CROSS BURGESON'S BLOG

What you (might) like to listen to while you work on finals

Arnold Bocklin’s Spring Evening. I wish MY spring evenings were like this

I think since the time that we’ve been able to listen to music which isn’t live we’ve been using it as background noise. I’ve always been somebody who can’t listen to music with lyrics while I study, but I’ve also always been somebody who needs to have something on while I study. So, I’ve come across a lot of different types of “study music”. And so, here’s a short list of them for your consideration as you too study (or write) for finals.

1st I have to start with a classic, the lo-fi hip hop radio. This is a nostalgia pick for me and I think it was actually the first type of non mainstream music that I listened to as a kid. Something I did my math homework to when I was like 12, and it’s still going on. Even though seeing in real time a simple 24/7 music stream hosted by one guy become a cog in the capitalist machine (there’s a merch store?? for the lo-fi girl??) has been weird, I still put it on every once and awhile. Also, the livestream feed is good to look at if you have a dopamine starved brain like me and have a compulsive need to look at something moving every 5 minutes.

2nd, any form of Youtube “Jungle mix”. This is the type of music that I have to be in a specific mood for, but when I have one of those days where I REALLY can’t focus at all and I need constant stimulation to get me to lock in, breakcore sounding stuff is great. There’s just a quality that Youtube playlist have for stuff like this that official music platforms don’t which makes all the difference for stuff like this.

3rd, Japanese fusion Jazz band Casiopea. Their album Mint Jams was the first album I ever bought on vinyl when I was 13 and the youtube recommendations gifted me with them. Casiopea is great, fusion jazz is great. This is music you can absolutely listen to on it’s own, but it’s also good to study with. If you like them, I recommend this (the most early 80’s thing ever) concert of Masayoshi Takanaka and Santana playing a stadium in Japan.

4th is something I just discovered a month or two ago and have been enjoying greatly. The Universal Ambients youtube channel. I love the concept for this and the thumbnails on all the videos are usually academic art which I really like. I guess whether you think this is music or not is dependent upon whether you think this crosses the line into just being actual ambient noise but I don’t think it does, and it’s all apparently composed by one guy so that has to count for something. Anyways, two of my favorites are Greece, 500 BC and Palermo 1874. But if those aren’t your thing specifically there’s other times and places that you might like.

5, and finally is this specific Spotify Jazz playlist. I don’t know why but this is just the best non-lyrical Jazz playlist on Spotify. for some reason. I really don’t know why this is just the one Spotify made playlist that got cooked on. Also, it could be like sacrilegious or something to listen to “Autumn Jazz” when it’s not autumn so be careful.

That’s all. Feel free to let me know if you like anything above and I’d be happy to hear what you listen to when you study. Thanks.

In

5 responses

  1. Prof L Avatar
    Prof L

    Cross, aha, you are the second CasioPea fan I have encountered. A student a couple semesters back was a Japanese video game soundtrack music aficionado. But then he also wrote something about CasioPea at some point. Anyway, that’s a cool list!

    And since all of us are going to be doing some studying with Dead Week about to begin, I’m going to add something or two. Let’s go with vintage ambient music. Brian Eno. And I could recommend just about anything from the 20th century. But let’s go for “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” which I have especially been enjoying lately.

    And then my second choice, William Basinski’s “Disintegration Loops”–maybe an accessible intro to experimental music? Also something that gets called ambient–recorded loops, discovered in a state of decay by the composer and reshaped and edited while being digitized…

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  2. Ayan Zubair Avatar
    Ayan Zubair

    This list is interesting to read as someone who is a pretty mainstream listener, but just goes really deep into it. For example, my favorite artist is Drake but I know way more Drake songs than I should. I definitely want to give these a listen to expand my music taste, because you seem like you know what you’re talking about, and I also hate listening to fast-paced, lyric heavy songs while studying.

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  3. Mark Avatar
    Mark

    I have to say that as a psych major, whatever you listen to when you’re studying, listen to it on the test. So if the test in no headphones/music, you’re better off studying in those same conditions to help in memory recollection. Other than that, Instrumentals of your favorite songs are also good, and just your favorite songs in general are great tools, because they put and likely keep you in a good headspace, that being said, my personal recommendation is Beethoven’s 5th symphony, part 1, it really sets the mood.

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  4. Wyatt Haas Avatar
    Wyatt Haas

    These are great picks. Unfortunately, I am the type of person who has to study in silence as I always want to pay attention to the music, so I usually just rawdog it with some white noise and noise cancelling headphones. If I really want to listen to something, though, my go-to will always be the Breath of the Wild soundtrack, or any ambent video game OST for RPGs.

    For some good study albums, I would recommend anything by Boards of Canada. You can’t go wrong with anything in their discography, and I suggest starting with their most popular work Music Has The Right To Children, or if you want something different, their Peel Session. Prof L recommended Brian Eno and I totally agree. I’ve only listened to Eno’s most popular work, Another Green World, but I really enjoyed it thoroughly. Aphex Twin is also a good study buddy. Same with Steve Reich, specifically his work “Piano Phase”. It’s genius, basically the same melody is being played, but one is at a slightly faster tempo, causing phases in the music that change what the music is doing while all technically being the same https://youtu.be/Jqoieg0Vqag?si=5Yq265jMquicoEBd.

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  5. Katelyn Hostetter Allee Avatar
    Katelyn Hostetter Allee

    When I study, I usually listen to podcasts because music either makes me lose track of my thoughts if it’s a song I really like or just annoys me if it’s too ‘nondescript’ to my ears – aka I don’t like it. Podcasts are a good in-between of these two for me, but obviously, if I start following the conversation too closely, I’ll still get distracted. So I’ve been trying to find good music instead. I think my favorite of the ones you suggested is the “Jungle” mix!

    And also…there’s a merch store for the lo-fi girl!???

    Reply

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