Albums you can read to?

[alieNDN]

Trying to get back into deep reading (the internet has fried my attention span). I know I asked this question a few years ago, and a couple of recommendations from the past I adhere to this day are;

Thelonious Monk - Alone In San Francisco
Brian Eno - Music For Airports
Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (prefer the slower tracks)

I'm looking for more suggestions. The challenge is finding something that fades into the background and doesn't stick out too much, with few tempo variations (but I don't think it should be tepid either).

If I'm reading earlier in the day and don't want to fall asleep, I found Trojan Instrumentals works very well...but later into the night, I want to almost zone out and wind down, so I need something with a slower tempo. Suggestions please?

Also to those that are into writing (in whatever capacity) do you find that whatever you listen to for reading, works just as well when you are writing?

 

[Horseleech]

Classical solo piano.





Debussy, Ravel, Satie especially. I prefer vintage recordings because they tend to be less dynamic and have a softer less intrusive quality. I actually really dislike a lot of modern piano recordings where it sounds like your ear is a 1/4" away from the strings.





Gieseking for Debussy and Ravel and Reinbert de Leeuw (first recordings) for Satie are good places to start.





Also, Edwin Fischer playing Chopin or Bach.

 

[Horseleech]

John Fahey


Old country blues


Cluster


60's Bossa Nova


Old guitar jazz.

 

[LazarusOblong]

I can read to basically anything I don't hate, but if I get deeply into a book I end up not hearing the music at all.

 

[LoopDreams]

I'll read to anything but free jazz, punk, or spoken word I think, but I know what you mean.





Swinging late night jazz works:











Or in keeping w/ the theme Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue or Grant Green's Green Street (Leech already mentioned old guitar Jazz...)





Hypnotic stuff like Pharoah Sander's Harvest or Alice Coltrane's Journey Into Satchidananda Can's Future Days too. I likemellow fusion stuff like Julian Priester's Polarisation, the Air LP on Three Blind Mice or Eddie Henderson's Realisation which is a bit more involved.





Most night's I read and listen to tunes... boring but it suits me fine

 

[fishmongerfunk]

i like the idea of listening to music and reading, but the truth is that i can't get shit done (work related reading) if there is music on nor can i enjoy the music, i zone into what i am reading . it's the worst of both worlds. maybe some drones or white noise would work for me but nothing with rhythm, melody or a "voice".

 

[willie_fugal]

i have a spotify playlist called "Funk to Read Books to" that i throw on shuffle while i'm reading sometimes: https://play.spotify.com/user/benberman/playlist/6piqTlRCSGWgW4yKSXzHXF





my go-to writing music is bill frisell's entire discography, the album sweetback by sade's band, and dub.

 

[Electrode]

Tangerine Dream

 

[jjfad027]

Steven Halpern. Depends what you're reading though. There's also the risk of winding down too much and falling asleep.

 

[dukeofdelridge]

crabmongerfunk said:i like the idea of listening to music and reading, but the truth is that i can't get shit done (work related reading) if there is music on nor can i enjoy the music, i zone into what i am reading . it's the worst of both worlds. maybe some drones or white noise would work for me but nothing with rhythm, melody or a "voice".




so reading trumps the music for you? I'm the other way: music wins. Turns off all the other stuff in my brain. That's how I can push myself through heavy exercise or long drives (hahaha like that's some new trick--"hey try music in your car or while you work out!")

 

[fishmongerfunk]

dukeofdelridge said:crabmongerfunk said:i like the idea of listening to music and reading, but the truth is that i can't get shit done (work related reading) if there is music on nor can i enjoy the music, i zone into what i am reading . it's the worst of both worlds. maybe some drones or white noise would work for me but nothing with rhythm, melody or a "voice".




so reading trumps the music for you? I'm the other way: music wins. Turns off all the other stuff in my brain. That's how I can push myself through heavy exercise or long drives (hahaha like that's some new trick--"hey try music in your car or while you work out!")




it's that, more or less, one thing trumps the other. i can definitely get immersed in reading to the point that I totally zone in to exclusion of the entire world around me, conversely if I am actually paying attention to the music, the work suffers.





I guess what i am saying is that i can't chew gum and walk at the same time..

 

[dukeofdelridge]

me neither.


I was heartened to read there's no such thing as multi-tasking, just switching back and forth between shit. I get too into said shit to switch out. Claiming that's a good thing, too!