Post Your Best Work/Study Music

#1

Disclaimer:With any music thread, I hereby surrender my cool kid card and accept that everything I listen to is old and tired.

In the library, stacks of books are piled up beside me, and I’m listening to Pandora, which has a tendency to go sour from time to time and just give me garbage music unsuited to my mood. So I queued up my favorite rendition of Bach’s cello suites, the Fournier rendition, and was wondering what the BBS likes for this kind of thing. Me? Aside from various composers in the popular classical, dubstep and electronica also work well, and I really like The Glitch Mob. Almost anything without lyrics. Lyrics trip me up and force me to listen to the music much more actively unless they’re repetitive or in a language I don’t understand. But I’m curious what other people like for getting things done.

Bach:

The Glitch Mob:

#2

A nice long Stevie Wonder mix.
Funky and kinda mellow. Keeps you chugging along without getting too aggressive and distracting.

#3

It depends on what I’m studying. A lot of times I like to study in complete silence. If I am listening to something:

Aside from Bach which you covered, and Vivaldi, maybe Air? (Some songs have vocals but not usually too overwhelming.)

Glass works for me:

Dead can Dance, but you might have to pick and choose among the songs.

#4

Lately, I’ve been listening to the “Tuvan music” station on iTunes radio. Lots of throat singing and other international music.
Last semester, I tended to listen to the tracks for my World Music course. That’s what led me to the Tuvan music.
I also listen to Jazz 24 and KUSC.

#5

Hmmm, depends on my mood but for work Space Age Bachelor Pad stuff, Electronica on the EDM end of of things, and then there are jazz days, rock out days, etc. I have a terribly eclectic music library.
Studying, Mellower ambient sorts of electronic music, be-bop, cool jazz…
But really do you need anything else other than Esquivel?

#6

College radio usually:

But 4AD bands are good for working - such as This Mortal Coil:

Cocteau Twins:

And @tropo posted a DCD album…

#7

OH darn you! I was waiting for round 2 for TMC. :slight_smile: Kidding of course.

Cocteau twins as well.

#8

Aphex Twin is good, too. I have this one on regular rotation:

#9

For FSM sake, I don’t dance, but that makes me want to dance. How is he so, damn, good?

#10

Ambient yet there’s something there. Then again Tomita is… well he’s good at his craft.

#11

Tomita! Great pick.

His rendering of Claire de Lune is a fave.

#12

100% correct. Cannot. Work. While. Parsing. Inane. Lyrics.

#13

I Like a lot of jazz and I find instrumental parts can be extremely lyric as well. There are jazz artists I can follow subconsciously, and others I can’t help but be fully invested in, to the point I’m not being “productive” anymore. (Sometimes I just go with it and throw one on anyway. Call it a break.)

Thelonious Monk often tilts back and forth between the 2 for me, I still feel I can get a lot done with him banging the keys in my head.

#14

Coltrane - Equinox

#15

Don’t know that I can recommend it to anyone else, but once upon a time I found it really useful to listen to Snuffy Walden’s soundtrack to The Stand while writing. Somehow the mood was exactly what I needed.

#16

For Dead Can Dance, disk 2 and 3 from the box set are studying magic for me.

Back in the stone age, I liked Pink Floyd’s Obscured by Clouds and Meddle, Projekt Records From Across this Grey Land compilations, Lycia (another Projeckt offering), and an assortment of classical pieces for studying.

#17

Ever try throat singing? Getting good at it is tough, but getting random overtones is surprisingly easy. Plus, to start, you can annoy all your friends by yelling, “HHYYYYEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!”.

#18

You do that too? Holy crap, are you my twin, separated at birth?

#HIYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEERRRRRRSCHMOOCKPHT

#19

It’s the cheapest therapy there is. And even more fun when you get others to join in. (The look on their face when they hear it is just joyful)

#20