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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
Baud
Bossa Nova
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).
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.
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.
BGinCHI
@raven: I can’t work if I can sing along……
But if I’m fiddling around or cooking, same here.
BGinCHI
@Baud: The nickname thread was yesterday.
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.
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?
raven
@BGinCHI: I’m watch da berz and cooking. . .
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.
BGinCHI
@Firebert: That’s cruel & unusual punishment.
It’s right there in the Constitution.
raven
@dexwood: Turn off da bubble machine. . .
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
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
Aleta
@dexwood: lol
dexwood
@raven: Never!
zhena gogolia
@dexwood:
Lawrence Welk actually had some crack musicians in his orchestra. And Mitch Miller was quite a good musician too.
raven
@dexwood: A wonderful a wonderful
raven
@zhena gogolia: And Steve Allen had chops!
zhena gogolia
@zhena gogolia:
raven
Steve Allen – Gravy Waltz
dexwood
@zhena gogolia: No doubt true, but, man, as a teen in the 60s nothing drove me out of the living room faster.
zhena gogolia
@raven:
Oh, yes, he was a very fine musician and composer.
BGinCHI
@mali muso: Thank you!
Gonna give these a spin tomorrow.
Today was all Keith Jarrett.
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.
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.
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.
MomSense
I can’t work to music. My brain gets too involved in it. I usually listen to NPR or podcasts at work.
Yutsano
@Baud: Quincy Jones anyone?
raven
@TinRoofRusted: Sitin here in Normaltown. We had a neighborhood porch concert this afternoon with Mary Siglas and the Hottie Tots!
Barbara
@MomSense: The level of concentration required for my work makes it impossible to listen to anything when I am working.
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.
BGinCHI
@MomSense: I can never find the time to listen to podcasts.
And people are always recommending them to me.
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.
BGinCHI
@Craig: Which Eno?
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: Same here.
BGinCHI
@dexwood: Maybe ROF needs to go next to your handle, and raven’s.
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: We should do a podcast about podcasts.
Omnes Omnibus
@BGinCHI: I couldn’t be arsed.
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.
Citizen Scientist
For instrumental stuff lately it’s been Miles, Preservation Hall jazz band, or John McLaughlin’s MahaVishnu Orchestra.
dexwood
@BGinCHI: heh.
Craig
@BGinCHI: really like Music for Airports, and Thursday Afternoon, and Ambient Music
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…
BGinCHI
@Omnes Omnibus: Leaving money on the table, bro.
BGinCHI
@Craig: Same. Only when I drive. And I almost never drive.
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.
BGinCHI
@Craig: Thanks!
johnnybuck
Monk, Mingus, Clifford Brown, Miles, Sonny Rollins, Be-bop man!
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.
Wag
Long form acoustic music is really helpful for work. Here’s a great cover version of the old Pink Floyd classic Echoes by an incredibly talented guitar duo, Rodrigo y Gabriella. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D2vIPnzY90w
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.
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.
Craig
@Wag: they’re amazing. Their recent Tiny Desk concert from home is excellent.
BGinCHI
@Wag: This is great!
I’ve listened to some of their other stuff. Very cool.
BGinCHI
@Splitting Image: Tubular Bells!
Haven’t thought about that in a loooong time.
Craig
@BGinCHI: I’ll look into that, thanks.
Steeplejack
@Firebert:
Why did your workplace ban headphones?
dexwood
@Wag: Oh, hell yeah. I love them.
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.
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
zeecube
I usually like a little Tangerine Dream or Jean Michele Jarre in the background when working.
Wag
Bill Laswell has a couple of albums that fir the bill as well. The song A Screaming Comes Across The Sky is really trancelike.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SdjGSLik2ZM
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.
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.
BGinCHI
@TinRoofRusted: Moved to Athens in ’89, so maybe we overlapped.
Bonus if you ever saw The Normaltown Flyers.
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.
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.
Amir Khalid
I am fond of American folk music, especially what’s associated with the civil rights movement. I saw this post and thought of Eyes on The Prize.
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.
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…
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!
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.
BGinCHI
@Steeplejack: Hell yes. Spot on comparison, too.
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.
Tom Levenson
@Wag: I love RyG. I forget the exist for a while, and then reconnect. Very good writing music.
BGinCHI
@Tom Levenson: Really interesting how our brains work (and don’t work) when we’re writing.
zhena gogolia
@BGinCHI:
Me too. I’m impatient with them.
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.
zhena gogolia
@Craig:
I adore Carlos Gardel.
Wag
@BGinCHI: Philip Glass’s piece Koyaansquatsi is a really trippy multimedia piece.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YEWy2QORDV4
Smalla
A New World Symphony by Dvorak
Steeplejack
@BGinCHI:
Ahmad Jamal:
Tranquility, full album.
The Awakening, full album.
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
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…
Cheers,
Scott.
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.
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.
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.
dexwood
@Wag: Put me in the Wayback Machine. I saw the movie, midnight showing, with my wife while tripping on mushrooms.
Craig
@Smalla: that guy was brilliant.
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.
BGinCHI
@TinRoofRusted: Little 5 Points Tavern was so great. Got over there once in a while.
Wag
@dexwood: I saw it while stoned. I like Kraftwerk with shrooms. With headphones
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.”
BGinCHI
@dexwood: I think going to the movies is about the only thing I never did while on those. Hmm…probably should have.
raven
@TinRoofRusted: It was Tyrone’s or the 40 Watt.
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.
TinRoofRusted
@Barbara: they were and still are the best.
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
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.
dexwood
@BGinCHI: We lived within walking distance of the art theater. Otherwise, forget it…
Craig
@Kristine: I’ll check some of that tomorrow. Thanks.
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.
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.
TinRoofRusted
@BGinCHI: I was there more nights than was healthy. Little Five Points was an amazing place to live at 21.
Craig
@Steeplejack: I listen to a ton of music on YouTube. There’s just so much of it.
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.
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.
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.
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…
debbie
@Tom Levenson:
If I heard Sunny Day Strut, I’d have to stop what I was doing and dance all over the room!
Craig
Figured out the Aussie guy. Alan Lamb, Primal Image. Really great drone music using power lines as an instrument.
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.
Steeplejack
@TinRoofRusted:
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.”
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.
debbie
@dexwood:
It was trippy enough without any chemicals!
Kristine
@Steeplejack: Ludovico Einaudi?
Craig
@West of the Rockies: there are some hilarious videos of orchestra and solo piano versions of 4.33
prostratedragon
Herbie Hancock:
prostratedragon
@Craig: The only thing that could follow piano solo performances of the complete Bolero.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
BGinCHI
@Kristine: Great ideas here. Can’t wait to explore.
Kristine
@Steeplejack: It might be possible to find that commercial on You Tube or a commercials site like iSpot.
BGinCHI
@TinRoofRusted: Oh boy yes.
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.
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.
BGinCHI
@Craig: Coincidentally, I’m doing a version right now.
BGinCHI
@BellyCat: Yes! Thanks, I’ll check that out.
BGinCHI
@artem1soo: I like this too and am a big fan of David Shire.
“The Conversation” score is terrific, mesmerizing.
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.
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
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.
Craig
@BGinCHI: I’d second that recommendation for Bloom. Fun, instant Eno. Of course I used to use it a lot in airports.
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.
Wyatt Salamanca
So much great music from which to choose (and so many excellent suggestions already posted here). At the moment, I’ll go with these:
Venus – Television
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f3d5ZdE4vY
Virginia Plain – Roxy Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BonWfTW7jKc
Bodhisattva – Steely Dan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGdyVnW86SY
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.
Haroldo
@Tom Levenson:
I’m a complete fool for jack Casady (Jorma’s not too shabby, either.)
lgerard
For concentration, classic Ralph Towner, with or without John Abercrombie or Gary Burton, or perhaps from the live stash
For a little pickup Smokey and Miho
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.
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).
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.
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.
Kristine
@Steeplejack: Lots of sites with Volkswagen commercial music.
https://www.songfacts.com/blog/writing/musical-impact-of-volkswagen-commercials
https://www.tvadmusic.co.uk/tag/vw/
Hope you find your artist. I’ve found so much music from hearing snippets of songs on commercials.
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.
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’?
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.
Haroldo
@Barbara:
Aha! “Quah’ is Jorma’s first solo record. I’ll see if I can find it.
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.
J R in WV
@Tom Levenson:
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.
Steeplejack
@Kristine:
I need to drag out the old computer and go through the YouTube music links. But not tonight, Satan.
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.
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
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.
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
Tim Posh-looking in a mask
@Steeplejack: I loved that Jetta commercial. “Voom voom Jetta, voom voom Jetta”.
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.
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.
JAFD
If I may put in a plug for my hometown stations, WBGO.org, WQXR.org, and WRTI.org
A friend of mine said I should check out band called ‘Protocol’,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eitnnThOVU
for “Biplane to Bermuda”
And thanks for all the ideas, fellow jackals !
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.)
Inspectrix
Calexico is one that puts me in a happy place. For fun, here is what they did with Kenny Loggins’ Danger Zone. If you like their sound, then give the rest a try.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PytgF7XLtR4
The Lodger
@Barbara: Laudamus Te from Vivaldi’s Gloria, voiced for two somewhat competitive sopranos…
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)_/¯
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.
Steeplejack
Late night . . .
Pharoah Sanders, “Harvest Time.”
John Klemmer, “Touch.”
Yusef Lateef, “Love Theme from Spartacus.”
Steeplejack
@TomatoQueen:
You still owe us pictures of him!
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Billie Holiday et al., “Fine and Mellow.” Billie holding court . . .
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Lou Rawls and Les McCann, “God Bless the Child.”
And to finish: Bill Evans, “Re: Person I Knew.” Why, yes, that is Nico (later of the Velvet Underground) on the album cover.
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.