Best CD to Listen to when Writing

[kristen999]

Ask the NoCal turntable nerds, the trip-hoppers, the frat boys, the hippies or the ravers: Endtroducing DJ Shadow is deeply spiritual. Not in the conventional sense, but in the spirituality of the soul that lives in your chest and got there from the ether and returns to the collective unconscious-- the one you feel when you feel things. That's the spirit that saves us from being fleeting and disposable.

Endtroducing taps that inner-whatever better than most of the albums of its day, and it swims so easily that it established an entire genre of instrumental hip-hop-- count how many records come out every month and are dubbed "Shadowesque." Building the album from samples of lost funk classics and bad horror soundtracks, Shadow crossed the real with the ethereal, laying heavy, sure-handed beats under drifting, staticky textures, friendly ghost voices, and chords whose sustain evokes the vast hereafter. Even the "look at me" cuts like "The Number Song" didn't break the mood; the album was so perfect and the technique, so awesome that it's still definitive today, and Shadow has yet to top it.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2377-endtroducing-deluxe-edition/

For me, this is the best music to write to. The CD is a classic. Give it a try. It puts me in a great head space, I'm not distracted, but I'm tapped into this mellow groove to keep my fingers taping the keyboard.

Comments

[neevebrody.livejournal.com]

I'm working on a post now about writing to music, so I will definitely check this out. I make my own writing mixes to use and I'm glad to see others who write to music. I think it can be a helpful tool, especially if you have tracks that help you identify with your characters.

Thanks for passing this on.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

THIS is really terrific Kristen.
Thanks for posting it for us.
It sure reminds me of Soundscapes which I love to listen to when I am online.
Soundscapes is just one of ~~many~~ digital audio channels which is part of my monthly cable subscription ($5.29 per month)..........
BTW Endtroducing DJ Shadow sounds like something Sheppard might like as he 'reads' War and Peace
:D

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Very cool:D I can't really write to music, myself - I need absolute silence. But I use music like crazy when thinking stories up. I especially love movie soundtracks as they have most of what I need for a specific type of scene.

[sgafan.livejournal.com]

ooh! A discussion on writing music. Have to try this one.

I write almost exclusively to Celtic with some other blends of instrumental as well. Talk about putting you in a head space to write, this does, at least for me anyway. I've been gathering scattered songs from unknown artists for literally years and have quite a collection. I really hear you on this. The right music puts you in the zone. I can't have lyrics, at least not in English and my playlist ranges from music that touches character exploration, to fights to angst or sadness to happiness and I'll frequently skip around songs depending on what I'm writing at the moment.

Interesting! I love seeing what people listen to, if they do, when they write. :)