I like to listen to music, and I have to admit my music choices are pretty idiosyncratic. I’ve been listening to a lot of prog rock and mathcore in the past year or so, as well as a lot of more post-rock and instrumental stuff. I’ve also been listening to some pop, though a bit on the fringes: some electropop and synthpop, a bit of pop-rock. I still listen to jazz on occasion, but not as often as I’d like.
I’ve been trying to keep a playlist of music I listen to while writing code, but to be honest making playlists isn’t something I’m used to doing: I often just use it to collect similar tracks I want to listen to; I then just listen to the playlist on shuffle.
My current work music playlist is also a bit of a mess: I listened to these quite heavily the early part of this year, but I’ve been listening to a little more 90s rock in the past month or so; I’m not sure if I should just dump that playlist and start over, or mix it up with a bunch of tracks that don’t fit the theme of that playlist.
Speaking of playlists: Spotify and the other online music streaming services have been a godsend. I used to meticulously “collect” tracks in my personal collection, ripping tracks from CDs I’ve bought, or adding files from certain more, uh, illicit sources. Now, I’ve not played a track in my personal collection for the past couple of years – I mean, I’ve played those tracks on Spotify, sure, but not the actual files in my collection.
Anyway, here are a few songs I’ve been listening to quite heavily:
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Television Romance - Pale Waves
I can’t remember when I bumped into this particular track, but I like the whole synthpop vibe they have.
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Actor Out of Work - St. Vincent
I started listening to St. Vincent’s work a few years back; this particular track (and Black Rainbow) stuck in my head for quite a while.
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There’s a certain frenetic energy to this song that matches my mood, and the title says it all: the anxiety to just get through the day, on some days.
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Losing All Sense - Grizzly Bear
To be entirely honest, this is I think the only track of theirs I’ve ever listened to, and I like the whole vibe of the song: it sounds like it came from the 80s
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Same thing with this song, very 80s.
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This is a track I heard around 2016 while listening to one of Spotify’s algorithm-generated radio stations, and it’s still on heavy rotation with me. I also listen to a lot of their other tracks, although if screaming vocals aren’t your thing, you might not like their other songs.
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Red Paper Lanterns - Maybeshewill
This track, and Not For Want Of Trying, are definite must-listens. I only started listening to them last year, and I kind of regret not listening to them earlier.
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It’s been years since their last album; finally. And this captures a lot of my pessimism lately about everything. The entire album is of course a treat to listen to as well.
What do you listen to? I’d love to get suggestions on bands and tracks I should listen to; drop me an email, tweet, or DM.
Previously: Cleaning Up My Emacs Config