More music arrives for stressed commuters

LOS ANGELES — A few years ago, keyboardist Ken Elkinson hatched a clever idea: music for commuting.

At the time, 2011, the airwaves were filled with talk of road rage, of angry drivers unleashing their pent-up fury upon other motorists. Frustration mounted over the inability to move through clogged streets.

Elkinson's answer? Chill out.

Elkinson created six CDs of soothing music meant to calm the nerves of the frazzled and to get them to home or work with their temper in check. Aware that commutes are indeed daily, he created a box set with separate CDs meant for each commuting day of the week.

The first, Volumes 1-6, was enough of a success that last month he started marketing a second, Volumes 7-12.

On his website, the Los Angeles-based musician calls it "angry driver relaxing ambient deliciousness."

Commuters who need coffee for their morning jolt may look upon Elkinson's creations as a counterpoint. It's space music. Soothing stuff. To those who aren't fans of the genre, a lot of it may sound alike, thus sort of defeating the purpose of the multiple CDs. But it is indeed calming.

The new box set includes some fun touches in the liner notes.

Our favorite is "fun commuting facts about Ken," with such tidbits as how many years had passed before he learned to drive a stick shift (31) and the strangest thing he ever saw on an L.A. freeway (a transit bus driver reading a newspaper as he drove).

It all seems to sort of explain why he came up with an album of soothing music.