Interesting thread. Lemme see....
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The consummate Weather Channel band and the godfathers of vaporwave. I get a lot of flack for my appreciation of smooth jazz, but to me the stuff is addictively nostalgic. These guys are basically the sound of a bloodless, liberal-corporatized utopia, but they also have a distinctive melodic sense: guitarist Russ Freeman knows his way around an arrangement even if the aesthetic is like anathema to some.
I find it ironic in some ways that punk was a reaction against progressive rock, because smooth jazz is closer to being a polar opposite of punk: its idealistic, optimistic, romantic at times, perfectly produced and the best of it is glorious for blasting down the coast or if your at the beach or something. There's no surprises, but like ambient music it can be engaging in its own way.
I've said this before, but if you can genuinely appreciate smooth jazz, you can appreciate pretty much anything at any end of the spectrum. It's a big mountain to climb over, right up there with caustic noise, Insane Clown Posse, experimental powerviolence, whatever.