Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

You cannot shame the shameless.

The revolution will be supervised.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You are here: Home / Medium Cool / Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Music!

Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Music!

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In case you’re new to Medium Cool, BGinCHI is here once a week to offer a thread on culture, mainly film & books, with some TV thrown in.

Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools unsuffered.  We hope it’s a welcome break from the world of shit falling on our heads daily in the political sphere.

Tonight’s Topic:  Music!

Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Music! 1

On this week’s MC, let’s talk about work music.

I don’t usually play music when I work, since I’d normally be in my office or in the library reading room (where I get the most done and which I miss so, so much). But now, working exclusively at home, with a kid and a dog, etc., there’s a need for something in the headphones or at low volume on the stereo.

I can’t listen to anything with lyrics. My usual go-to is jazz or classical, but lately I’ve been really into long instrumental music that’s pretty hard to classify. My absolute favorite, which I first heard about through Aquarium Drunkard (join them with a $5  Patreon donation per month and get a TON of music), is The Dick Slessig Combo. They’ve only put out a few tracks, all long-form covers of well-known songs, made into something strange and wonderful.

Go here for their version of “Wichita Lineman” and the backstory:

https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2020/03/25/dick-slessig-combo-wichita-lineman/

There are other ambient tracks I listen to, but this puts me in the zone.

So, what do you listen to for work? Or for producing the right frame of mind for something you need to do?

 

Reader Interactions

175Comments

  1. 1.

    BGinCHI

    In addition to the “Wichita Lineman” track (which is amazing), there are two songs at their Soundcloud.

    You could also listen to Acetone, which is the band the main Slessigs were in.

  2. 2.

    Poe Larity

    I’m starting to think the young developer at work who tuned his radio to static in 1992 was a little bit less weird.

  3. 3.

    raven

    I’m retired! When I’m down in my shop I lean to ya’llternative, Nanci, Roseanne Cash, Dwight Yokam. Jerry Jeff, Lucinda, stuff like that.

  5. 5.

    mali muso

    I have a nice mix of African artists, many of whom I was lucky enough to see perform live in Mali. In lieu of that, my work mix is either Baroque classical or some New Age vibes like Enya (don’t hate).

  6. 6.

    Bruuuuce

    Musical things I love:
    – Live music. I have thousands of shows, though my usual rotation is more limited (I’m still working through a bunch of them, and quality can be a serious issue)
    – Prog rock. My two all-time favorite bands are Genesis (up through about their eponymous album, minus Abacab) and Renaissance, but I do love some big, orchestral arrangements. Except Yes, for some reason. They’re just not really my cuppa
    – Straight-ahead rock and roll. Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, The Who, etc. rock my world
    – Folk and filk music. Lumped together because they tend to be stylistically similar. Richard Thompson, Harry Chapin, Seanan McGuire, and Tom Smith? I could listen to them all day and all night. (Don’t know if I’d put Steve Goodman here or up in rock and roll, but even if we call him liminal, he’s definitely on my playlists.)

    While working, I prefer the familiar so that my attention can mostly be on the job. But when I find new or new to me bands that fit my ears well, I am thrilled.

  7. 7.

    Firebert

    As important as music is to keep me in a functioning headspace, my workplace banned headphones early in the year.  So now, I’m mostly stuck with other peoples’ music,  which ranges from bland to outright terrible.

  10. 10.

    dexwood

    I break out the old Lawrence Welk and Mitch Miller albums my parents owned, put them on the turntable, fire it up, turn the sound all the way down, then forget about them.

  11. 11.

    BGinCHI

    @mali muso: I wish I knew more about African music, and need to start listening to more of it. Totally my own fault.

    Any recs for ambient listening?

  13. 13.

    Mo MacArbie

    Back when I worked (sigh), I usually didn’t listen to anything lest the sounds of machines going horribly wrong were masked. The exceptions were a couple mind-numbingly repetitive jobs that lasted all day, so lyrics weren’t much of a distraction at all. Those called for the One Big Shuffle. Everything: rock, jazz, classical (usually one movement at a time), bluegrass, whatever was on there. There were a few laugh-out-loud juxtapositions along the way, but I can’t recall any in particular.

    This might suit a more contemplative job.

  16. 16.

    mali muso

    @BGinCHI: obviously I am biased for Malian artists but I’d say you cannot go wrong with any of the following

    Habib Koite

    Salif Keita

    Toumani Diabate

    Ali Farka Toure

  17. 17.

    zhena gogolia

    I can’t listen to music when I work. I never listen to music at home for some reason. The only place I listen to music is in my car, and since I’ve hardly been driving since Covid, I haven’t heard much music lately. I play the piano, but you can’t work and play the piano at the same time.

    My car music leans heavily to Pedro Guerra, Hamilton, Bessie Smith, Sidney Bechet.

    For the election I’ve been listening (at work when I get a few minutes) to my pep aria, “La Mamma Morta,” has to be sung by Renata Scotto (start at 2:45 if you’re a novice).
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5FfGb5qtDU&t=295s

  23. 23.

    zhena gogolia

    @zhena gogolia:

    They kílled my móther whíle I
    was híding in the dárkest córner
    The réason I’m sáfe is just thís!
    Láter, after níghtfall
    Bérsi‿and Í’d walk áimless
    Bút terrifýing
    And fríghtening a fíre glow fláshed and
    Cast líghth upón the pítch-dark wáy
    Ahéad of mé!
    Whát now?
    The hóuse where I grew úp was búrning
    So‿I léft with nóthing!
    What wás I léft with?
    Húnger and hárdship
    Deprivátion and dánger
    Thén illness fóllowed
    But Bérsi ónce more sáved me
    Thanks to her béauty she tóok care of mé and
    Sold hersélf for my sáke!
    Í bring misfórtune to whoéver has lóved me!
    Among those sórrows
    First love cáme up to mé!
    Wíth a gentle tender vóice so sáying:
    Yóu must líve on! Life is my náture!
    In my éyes, there líes your héaven
    Dón’t you feel lónely!
    The téars you may shéd, I’m here to drý them
    I am standing besíde you and I suppórt you!
    Keep smíling and hóping! This is my dúty!
    You’re surróunded by gróund blood-sméared?
    But I am sáinted! I am oblívion!
    I’m the beíng who after cóming
    Down from the Empýrean mákes of earth para-
    díse! Ah!
    I ám but gódhead, the god of lóve, I’m lóve.

    https://lyricstranslate.com

  28. 28.

    Barbara

    I subscribed to a local music company called Invision and I am trying to listen to their content (vocal, classical, but with a lot of diverse elements).  I usually listen to music in my car, not at home.  I have lots of CDs and have never managed to put together a mobile device that allows me to listen to them on the go.  At some point I just decided that music doesn’t mean as much to me as it does to many other people.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    I cannot work in silence, having grown up in a noisy family. At work, the only station I could pick up was NPR. Working at home, the radio is on, but I only half listen. Usually, I switch between NPR, alternative, and classical. If there was a CD player near my workspace, it would be Baroque and Mozart, music that’s beautiful and makes me happy. I’d probably do a better job.

  30. 30.

    TinRoofRusted

    It totally depends on how work is going. If I need a pick me up ( aka something to stop me from quitting) I go to my safe space. B-52s, LIzzo, Black Keys, Florence and the Machine etc. In other words stuff I really love. But on less stabby days it depends on I am not sure what. I listened to Mahalia Jackson on Friday. For hours. I do not even know why.

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    I can’t work to music. My brain gets too involved in it. I usually listen to NPR or podcasts at work.

  35. 35.

    Craig

    I try to avoid Lyrics when working, but I can be all over the place. I go through phases. I like Holst’s Planets, and a lot of Prokofiev. Old experimental hip hop and noise like DJ Spooky, or Yogurt. Long form Black Metal like Weakling, or Corrupted. 60s-70s jazz. I used to listen to The Conet Project, hours and hours of recordings of numbers stations, geeky. Eno’s ambient  records are great.

  37. 37.

    dexwood

    More directly to the post, as a retired old fucker, I listen to an eclectic selection all day long. I’m talking 8 to 10 hours a day. Sometimes it’s just background, but not always. Though I lean heavily towards Bebop and 60s rock, I stream all kinds of things when I can’t work the turntable or CD player. I endorse the suggestion of the African musicians above. And, Bluetooth earbuds are miracle devices for me – freedom, movement, music.

  43. 43.

    Craig

    @MomSense: I can’t listen to podcasts at all while working. I either end up not knowing what’s going on in the podcast, or getting no work done.

  44. 44.

    Citizen Scientist

    For instrumental stuff lately it’s been Miles, Preservation Hall jazz band, or John McLaughlin’s MahaVishnu Orchestra.

  47. 47.

    Yutsano

    On the subject at hand: since I work with the public music at work is super no bueno. Otherwise when I’m in the car it’s country (I cannot STAND Autotune so most modern music is out) but when I work with my physiotherapist in the pool I get a nit more experimental. Although he got a little cheeky last Friday. He wanted to play music from my generation. He selected 60s Motown. I’mma gonna get him back…

  50. 50.

    Sandia Blanca

    My work requires thought and concentration, so classical works the best for me. KMFA.org is my local classical station, and it is very good.

  53. 53.

    Craig

    @BGinCHI: sure thing. There is an amazing recording that I can’t find right now that an Aussie made out of hours and hours that he recorded of wind droning through high-tension wires in the Outback. I totally agree about podcasts.

  55. 55.

    BGinCHI

    @Craig: There are several really good web sites with all kinds of ambient sounds and recordings. Like rain in the forest, waterfalls, a walk through a cathedral, walks through European cities, and so on.

    I’ve used these a lot to simulate being in a cafe while I’m working in the library.

  56. 56.

    Splitting Image

    I have trouble listening to music with lyrics when I’m trying to work, so for ambient music I listen to a lot of Mike Oldfield. Ommadawn is a personal favourite.

    I’m also a big fan of the 80s band Felt, especially The Splendour of Fear.

    Baroque-era music is also terrific. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Frescobaldi, Corelli, Rameau are all composers I can listen to for hours.

    Felt, “The Stagnant Pool”

    Jean Philippe Rameau, “Gavotte et 6 doubles” performed by Natacha Kudritskaya on piano.

    Normally I’m a harpsicord partisan, but that version of Rameau’s piece is particularly good for a piano version.

  63. 63.

    TinRoofRusted

    @raven:  I rarely comment here. But I grew up in Savannah and went to GaTech ( don’t hold it against me.  Family tradition and all). But I was at Tech from 82  – 87 and spent a lot of time in Athens and hitting the bars there. A friend was a friend with REM, and I attended many a show where we passed the chairs over our heads to the sidewalk. Funny thing is I preferred Pylon over REM for a bit. But that might have been due to being young. Or maybe their music was better. Christ that was 35 years ago.  I have No recollection of bar names or hell even approximate locations. But it was magnificent.

  64. 64.

    Tom Levenson

    When I’m composing new text, it’s generally baroque stuff, occasionally 40s-60s jazz. I’ve written a lot to various performances of the Messiah, a lot to the Water Music, a lot to a wide range of Bach.

    Editing–various rock and roll. Generally a lot of groove based stuff from widely different sources — the Dead, Santana, the National, some Hot Tuna (I’m old). When I’m trying to get motivated to do boring admin type stuff around my day job, stuff that shakes rattles and rolls. And lots of folk/Americana/rebel country.  Then there are the days when nothing but electric blues with really good guitar work will do.

    Depends on the day/mood.

    Basically–it

  65. 65.

    zeecube

    I usually like a little Tangerine Dream or Jean Michele Jarre in the background when working.

  67. 67.

    Barbara

    @Splitting Image: I told my son’s violin teacher that a lot of Vivaldi sounded like an argument set to music, complete with raised voices, gesticulating, sharp elbows and the occasional stiletto.  I love Vivaldi. Among other things, he was in charge of a girls’ orphanage and taught them to play music so that he could hear his own compositions.

    ETA, as for harpsichord versus piano, the reality is that most of the composers who wrote for the harpsichord would have switched to the piano immediately if it had been available.  I like early music and understand the appeal of authenticity, but too much of it is just a form of pedantry.

  68. 68.

    Craig

    I forgot about Lydia Mendoza, and Carlos Gardel. Magical Tango, and Mariachi music, and since my spanish is weak the lyrics don’t distract me, just another gorgeous instrument.

  70. 70.

    LivingInExile

    @Citizen Scientist: My wife is from New Orleans. When we moved in together years ago she was living in a slave quarter apartment next to Preservation Jazz Hall. In the evening the musicians would be practicing in the patio outside our apartment. Good times.

  71. 71.

    BGinCHI

    @Tom Levenson: Interesting that you can edit to more “catchy” music (so to speak).

    I need to be laser focused in edits, so it’s the same regimen of no lyrics.

  73. 73.

    Barbara

    @TinRoofRusted: I have a dear friend from South Carolina, dating all the way back to the same time period, and he simply idolized REM.  They are still probably one of my favorite bands of all time.

  74. 74.

    Tom Levenson

    @Tom Levenson To add: looping the Messiah while racing to the end of a section or the whole MS has the added virtue of the tradition around the Hallelujah Chorus. I have long since required myself to stand when it comes round–which keeps me from spending too many hours hunched towards the text.

    I know it’s weird and obsessive and kind whacky, but it works for me…

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    @BGinCHI:

    Do you like Ahmad Jamal? “Stolen Moments.” His two albums Tranquility (1968) and The Awakening (1970) are the peak for me.

    I thought of him when you said Keith Jarrett because they both sound like they’re playing a piano that’s 40 feet long. Super grand XL!

  76. 76.

    BGinCHI

    I should mention too that I never listened to Philip Glass until a few years ago, but am now a huge fan. I like his solo piano, but also Glassworks and some of the repetitive, strange stuff.

  78. 78.

    Tom Levenson

    @BGinCHI: Truth be told, I can go for hours without hearing really anything–that’s a good day, because it means I’m dialed in. But I find some articulated rhythm really helps me edit; it forces me to think of the sentences out loud. I catch a lot of awkwardness that way.

  82. 82.

    TinRoofRusted

    @BGinCHI: by 89 I had managed to graduate from GT and was working a big girl job in Atlanta. I was living in Little Five Points and loving the music scene there. I may have spent too many nights at Manuals and the Euclid Ave Yacht Club. It is all a blur. But a good one or so I would like to think so.

  87. 87.

    Ilefttxwhenannlost

    New Orleans wwoz.org because I can’t see live music anymore…if lyrics are a problem…stuff in another language works…flavor Jimenez…king sunny ade

  88. 88.

    Another Scott

    In college and grad school I usually had the radio on while I was studying in the evening. It helped me get out of my head and have that other part of my brain (the part screaming “This is so boring! Time is going so slowly! I don’t understand this, let’s do something else!”) occupied.

    Lyrics didn’t bother me and were often helpful.

    But…

    The theme from the Titanic is playing at Trump’s rally in Hickory, NC, right now. Not joking.

    — Caroline Orr Bueno (@RVAwonk) November 1, 2020

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    Tim Posh-looking in a mask

    I run a small warehouse of Durable Medical Equipment. I’m the whole delivery crew, and when I’m not delivering, I’m back there all alone, cleaning, testing, repairing and storing gear. So sometimes it’s extreme metal or classic punk or reggae or, well, the Smiths. Also Psychic TV and Bauhaus help. Depends on the mood. So yeah, it’s a pretty cool job sometimes.

  90. 90.

    raven

    @TinRoofRusted: I moved here in 84 so I sort of missed the apex of the vortex.  I was at Tech for a couple of years after I finished my degree but I only stayed in the ATL 4 nights a week and then came back.

  91. 91.

    Ms. Deranged in AZ

    Up until 6 months ago I was a computer programmer, but now I’m a business analyst.  I have to wear noise cancelling headphones at all times in order to concentrate.  For me it’s ocean waves, thunderstorms, creek and forrest sounds or even winter storm sounds.   Any combination of that works.  Nothing else does for me and I have no idea why.

  92. 92.

    dexwood

    @Wag: Put me in the Wayback Machine. I saw the movie, midnight showing, with my wife while tripping on mushrooms.

  94. 94.

    phein61

    Depends on the work.  If I have a metric shit-ton of regulations to analyze, I tend towards long-form rock albums:

    Aphrodite’s Child – 666, Nektar – Remember the Future, Triumvirate – Spartacus, Horslips – Book of Invasions, Richard Einhorn – Voices of Light, even Superstar.

     

    Anything involving power tools or cooking needs something a little more peppy.

  97. 97.

    Steeplejack

    I can listen to a lot of the Putumayo compilations. Good music, and the lyrics aren’t distracting because they’re usually not in English. Brazilian Lounge is a good one.

    Marcela, “Os Grilos.”

  100. 100.

    Kristine

    @Craig: I really like Music for Airports.

    I sometimes need total silence to work, but when I can handle music, it needs to be instrumental. Eno. Timothy Wenzel. Erik Wøllo’s Visions–I need to dig into his work a little more. Ken Elkinson–I fell in love with Text, Anonymous while listening to the cable “Soundscapes” channel, and bought Music for Commuting, Vols 7-12. Takashi Suzuki. 2002.

    Also, any classical up through Baroque. Can’t deal with the Romantic era very well–all the music reminds me of Hollywood melodramas.

    When I can deal with lyrics, I like Air. Agnes Obel. Some Delerium mixes.

  102. 102.

    Denali

    I cannot believe I was over 70  before I discovered Queen and David Bowie.

    For African music -Geoffrey Oreyba- magical

    Eva Cassidy and Time After Time- also Cyndi Lauper

  103. 103.

    Emma from FL

    A capella (especially Pentatonix) and choir music (English church choirs and anything from the various Eisteddfods). Classical piano. Odd bits and pieces that I’ve picked up over the years with nothing to connect them except that they appeal to my ear.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    @Craig:

    For a long time this summer I was listening to long YouTube videos of rain sounds. Amazing how many there are, and how many of them are bad. (Short, obvious looping.)

    Damn it, I got a new computer a few months ago, and one thing I still haven’t done is copy over all of my music links from Firefox on the old computer. I held up because I wanted to edit and organize them better, but of course I haven’t gotten around to it yet. There’s an Italian guy who is sort of Eno-adjacent, but I cannot remember his name to save my life. Grr.

  107. 107.

    TinRoofRusted

    @raven: no memories of the places. We drove up in Blake’s Delta 88 – a car as big as a whale.  :-). I swear to god that car had hinges in the middle so it could make turns. It is was burgundy. How I managed to graduate I do not know.  But man I had funnnnn.

  110. 110.

    Keithly

    Renaissance choral music and viol consort music when I need a reflective vibe.  Baroque orchestral music when I need to kick it up a notch.

  111. 111.

    Sister Golden Bear

    I mostly listen to Chill and Downtempo stuff—although it means finding ones with that aren’t too lulling or too dance-oriented (the heavier beats are distracting). They’re interesting enough engage the parts of my brain not involved with work, but not so demanding that they’re distracting. Thievery Corporation, Bonobo, Ulrich Schnauss, etc.

    Although lately I’ve been on a big Goldfrapp and Morcheba binge when I want something my energetic.

  112. 112.

    prostratedragon

    Work music is a subset of my relaxation music. For work, mostly jazz, classical, and some New Tango, Brazilian, or ambient. Examples: most of Miles Davis, especially In a Silent Way or Filles de Kilimanjaro; lots of Bach, Schubert, Debussy, Ravel, Beethoven (though he can get too irresistable for me), …; Piazzolla La Camorra, which also was my centering music before and after martial arts tests back in the day; Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, or Vinicius Cantuaria; Harold Budd and Brian Eno, On Land or The Plateaux of Mirror.

    Like many, I usually need the music to be a bit familiar, so things I’ve learned recently only get added slowly to this list, but Phillip Glass Aguas de Amazonia is now on there.

  113. 113.

    West of the Rockies

    I usually turn to ambient.  Deep space drone (Steve Roach).  Did someone mention Cage?  With him, I always go with 4:33.  Love that stuff…

  115. 115.

    Craig

    Figured out the Aussie guy. Alan Lamb, Primal Image.  Really great drone music using power lines as an instrument.

  116. 116.

    James E Powell

    @BGinCHI:

    Back when things were normal, I had a 90 minute to two hour commute. I listened to podcasts more than audible books because it doesn’t usually matter if my attention wanders from a podcast for a few seconds. I also got back into the habit of listening to albums all the way through.

  117. 117.

    Steeplejack

    @TinRoofRusted:

    Little Five Points [. . .] Manuel’s and the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club.

    You’re taking me back. I lived in Atlanta from ’79 to ’05 and hung out in all those places. I played in a volleyball league that used a church gym on Ponce, and Manuel’s was our spot for postgame rehydration therapy. Can’t remember the name of the club, but I saw a memorable set by the BoDeans from about 30 feet away once in Little Five Points. “Good Things.”

  118. 118.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @mali muso: There are a couple of Enya songs I love (first encountered as music on Northern Exposure). And I too listened to Baroque classical music when I was at work (I’m retired now, but I was a computer programmer, so logical stuff worked really well). Mozart, Vivaldi,  Bach, Purcell, etc.

    OT: I was thrilled when I first learned Timbuktu really existed and had been the capital of Mali when it was an empire.

  124. 124.

    BellyCat

    @BGinCHI: Another vote for “Music for Airports” by Eno.

    He also made an ambient app called Bloom, which will play background music indefinitely. You can modify it at will by touching the screen in different places.  Pretty unusual and possibly of interest.

  125. 125.

    TinRoofRusted

    @Steeplejack: I may have danced on the bar at the yacht club occasionally. I knew I spent too much time in Manuel’s when I sat down at a table with my father one night before we went to a Tech basketball game and the waiter slid a glass of Killians to me and said ‘we know what she drinks’ and looked at my dad and asked what can I get you. Luckily I had the sort of father who considered that one of his proudest parenting moments.

  126. 126.

    The Moar You Know

    Former pro musician now current IT security specialist.

    Way back in college, something broke.  Just took all my CDs down to the local store and sold them all and then got rid of my stereo.  My housemates thought I’d gone crazy.  Maybe I had.  I didn’t go to a concert that wasn’t a gig of my own or buy another piece of music until the 2010s.  Frankly, were I not married I wouldn’t have gone to any concerts still.  And I still haven’t bought any music; I have a Spotify subscription which was really helpful for learning songs for my cover band, up until this past March, anyhow.  That’s done for a while, if not forever.  I kept the subscription.  If I’m in the mood to go digging I can hunt down something good.

    I still enjoy classical if done by a good orchestra, and indigenous music of all sorts, the more primitive and minimalist, the better.

    I never listen to music at work.  I need my work environment as quiet as possible

    ETA:  unless I’m gigging of course.  Gotta listen to the music then!

  127. 127.

    Steeplejack

    @Kristine:

    No, he has a really short, annoying name like Tino Dino or something like that, which makes me even madder that I can’t  remember it. He’s less toward the ambient side and more toward the alt/​fake pop side of Eno. He had a peppy song that was used in a Volkswagen commercial about 10 years ago.

  128. 128.

    artem1soo

    I love listening to movie sound tracks while I work.  I loaded up a Pandora channel with Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer and a few other modern composers a few years back.  Sometimes I listen to movies while I work just to hear the soundtracks.

  132. 132.

    BGinCHI

    @James E Powell: Yep, for the brief period I had a commute a few years ago, I finally caught up on some stuff. Some of it was great, but a lot of it was really disappointing.

  133. 133.

    piratedan

    sorry about being late to the thread with my usual oddball take, but I have found that while working there is one genre that is growing more and more for me as a soothing background to compliment my working environment (which is essentially maintaining software applications for hospital laboratories) and that is shoegaze/dreampop.  For me its mostly about a setting of mood, kind of like turning on the background noise to keep the stress at bay so while I can deal with the minutiae at hand, it keep the other channel open to soar, drift or otherwise be engaged without requiring huge amounts of focus unless I choose to do so… if you like that kind of stuff natch, so for me its Stone Roses, Slowdive, Alvvays, Mazzy Star and The Sundays, like all of these kinds of sharing posts, ymmv.

  137. 137.

    BGinCHI

    @piratedan: You’re articulating exactly what I was trying to say in my intro.

    More than ever, I need something that gets me into a zone where I can shut out the world and concentrate. There’s SO much distraction.

  138. 138.

    Ripley

    I, also, don’t listen to music when I work. But when I was blogging/surfing/drinking I loved the Buddha Bar series. I don’t know the specific slices of genre everything fits into (who can keep up with all the subgenres?), but it’s generally downtempo, electronic music with a lot of Asian and Indian influences.

    Buddha Bar wiki

  139. 139.

    Poe Larity

    If you miss the office noise, there’s an app for that.

    Perhaps John should be blog reader, reading all the comments with the appropriate commenter context. I’d pay for that, and he could DJ like when he was a kid. Can’t get too much Funkadelic.

  141. 141.

    Haroldo

    @BGinCHI:

    You do have to dig out Davis’ “Live Evil”.  There’s a tune the name of which eludes me upon which Keith Jarrett discovers one of the keys of his keyboard is shonky.  He then bases his entire solo on that faulty key.  Magnificent.

  143. 143.

    Steeplejack

    @Kristine:

    I just looked on YouTube but couldn’t narrow down the search enough.

    A Volkswagen commercial was how I (belatedly) discovered Nick Drake.

  146. 146.

    Steeplejack

    @Kristine:

    The Italian guy’s stuff is a little similar to this Range Rover commercial. In fact, I may have tracked him down because I found some discussion that said this was not really a Jun Miyake song or that Miyake “borrowed” some elements from the Italian guy.

  147. 147.

    Barbara

    @Haroldo: When I was in high school we had a local station that was committed to being “freeform” and just playing what they liked.  I was listening one night and they played this album called “Qua” and I heard a track called “Genesis” that I might have heard 10 times total over the next 40 years, before digital music made it accessible, and I found it for forever.  I put it up there with Melissa as a song so beautiful it sings itself (what Miles Davis said about Time After Time).

  148. 148.

    BGinCHI

    @Haroldo: The only time I saw him live, he stopped playing 3 or 4 times to get a big metal crank thing and do some piano tuning.

    Or hell, maybe de-tuning.

  149. 149.

    Haroldo

    @Barbara:

    I will have to hunt for it.  I certainly am on board with Miles’ comments about ‘Time After Time’ and I am fond of ‘Melissa.’

    Thanks.

  151. 151.

    Barbara

    @lgerard: I laugh when I hear the name Ralph Towner because, one night long ago, my sister and her husband (now ex) and I were listening to Towner and my BIL said he didn’t like it because it had no middle — it was all beginning and end.

  152. 152.

    Haroldo

    @BGinCHI:

    Was this with Miles’ early 70s band?  That was one stunner of a group; I think it’s my favorite Miles’ period due in no small part to Keith Jarrett’s electric keyboards (though that’s a dangerous pronouncement to make).

    The other Jarrett-adjacent story I’ve got is getting growled at by Gary Peacock in the Univ of Wash student union when I said to him  ‘Are you Gary Peacock’?

  153. 153.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    Lucinda Williams?

    She’s really good, saw her a few years ago on Mountain Stage, next door neighbor was also on that show, said she was pretty nice to be back stage with, not a snob. Pablo is sensitive about that as a banjo player.

  155. 155.

    NotMax

    Do miss being able to slap on a platter at will but alas simply don’t have space sufficient available in the tiny cottage to properly set up the stereo rig. Brought it all along when moved here in ’83 and had it active in my store until that closed down in ’09. It’s been patiently sitting, boxed up in original cartons, since.

    @BGinCHI

    The piece that made a Glassist of me when I first heard this version played on the car radio. Made a detour from wherever I had been headed to duck into the nearest Sam Goody’s to purchase the album right then and there.

  156. 156.

    J R in WV

    @Tom Levenson:

    …the Dead, Santana, the National, some Hot Tuna (I’m old).

    Jorma K has a farm in SE Ohio and does a lot of music in that area. Fortunately we have friends who hook up with that music scene. Unfortunately we haven’t gone up there for evening music events, a very long drive from SW WV…

    Have heard a lot of Dead style recordings of the shows, OMG so good. Expert gifted musicians just letting it wander on them.

  158. 158.

    WorkingOnIt

    @mali muso:

    I am a fan of West African music and have enjoyed listening to Bassekou Kouyate, Habib Koite, Mauritanian Noura Mint Seymali among others. One of the bummers about Covid was the lost summer and fall music season.

  159. 159.

    billcinsd

    @TinRoofRusted: Pylon was great. I first heard them on my colleges radio station back in the 80s. I too went to an engineering college and we even stole Ga Techs fight song. We have never had a music program

  160. 160.

    NotMax

    Although there is no control over specific tracks (other than a “skip” option) I do turn to the Accuradio channel on the Roku when in the mood for nothing but music/songs as life accompaniment. With hundreds, probably thousands of sub-channels there from which to choose anyone will find something to like. The sound quality on the TV soundbar is pretty kickin’ and plenty fine enough for these old ears.

  161. 161.

    billcinsd

    I generally don’t listen to music while I work. When I am writing a paper or putting together though I need something to occupy the rest of my mind. Lately for this I have gone with The Sound (great UK post-punk band), Martha (the funnest anarchist/indie/gay rock band around, they are from Pity Me in County Durham). Finally, New Zealand’s The Beths are always worth listening to

  163. 163.

    laura

    I can listen to and enjoy almost every type of music and weave it into the background of most work. I’m Always ready to hear Iggy sing Lust For Life. Day, night, good, bad, suffering, loss, escape, joy, I am always ready to hear that song.

  164. 164.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Thanks for reminding me. I was going to mention that quite often I listen to the jazz and smooth jazz Cox Cable (TV) channels. They’re both pretty well curated and don’t have the overhead of the SiriusXM app. And the “smooth” channel is not icky smooth; it’s mainly contemporary jazz as opposed to the older stuff.

  166. 166.

    Firebert

    @Steeplejack: The banishment of headphones at work seemed to be due to some disciplinary issue in another department. So, pretty much a failure in leadership.

    Turns out there are podcasts that are just people playing Dungeons & Dragons. The listening choice of the person I work most closely with.  It’s as exciting as it sounds. Also video game theme music.

    (Sorry about the slow reply.  I’ve had a busy evening.)

  169. 169.

    Steeplejack

    @Firebert:

    No problem; I was just curious. I would think the company would prefer headphones so that people’s listening choices wouldn’t be bothering everyone else.
    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  170. 170.

    TomatoQueen

    WORK!

    The digital music channels on TehComcast, must be a zillion of ’em by now, and I confine my listening to Light Classical and Masterpieces, next to each other. The one tends to be Bartok and the other Brahms, both chopped & edited. This keeps my brain from locking up.

    At present I’m watching the Asleep at the Wheel 50th Anniversary show.

    But it’s time for bed, says Merlinus Ambrosius, a Silly Silly Boy.

  175. 175.

    J R in WV

    So next day, here’s some stuff from the long ago. Piano jazz, instrumental groups, Cuban big band music, Argentine tango style music…

    Pink Floyd, King Crimson, the many bands like them. Everyone likes Miles Davis, as shown by many comments.

    At night we listen to mostly classical to sleep to. Samuel Barber, an album called Restful Adagio, many classical guys, Ripped to MP3s you can get 8-10-12 CDs on a single CD so it will play all night long. Only bad thing is if you by accident get something grossly louder than all the other CDs, or music that turns out not to be good to sleep through, even though it’s a CD you like by a composer you like.

    The background music helps cope with the tinnitus sounds in your head, a rec from our family doctor, who is also a professional musician and big time gardener.

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