Music to read by

matisyahu

Well, the title says it all, looking for some nice, unobtrusive noise to have on while I'm reading, so as to sort of cover up the sound of the furnace and of my noisy computer, and have a bit of pleasant background music.

I like to listen to Brian Eno's Music for Airports when I'm relaxing, but I've listened to it too much and am looking for some other sweet sounds to enjoy a book with (The Odyssey, in this case, but don't take that to mean I want epic battle marches or anything), be it ambient or mellower classical (I downloaded The Planets suite by Gustav Holst as recommended by another music thread but quickly found it ill-suited for my purpose ). So, any recommendations?

Demerdar

I would try and get my hands on "The Pianist" soundtrack. It has a good hours worth of Frederik Chopin Nocturnes and whatnot. I find it really relaxing to listen to when I'm working on a paper or something.

Tomanta

Two CDs I've always found good for this purpose are the soundtracks for Gattaca and Batman Begins. Both are very excellent for background music, and they have different feels so one of them should be what you are looking for.

Scrublet

I downloaded the complete soundtrack to Final Fantasy X and X2. Each of the games has a cd's worth of piano only songs. They are incredible, and great to study/read to.

matisyahu

Cool suggestions, although I recognize so much of the FFX soundtrack it's a little distracting.

Impersonator

Jean Michel Jarre, Oxygene

It works for me whenever I have papers to do

TychoCelchuuu

I enjoy the Blade Runner soundtrack. Also, type "Danny the Dog" into Pandora. That stuff's good too.

Zombiemambo

Bob Marley. You can chill out doing just about anything while listening to some nice, soothing reggae.

Dark Moon

I have two albums by Pat Metheny that I am going to suggest.

1) One Quiet Night by Pat Metheny
2) Bright Size Life by Pat Metheny

They are wonderful, wonderful creations and they will most likely completely absorb you the first few times you play them. They contain some of the most gorgeous and creative use of harmony I've ever experienced. Having Jaco Pastorius on the bass in Bright Size Life is a lovely thing too - even if you decide not to get the album, find a way to listen to "Midwestern Nights Dream" on Bright Size Life. It is quite possibly my favourite song ever. In fact, here is a link to a sample of that song on Amazon. Go listen to it, then buy the album. The sample is only the intro - they fail to let the bass play, which really adds a lot to the piece. Then buy One Quiet Night.

thorpe

Sigur Ros, maybe? Some of their tracks might be a bit too intense, but their mellower stuff is great as background.

Ramen Noodle

Yes. Go with mellow Sigur Ros.
Some Boards of Canada too maybe?

vonPoonBurGer

I find St. Germaine is good for this purpose. Don't know how close it is to your other tastes, but I've used it as background for reading and having guests over. It provides a nice background sound without distracting you from what you're doing.

urahonky

E-Nomine's Das Testament is good reading music for me. You should try that.

Jifoochizomit

Miles Davis' Kind of Blue certainly does the trick for me when reading.