clientele or Bonnie Prince Billy is good for a 9-hour night bus ride.

― Alex Huynh, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I mainly listen to vinyl, so I'll usually only end up waking up to the sound of the needle stuck in the groove at the end of the record. It's very soothing though, I have to admit...

― Paul Strange, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Gorecki...

Or just things that ordinarily used as background music. I find Johnny Mercer lovely to fall asleep to. Hmmm.....Massive Attack is good. Godspeed you black emperor. The Tyde. The new sparklehorse, or any sparklehorse...

― doompatrol23@hotmail.com, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have to agree. Godspeed and the Tyde will indeed send people to sleep.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Or just reading your momus interview.

snnoozze fest!

― DOOMPATROL23@HOTMAIL.COM, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Cardinal. Kraftwerk. Nick Drake. The McGarrigle Sisters.

― Arthur, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

four years pass...

this is kind of funny, because I had the exact opposite experience (went to sleep with my 5-disc changer full of nice, mellow stuff, woke up during the part of Godspeed You Black Emperor's "Providence" where it sounds like a plane is flying overhead, spent what felt like hours but was probably just a few seconds convinced that a spaceship was crashing into my house or something)

also one time I woke up in the midle of the night to the beginning of "Such Great Heights" by the Postal Service but I felt like the little electronic blips and bloops were tiny bugs attacking me (doesn't really make sense in retrospect) and I just started grabbing everything off my nightstand and throwing it on the floor in an attempt to make it stop (makes even less sense)

― bernard snow (sixteen sergeants), Thursday, 8 June 2006 17:54 (nineteen years ago)

I used to have an alarm clock radio, which was tuned to a typical middle-of-the-road crap station and it would irritate me to no end (when i figured out the music was the reason for my even lower mood in the morning i changed it to a country station). Except one time when i woke up and still being half asleep felt very happy, tried to remember my dream thinking it was the reason for the feeling and then realized Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was playing on the radio.

― scnnr drkly (scnnr drkly), Thursday, 8 June 2006 18:32 (nineteen years ago)

I was on an airplane and felt asleep to Add N To (X)'s "Avant Hard". I woke up panicking because I thought we were about to crash, etc. NEVER AGAIN.

― Diego Valladolid (dvalladt), Friday, 9 June 2006 13:13 (nineteen years ago)

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