Thread

For me? Believe it or not. CNN or talk radio.

It’s surprising for me how much I actually absorb while working if I’m listening to current events/political news while I’m working.

Course, I’m nowhere near a real coder. A hack at best.

Air America, XMPR, and several music stations on XM, like The Loft, Bluegrass Junction, Folk Village, Real Jazz, Beyond Jazz, XM Classics, XM Cafe, Audio Visions, XMX (especially when Bob Dylan’s new session is playing).  I like a mix of music, depending on my mood.

I recently installed a outdoor antenna and the sound quality is now awesome!  😊

For deep code spelunking:
Digitally Imported‘s Chillout station.
BT (This Binary Universe in particular)

Most excellent choices there, do you subscribe to DI?

I was going to, but my internet service will soon be switching to a bandwidth-limited service (satellite based), and I’m going to have to give a month or two of reduced usage to see how much extraneous bandwidth I have available for things like streaming radio.

Ambient (http://www.myspace.com/m83) does me best but http://www.pigradio.com/ often gets me through the day too.

Ah a cool thread for music-lovers. I always love to find new music and I assume you are people who love to do the same. Here’s my tip: Ozark Henry.

The singer is a laid-back belgium artist who sings both in french as in English. Mostly english though. But his music is so relaxed, hours of coding pass by while listening to them. Ozark Henry is like the EE of music: he deserves a bigger audience for the beautifull things he created… 😉

Just listen to this song, close your eyes and imagine yourself cruising down the long roads of Ohio on a warm october-day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A74ZH0Ixdg.
(the song starts after 30 seconds or so)

Usually I listen to all kinds of rock though. From Arcade Fire to Tool to Smashing Pumpkins to the Editors or the Killers.

I tend to lean towards the more ambient end of the spectrum, be it “true” ambient stuff like Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Labradford, etc., or just ambient-ish “pop” such as Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, The Cocteau Twins (I’m a sucker for the early 4AD sound), and so on.  Electronica a la Massive Attack and Portishead is always nice, as is turntablist stuff like DJ Shadow.

Aye, that said their 24kbps aac is insanely crisp. Subscribing for normal headphone usage is almost overkill.

My nano holds about 650 songs, depending on song length, and it’s always a mixed bag. Got some Led Zep, some favs from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s (sounds like a radio station promo), even some dance club tracks. Mixed in as well are some James Bond movie themes, some “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?” cuts ... Man, I’m just all over the place.  😊

I’ll plug in the iPod earbuds while at the keyboard, and the time just flies by.

Today’s pick: Shemekia Copeland, produced and accompanied by Dr. John.  Pretty die-hard blues fan here but still reach for the 80’s hair band stuff when I really need to crank out some work.

For the blues / jazz fans out there, I need to recommend Chris Cain.

Awesome thread. I get stuck in a rut every so often and need some help getting out. Hearing some new names here has been great.

M.

Some of the albums I dug of late:
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
Jamie T - Panic Prevention
Sia - Lady Croissant
Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5.55
Bebel Gilberto - Momento
And since we seem to be plugging Belgians 😊:
Sven van Hees - Exotica
Deus - Pocket Revolution

I have a mix that tends to be all over the place as well, mixing in Praise & Worship with Hardcore/Metalcore, classic rock, R&B;, and punk.

Paramore
Hillsong United
The Chariot
Chasing Victory
David Crowder*Band
The Fold
Sublime
Relient K
Green Day
The Juliana Theory
Phil Wickham

Hillsong and David Crowder ROCK! I especially like the Sunsets and Sushi CD by DCB.

M.

I also spend quite a bit of time on stuff from various netlabels, which is primarily towards the electronic end of the spectrum.  Some recent faves include Thinner/Autoplate, Subsource, Archaic Horizon, and Dreamland Recordings.