At any given point, music is playing around me. Over the last 10 years I have integrated my home and auto to be able to play music from my computer (Mac) and iPod/iPhone, so my music is with me all the time. Music is a soundtrack, and one that is important to me.
"Neroli" and "Thursday Afternoon" by Brian Eno: These 2 albums play most the time. I leave them on while I work, and "Neroli" plays while I sleep. Being a designer, the calm of this music allows me to slow down and focus better. Weird? I know.... ;)
"Apollo" and "Another Day On Earth" by Brian Eno
"So" and "Passion" by Peter Gabriel
"The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree" by U2 are major albums for me.
"Green" and the early 90s albums by R.E.M. were, and are, important.
The Police and Sting (pre 2000)
"Not Dark Yet" and "Sugar Baby" by Bob Dylan
"That's The Way" and "Going To California" by Led Zeppelin
Sigur Ros's first album. ;)
"Kid A" and "In Rainbows" by Radiohead
"Kind Of Blue" and "Porgy & Bess" by Miles Davis
"Time Out" by Dave Brubeck (The best Sunday morning listen.)
There are so many that I'll have to come back a post later. I will be watching this thread with great interest. |
Seventh Sojourn by The Moody Blues. |
I've been listening to the first batch of 25 Blue Note SACDs from Analogue Production. These are fantastic.
I find that I can read with much more concentration when the music has no vocals, so jazz gets a fair bit of my time lately. Just finished the Stieg Larsson trilogy - whoa, what a ride.
Regards, |
Generally I enjoy classical music for the solo piano in the mornings, classical music for the orchestra in the early evenings, and jazz for small groups and vocalists during the day, mostly as background for other activities.
This is all subject to mood and occasionally I'll listen to some folk music, blue grass, and pop vocal. |
Sunday A.M. - Gospel Bluegrass; Bluegrass; Alternative Country/Americana.
Reggae or some upbeat Pop or Rock - for Working in the house
Wehn writing/working where concentration is important - Smooth Jazz or Classical; or some other non verbalizing audio.
Dinner time - contemporary jazz; Jazz vocalists
Just for fun - Blues; Folk; Country; Various Jazz; Alt Contry; Alt Rock..
When angry - metal; hard Rock.... loud... but usually on a second or third system. |
Falling asleep..."Stars of the Lid" a station I set up on Pandora named after the duo's band. Evenings..."What Your Soul Sings" another Pandora station named after a track by Massive Attack.
Hope you will check them out. |
Reggae is great while trying to get things done around the house. Bob Marley or compilation cds to keep away monotony. |
@Ghosthouse: Ahhhh....yes, Sir. "What Your Soul Sings" is good stuff.... ;) |
Ballan
"At any given point, music is playing around me" EXACTLY!
After all these years of music and audio, however, I still haven't achieved it. But here are a few ideas:
Early Morning
CPE Bach
Gym
Earth Wind and Fire
Isley Brothers
Jamiroquoi
Studying/Working
Looking for suggestions here, but have also experimented with nature recordings for more interesting "white noise"
Falling Asleep
Keith Jarret Facing You
Any Time
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Pink Floyd
Driving
A great activity for music where I need to think more....
What we are trying to get at here is not just "Oh I like smooth jazz with my Starbucks" type of suggestions,
but how you specifically incorporate really great, timeless classics or destined to become classic music into the soundtrack for your life. |
Early morning weekdays...chilled electronica but not TOO ambient. Stuff like Kruder & Dorfmeister, tunes from the Ambient Dub series, Klaus Schulze.
Early morning weekends...classic hard bop usually or maybe some classical guitar pieces.
While driving for work I almost always listen to episodes of This American Life. Nothing makes the drive zoom by like those.
I have a little ritual of playing The Smiths-The Queen Is Dead while either cooking or washing dishes.
Hanging out Fri-Sat night wig friend usually means a wellthought out playlist thru iTunes. It's always a very eclectic set that will go thru all the genres I love.
This forum does not like iPhones. I can't even move the cursor to fix a few typos. |
Kind of like mellow tubey magic. I have a small collection of 200 albums (1950s to today) but love a warm soundstage and simple playing. For classics, I love the first three Band albums (Chestfever!), most of the early Bob Marley catalog, mid 70s Neil Young (On the Beach and American Stars and Bars), 1980s Los Lobos (Kiko) and Replacements for roots rock. I think that Radiohead has owned the last two decades for interesting and evolving work. For contemporary artists, Dave Alvin and Cat Power seem to best capture that organic sound. I also love everything that Daniel Lanois has produced. |
Bongofury,
Thank you for your suggestions on the music you like.
For this thread, we are also discussing how everyone incorporates music into their life - so how does music accompany you during what time(s) day(s) and activities in your life, hence your "personal soundtrack." |
I just remember that I listen to a lot of Coldplay and Moby while I workout. I think this confession will force me to give back my "Audiophile Member Card". :D |
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Oh yes, "downtime" is also an important activity.
But in my ideal world, music would accompany everything I do, as described by Ballan.
Right now, I am at the office, and forced to listen to CNBC all day. |
Cwlondon
I feel your pain.... find the remote and die it.
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Blindjim,
Even CNBC couldnt torture me into reaching for a remote.
Regarding my personal soundtrack, however, I found Bill Evans very useful while working this morning on some emails and internet research.
Mahler was too loud and too heavy. Aaron Coplan mixed.
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Satriani, black coffee and power tools. |
Lately it's been 16 Horsepower for all activities. A band that I can't seem to get enough of... |
Here's something different:
For a traditional boxing workout starting with skipping rope:
Herbie Hancock - Chameleon from the Headhunters album.
A jazz/funk classic and 15:41 track length for a perfect warm up.
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