soundtrack

May 27, 2005 9:19 AM

I'm putting together an iPod soundtrack for a friend's restaurant. It's a semi-upscale, small-town American bistro sort of place that gets city people on weekends. Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations of albums (jazz, rock, latin, whatever) they've always thought would work well in a restaurant soundtrack?
posted by dearleader to Society & Culture (24 answers total)

Sort of off-topic, but make sure they become licensed with BMI. BMI is notoriously mean (as in, here's a lawsuit) to small businesses/restaraunts who play music without a license.
posted by nitsuj at 9:26 AM on May 27, 2005

And just to clarify, check out their FAQ. It's rediculous that they can do what they do, but they do. My advice is to just pay their bullshit fee and forget about it. (yes, personal experience here!)
posted by nitsuj at 9:29 AM on May 27, 2005

Order digital cable and play one of the music only channels from the TV. My comcast service has about 60 different music channels. They are often used for telephone hold music and office mood music. It's commercial free, and there are some pretty good channels to choose from. It's legal, simple, and you'll never have to rotate songs.
posted by tumble at 9:45 AM on May 27, 2005

You can never go wrong with Pink Martini.
posted by Staggering Jack at 9:46 AM on May 27, 2005

From BMI's FAQ: "More than one out of every two songs played on American radio today is BMI-licensed music."

Wouldn't it make more sense to just say "more than half of the songs played..."

Retards.
posted by punkfloyd at 10:06 AM on May 27, 2005

thievery corporation is the standard.
posted by ori at 10:27 AM on May 27, 2005

Check out the artists on the Mercedes-Benz mixed tapes, they seem to fit the model.

Also, look into subscribing to XM Radio and tuning in to Hear Music. It's Starbuck's music channel, and they have released popular hits such as Genius Needs Company, the best-selling Ray Charles album.
posted by gastevens at 10:35 AM on May 27, 2005

Brazilian music always goes over well (it's very cliched tho) or French stuff, or Norah Jones-type soft vocals, or even Rufus Wainwright-ish stuff.
posted by amberglow at 10:41 AM on May 27, 2005

Oh, and I second the Pink Martini suggestion. Nu-jazz and the like seem to work weel, too- try Jagga Jazzist, Jazzanova, and the Bad Plus.

If they are willing to possibly add a little soul, hip hop flair, try The Philadelphia Experiment, which was created by The Roots drummer, ?love.
posted by gastevens at 10:42 AM on May 27, 2005

Leaving aside the legal issues concerning which I know nothing-

Ditto Pink Martini.

Also Paris Combo
Also Bee Gee Adair
Also Paolo Conte (Best of)
Also Pepe and the Bottle Blondes

Check out Putumayo World Music for global variety. Some good, some not so good.
posted by IndigoJones at 10:45 AM on May 27, 2005

The best music I ever heard in a semi upscale restaurant was in the "Lower Greenville" area in Dallas. Can't recall the name of the restaurant right now though. Anyways the music was live but sounded much like Thievery Corporation. That made me think that Thievery's music would work very well in a restaurant. It's nice at high volume levels and low volume levels. I actually heard a Thievery song in a grocery store one day. So out of place it blew my mind. But in retrospect, that was the best grocery store outing I can remember.

Now that I think more about it, I would think any of the Eighteenth Street Lounge artists would be absolutely splendid to listen to while dining. Den of Thieves may be something worth buying for this need.
posted by sublivious at 10:46 AM on May 27, 2005

The Verve Unmixed Vols. 1-3. You can even mod it up a bit with the Verve Remixed Vols. 1-3 depending on the time of night.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 10:55 AM on May 27, 2005

Suba, Gotan Project.
posted by andrew cooke at 11:14 AM on May 27, 2005

My feeling from your post is that this a small town joint that gets occasional city folk on the weekends. It doesn't sound like a hipster hangout, so some of the stuff suggested so far, like Thievery Corporation, although cool, might leave patrons scratching their heads.

You might try Paniots Nine, by Joe Maneri, if you can find it. I second Paris Combo, if you think people won't mind the French. Any of Dizzie Gillespie's Afro-Cuban stuff is good too.
posted by nyterrant at 11:15 AM on May 27, 2005

Too obvious to mention are the Buena Vista Social Club catalogue, and (the biggest cliche ever, but still great) Ella and Louis. All the Jazz standards like Mingus and Parker and Monk and Coltrane and co.
posted by ori at 11:32 AM on May 27, 2005

Aretha Franklin's early work. St. Germain. Gotan project. Thievery Corporation. Love Jones. Medeski Martin and Wood. Norah Jones. She's hard to find, but some of Sheila Chandra's work has gotten rave reviews at my restaurant. Sinatra. Michael Buble. Any sort of Bossa Nova ie Jobim, Gilberto, etc. Some of Moby's work. Jack Johnson. The Big Chill OST. Local jazz artists.
posted by ashbury at 11:48 AM on May 27, 2005

Lots and lots of Dave Brubeck
posted by cptnrandy at 12:11 PM on May 27, 2005

Manu Chao, Music from Imaginary Films, Miles Davis...
posted by schyler523 at 12:11 PM on May 27, 2005

Anything by Madeleine Peyroux. A lot like a modern Billie Holiday.

Nerina Pallot. She's like an Alanis Morrisette that's a lot easier to listen to. Slightly poppy, but not in a bad way.

A band called L'Altra have a sound that's hard to describe. I think that it would work in a restaurant, because it's music that you can dip in and out of.

And, maybe, Mazzy Star. Beautiful voice, and slow, slow music.
posted by veedubya at 12:27 PM on May 27, 2005

I run an upscale shop. (not restaurant) I play Theivery alot, Gotan Project, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday the Amelie soundtrack and Buena Vista Social Club Series. Also, look for Fila Brasilio and Koop.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 2:07 PM on May 27, 2005

Stan Getz. Everybody likes Stan Getz.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 3:23 PM on May 27, 2005

In addition to the other excellent suggestions:

Two for Brazil
The Iguanas
Delirium
and one of my favorite unknowns:
Bruce Becvar

And XM would be an excellent alternative, selecting Hear Music (as suggested) or Fine Tuning. I think it would avoid any licensing issues, too.
posted by yclipse at 3:29 PM on May 27, 2005

For the love of god, no Gypsy Kings. Please.
posted by btwillig at 6:39 PM on May 27, 2005

The problem with XM, Especially Hear Music, is that every 20 minutes or so, you get a bumper announcing "You're listening to Hear Music, the sound of Starbucks." That's quite possibly the last thing I'd like customers to hear if I ran a cafe/restaurant.

I frequent a coffee shop that uses XM as the soundtrack, and I find it kind of hokey. You get dropouts when a microwave is in use, and the on-air personalities/ads seem kind of unprofessional to broadcast in a restauraunt where you're trying to craft the ambience with music.
posted by FearTormento at 12:41 PM on May 31, 2005