The undeniable Barry White, if I’m entirely earnest, is just too much. He’s sex ad-absurdum, a fertility idol covered in phalluses, and I just can’t see two people sharing a moment with his chocolaty baritone in the background.
The sexiest music is soft yet strong, rhythmic but unobtrusive. It serves the purpose of the moment, while going in for that first kiss, when every inch toward each other’s lips becomes a vaster expanse than the last. For moments like these, I’ve assembled the perfect Make-Out Mix, codename M.O.M. (which should serve as a conscious reminder in the heat of the moment to treat every girl in a way that’d make your mama proud). Handle these songs with care… With great power comes great responsibility…
10. Mazzy Star – “Fade Into You”
Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval bewitched early alternative ears with a voice like a gypsy violin. The sound is so ‘90s, yet it’s aged so well. Made to be played in the dark, PopEater calls it “the soundtrack to candlelit dorm-room grope sessions across the country.”
9. Fever – “Little Willie John”
Fever is a classic that drips swagger. Since originally recorded in 1956, the fever has caught with countless other artists… Look for a sugary yet sizzling rendition by Peggy Lee, and a sultry noiresque affair by Meiko.
8. Chris Isaak – “Wicked Game”
Chris Isaak doesn’t wanna fall in love, but he can’t expect any two people listening to this song to keep their hands off each other for long. Also, not to ruin anything for anyone born in the early ’90s, but being a 1989 release, there’s a sizable chance you were conceived to this song.
7. Lykke Li – “I Know Places”
Swedish import Lykke Li’s debut album had a sound like afterglow; her darker, more direct, sophomore release Wounded Rhymes is la petit mort itself.
6. Cat Power – “Half of You”
From the South comes that most noble art of blues, and it’s in southerner Cat Power that blues finds a renewed relevance in lovemaking. Closet True Blood fans also know this is the tune to which Bill and Sookie hook up for the first time.
5. Daft Punk – “Make Love”
The masked electronic duo may have engineered the perfect electronic slow jam. “Make Love” fades in on plucky electronic rivulets that tickle your cuddle button, then comes a bass line like a koala bear’s heartbeat, and a single (somewhat subliminal) verse… Two words, one statement, “Make Love.”
4. Stateless – “Bloodstream”
Stateless are the perfect chemistry of electronic and analog. Their super-sentimental “Bloodstream” is lyrically and sensually apropos for first moves.
3. John Martyn – “Glorybox”
Potential energy is the best way to describe this unrequited love song from the late John Martyn’s covers album The Church with One Bell. Conjuring a bluesy patina and pungent masculinization out of the Portishead classic, Martyn has epitomized the sound of hot restraint and the yearning for consumation.
2. The Glitch Mob (feat. Swan) – “Between Two Points”
L.A. laptop maestros The Glitch Mob pull off an absolutely beat-driven masterpiece; I think this song actually has an orgasm at around 1:36.
1. The xx – “Infinity”
The austere and ethereal sound of The xx and the pacing of “Infinity” are what make it the sexiest song I’ve ever heard. Note the homage to “Wicked Game” at #7. For extra innings, a DnB remix from Bachelors of Science picks up the beat for another eight minutes.
Honorable Mention
Marvin Gaye – “Sexual Healing”
The list wouldn’t be complete without shoe-in Marvin Gaye. When there’s an elephant in the room, introduce him; in other words, this is a cute first song to play. Plus, Dr. Gaye’s prescription for a little alternative medicine is refreshing amidst a Senate squabbling over healthcare.
