So for some reason, ever since high school, whenever I have needed to write papers for school I have always spun records by The Decemberists or My Morning Jacket. I don't know why, I suppose the Decemberists are literate and give me big words to use, and My Morning Jacket are the unique combination of rocking out/atmospheric unitelligible lyrics. Now that I am going through finals week, and have two paper left (out of a total of four), I am burned out on these records.

I kind of need some new suggestions. Bring em on!

in a side note, I am about one hour from finishing my last English paper in college. It almost makes me a little teary eyed.

The last couple of paper's I've written have been completed to The Disintegration Loops. I usually like to play ambient music because anything else will distract me... or I will feel guilty for putting on something and not giving it my full attention.

None. Maybe It's just me, but there's no fucking way I can concentrate at my highest level with music I like in the background.

see this is the sort of stuff I need to listen to when reading. (lately it has been either Helios - Eingya or Eluvium - Copia).

for some reason if it is too pleasant I get bored. i am also a very lazy writer.


highest level?

give it time kid.... in three years you'll settle at performing at a pleasant "meh."

It took me about eight hours to write my last paper. And for no apparent reason, really. Odd times. During this time, I spun (span? FUCK YOU):

Ash - 1977
Kevin Drumm - Land of Lurches
Sunn 0))) - Black One
Pink Floyd - Live At Pompeii
Thin Lizzy - Black Rose
Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures

Then I listened to some old Hives shit, and then nothing for an hour. It was a fucking blast and a half! Not really, it sucked balls.

Believe me, I'm already there. It just takes me forever with those kinds of distractions.

good call. this paper could really use some Sunn 0))) influence.

i used to think i needed silence to write effectively, but then i lived in a dorm and realized my music was better than hearing everyone else. that's when i started listening to ambient music at blistering volumes.

the worst thing about this is that in one year I will be standing in front of students assigning paper topics and feeling like a jack-ass.

maybe I will just have them all make a video documentary about "death of a salesman."

Yeah, it was really good, but boy, does that shit fly by when you're up way late writing a fucking paper. It felt like it was 40 minutes or something.

That's another shitty thing. The minutes just slip away from you like crazy. I'd be like, "Fuck, 10:53." And then, "Wait, how the fuck did it get to be 11:53, it's almost midnight, fuck." And then, "Oh, shit, whoa, it's almost 1:00!" And then the next time I'd look at my watch, "FUCK, 1:53??? AHAAHHAGHGHGH." Until it was about 4:00 am. Fuck.

But I was one of maybe seven or so people in the class (out of what, 25?) to actually turn the thing in on time without either waiting to e-mail it at midnight or sacrifice a letter grade and just turn it in late. I got a 94/100. Second highest grade in the class.


Oh, yeah, Phil... Tim Hecker.

I'd find something as wordy as Decemberists to be completely distracting if I was trying to write. If you find it inspiring, fine, but I don't see how it could help you write in the moment. It's best to be inspired by things that operate on the other side of your brain that you actually need to use.

Pavement bringing the solid suggestions...

i understand the Sunn 0))) thing completely. at least with band like The Decemberists you know where you are in the album. With Sunn 0))) i never know what the hell is happening, and if you played a random snippet I could not tell you where it is from.


that's totally true. but i also think that by now, when I listen to The Decemberists my mind goes into that mindset that it knows it is paper writing time. for the most part now I blank out the lyrics.

I suppose this will also be known as the "Phil posts a lot to keep from doing work." where in all honesty i am about one edit away from calling it finished.

My only qualification for listenage while writing is that it's something I'm already familiar with. As long as I'm not listening to something for the first or second time, I'll just go by whatever mood I'm in. Often something upbeat.

Paper writing is my only use for ambient music.

Warp Records compilations. I found that lyrics tended to distract.