Selected Ambient Works
90s electronic, Autechre
Incunabula, their debut album as Autechre, is also fantastic:
Instrumental heavy metal.
Post rock for me. It’s a wide genre that is sometimes classical in nature to punk metal.
Techno, house, trance, or nintendo music.
Second this, love the trance and Nintendo tunes! There’s some good lofi Nintendo mixes on YouTube that get me through work
Depends on the kind of concentration. If I’m programming or doing some kind of math, I want fury. I’m reaching for Slayer or Megadeth or the Doom sound track. Nothing like Angel of Death to plow through something.
If it’s more contemplative, power ballads. Something I can sing without focusing on it. I Want to Know What Love Is. Keeps pace, but it’s more emotional. Keeps me in that thoughtful place.
Cooking, woodworking, cleaning. Something active but not on the whole fast. Heavy metal, southern rock, or blues. Kiss, CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd, BB King. Something even tempo that can pick up and come back down. Freebird followed by Fortunate Son is a good example.
When I really need to concentrate I put on music in a foreign language. Mainly German because I’ve found a lot of German bands I like. Some of my favorites that sing mainly in German:
- Wizo
- Die Ärzte
- Die Toten Hosen
- We Butter Out Bread With Butter
The first Sims game soundtrack
The Movies game soundtrack
buckethead. i cant focus with lyrics and i found his work perfect.
Usually none, sometimes classical music, Viennese Classic especially
Same, none of that low-brow Bratislava Classic, pee-yooo
None. Otherwise, I’m listening to music instead of concentrating on whatever I should be.
Years ago I got a disc called Sounds of Slashdot. It was at a con, I think.
Anyway it’s got some “gamemaster” “lost tribe” thing among some musical tracks on the CD. I have No Idea what it is, but I put it on and the sounds fucks with distractions and I can enter the Flow more easily for work. It’s a great trigger.
I need to find more of that.
Lofi covers of video game music. Mostly Zelda, because I am a dork.
video game music is designed to pump you up without breaking your concentration.
almost anything with lyrics in it is a no go for me if my goal is to have background music to relax/study to. also lofi.
Gaming LoFi, Gaming Metal, Gaming Jazz, Space Folk
When I was in the office, always metal. At home I’m more likely to listen to classical, but still metal if I need to be totally focused.
Always Emancipator. Safe In The Steep Cliffs is excellent.
