Let’s face it: college life takes its toll. Finding a balance between studying, work and whatever other obligations and responsibilities you take on in college leaves little room for relaxation. Sometimes, stress forces you to spend your precious downtime worrying, or loud dorm neighbors and construction outside  your apartment disrupt your well-needed quiet time. When you finally find some time to yourself, consider enhancing your unwinding with any of these four albums.

1. Grouper — “Ruins”

Liz Harris, aka Grouper, established herself as one of ambient music’s forerunners over the past decade. Her most recent album, “Ruins,” provides an ideal introduction to the reigning queen of ambient. On “Ruins,” Grouper trades her guitar for an upright piano and embraces an even more minimalist sound. With the exceptions of a two-minute introductory drumbeat and a microwave beep on the fourth track, “Ruins” is purely piano and vocals. The combination of Harris’s airy singing and slow, soft piano creates the perfect soundtrack for a walk around the Joslyn or a break in the hammock.

2. Global Communication — “76:14”

If you are looking for a more involved style of relaxation music, consider Global Communication’s landmark album “76:14.” The English duo earned much praise for their fusion of the house and ambient genres using primarily electronic instrumentation. “76:14” contains a broad spectrum of different electronic sounds and synthetic soundscapes, often alternating between pure atmospheric noise and moderate tempo drum and bass sections. It’s a more involved listen than most ambient, but this allows the listener to further tune out the distractions and anxieties.

3. Max Richter — “Memoryhouse”

Recently, German-born composer Max Richter released an eight-hour composition, titled “Sleep,” designed to help the listener, well, sleep. This massive musical project is only an outlier among Richter’s discography in runtime, however. Richter’s career is full of neoclassical pieces that create a beautiful, relaxed feeling. His debut, “Memoryhouse,” is a perfect fusion of tranquil sounds and classical instrumentation. 

4. Brian Eno — “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”

Brian Eno is a living legend. His 17 solo albums and massive list of collaborations are consistently praised by generations of critics. Eno also produces and provides creative input for U2, Coldplay, Talking Heads and many other big name musicians. Among the English musician’s many accolades, he is credited as the founder of the ambient music genre. About four years into his solo career, Eno used his experimental approach to create “Ambient 1: Music for Airports.” He ditched classical notions of song structure and instead focused on music’s atmospheric qualities. “Ambient 1” still sounds innovative, even more than 38 years after its release.

5. Bohren & Der Club of Gore — “Black Earth”

6. Steve Roach — “The Magnificent Void”

7. Tim Hecker — “Radio Amor”

8. Stars of the Lid — “And their Refinement of the Decline”

9. Ulver — “Shadows of the Sun”

10. Aphex Twin — “Selected Ambient Works”