Day of Zen music mix

Click here to view this mix in an iTunes playlist.

1. “Opus 23” by Dustin O’ Halloran (2006)
Just because you, as a piano novice, could probably learn how to play this simple tune in a day, doesn’t mean you could write something as beautiful as this delicate instrumental in a million years.

2. “August Moon” by Dylan in the Movies (2005)
Forget the Belle & Seb-inspired name; this song doesn’t move via a fey delivery of witticisms. It just breathes.

3. “All the Best Wishes” by Jana Hunter (2005)
You’ll dream up your own David Lynch movie grooving to this sublime ballad.

4. “Samba Pa Ti” by Santana (1970)
What starts out as a contemplative guitar solo culminates in a full on group hug with all the other instruments.

5. “Spec Bebop” by Yo La Tengo (1997)
The entire album “I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One” is one big fuzzy blanket, but it’s this 10-plus-minute instrumental that will put you in a trance more assuredly than the music that is actually classified as such.

6. “Sleepwalk” by Santo & Johnny (1959)
These slide guitars will play cat’s cradle with your heartstrings.

7. “Ol’ 55” by Tom Waits (1973)
You’re driving an antique car on the highway as the sun comes up, before the traffic starts, and the only other people on the road are as lonely and weird as you are. Go for the version on “The Early Years,” instead of the “Closing Time” one, and stay away from the Eagles version at all costs!

8. “Astral Weeks” by Van Morrison (1968)
This one hits you “between the viaducts of your dreams.”

9. “In the Aeroplane Over The Sea” by Neutral Milk Hotel (1998)
It doesn’t get more Zen than a ghostly theremin playing over Jeff Mangum's lyrics “how strange it is to be anything at all.”

10. “True Dreams of Wichita” by Soul Coughing (1994)
Since this is a Zen playlist, you'd best listen only to the first half of this tune, before the singer shatters your calm with the rap portion.