Massage Music

Scented oils, soft towels and a strong pair of (preferably Scandinavian) hands — that's all you need for the perfect massage, right? Wrong. Without music, your rubdown is never likely to hit that ultimate, supremely chilled spot. The key to a classic massage playlist is striking a balance between novelty and familiarity. Music holds powerful associations, so a successful playlist must be sufficiently novel so as not to carry emotional baggage, but it must be inviting enough not to be a distraction from the task at hand. So unwind to the aural wafts of Stuart Jones' "Chamomile Caress" and float like a leaf on the tinkling stream of Enya's "Angeles."

Harold Budd knows just what your ears require, in Next Steps.

Ambient is good. Instrumental is good. Rap . . . not so much. Better to have your subject thinking of alpine meadows, westerly ocean breezes, and gently waving fields of tulips rather than phat beats and sirens in the distance. This is "take me away" music, not "put me there" music, and it's made by the likes of Nashville's Kirby Shelstad, sometime collaborator with Leon Russell and Bela Fleck, here crafting a superior grade of serenity with "Sangye." Brian's brother, Roger Eno, upholds the family tradition of ambience with "Sunburst," and Californian avant-garde composer Harold Budd takes us into an instantly relaxing space with "The Room of Ancillary Dreams."

Now, access your deep tissue with our Massage Music Deep Cuts.

Massaging is hard work. Unkinking knots in people's muscles and psyches is not a job for the weak or unprepared. You figure out the pressure-modulated, thumb-heavy strokes along the spinal axis, we'll take care of the sensual-auditory part of the equation. New age composer Heinz Strobl, who plies his therapeutic trade under the wizardly moniker Gandalf, dances delightfully on his piano keys with "The Loveliest Flower in My Garden," while fellow Austrians Hubert Bognermayr and Harald Zuschrader — collectively united under the Blue Chip Orchestra banner — lay mellow flamenco guitar on an Eastern percussive underlay with "Ashes Cold and White."

When your semispinalis capitis and your trapezius muscles are so tight they would sound like G above middle-C if you plucked them, it's time for a massage. The laying-on of hands is an ancient healing art, not to mention a key component in any lothario's playbook. Innocent or intimate, therapeutic or amorous, massage is a powerful tool for communication and well-being. Choosing the right music enhances the experience massively. So does warming the lotion, incidentally . . . but that's up to you. Before any hands touch flesh, we recommend you loosen up with the couple of clicks it will take to download these soothing Massage Music Essentials, which transport you from the horizontal electronica of Amethystium to the dreamy vocal harmonies of Deva Premal and the healing guitar strings of Ottmar Liebert. All those knots will just melt away.