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"... two out of three of people like to listen to music while they work, study or read but it’s difficult to find and manage music that consistently works well
by pepr 13y ago
"... two out of three of people like to listen to music while they work, study or read but it’s difficult to find and manage music that consistently works well for this purpose."
Precisely! I like to listen to ambient music when working and constantly trying to find new music for this purpose is quite a hassle.
- bonjourmr 13y agolast.fm is great for this. Type in an artist/genre you like and for the next few hours while you work, you will discover plenty of new ones as their radio service works by molding a 'radio service' to your taste.
- slhsen 13y agoSadly, last.fm radio isn't available on most parts of the world anymore.
- jsingleton 13y agoI made a playlist generator application for Spotify a while ago that uses the last.fm API: http://unop.co.uk/dev/spotify-playlist-generator/ http://unop.co.uk/dev/spotify-playlist-generator/ I'd be interested to know if it works everywhere. It still works in the UK. EDIT: Source code: https://github.com/jpsingleton/Spotify-Playlist-Generator https://github.com/jpsingleton/Spotify-Playlist-Generator
- rednukleus 13y agoCan you recommend a Top 5 ambient albums for working? EDIT: Thanks for all the suggestions!
- mietek 13y agoCarbon Based Lifeforms and H.U.V.A. Network are fantastic for focus: http://www.last.fm/music/Carbon+Based+Lifeforms http://www.last.fm/music/Carbon+Based+Lifeforms http://www.last.fm/music/H.U.V.A.+Network http://www.last.fm/music/H.U.V.A.+Network Other artists on Ultimae are also worth a try.
- Carlee 13y agoThat is absolutely amazing. I am so in love with Carbon Based Lfieforms right now. I'm terrible at music genres myself, but I am a huge fan of Bonobo's music. It's classified as trip-hop - no idea if that falls under this category. Bonobo - Black Sands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTjF2_-bneM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTjF2_-bneM the entire album is amazing He just released a new album not long ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Z4ibZFA6c&list=PLXEYOK9pTABB84-fyZ2HkarJvJaBoqfUm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Z4ibZFA6c&list=PLXEYOK9pTAB...
- mietek 13y agoAlso in a similar vein — Bluetech: http://www.last.fm/music/Bluetech http://www.last.fm/music/Bluetech
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- shrikant 13y agoYou'd find some great suggestions in these past two discussions. [1] [2] I also picked up a Grooveshark playlist from someone (but can't rememeber where I got it from) that works really well: http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/Ambient/54561881 http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/Ambient/54561881 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3547694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3547694 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3900711 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3900711
- ScottBurson 13y agoMy favorite ambient artist these days is Lucette Bourdin: http://relaxedmachinery.com/earthmantra/artist-detail.php?id=17 http://relaxedmachinery.com/earthmantra/artist-detail.php?id... Also of interest is StilllStream, an ambient radio station: http://stillstream.com/ http://stillstream.com/
- ssamuli 13y agoI can recommend Top 2: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pearl_(album) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pearl_(album) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plateaux_of_Mirror http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plateaux_of_Mirror
- slyall 13y agoTry Ambient Nights - http://www.ambient-nights.org/ http://www.ambient-nights.org/ About 60 album length mixes
- tuzemec 13y agoRecently found this guy: http://soundcloud.com/s1gnsofl1fe http://soundcloud.com/s1gnsofl1fe Pretty nice. Also the french label ultimae releases some amazing stuff: http://ultimae.com/ http://ultimae.com/
- JonnieCache 13y ago76:14 by Global Communication is an undisputed classic of the genre, however you might find it distracting because it's so good. And of course there's Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92, which should go without saying really. Again, you might not be able to work because it's such a good record. Also, it's not ambient in the sense of having no beats. If you've never heard it before you should probably just stop working right now and listen to it. Also he did a SAW vol. 2 album which is more beatless, but it's not as good. You can't go wrong with Future Sound of London. It's a bit dystopian, but utterly amazing stuff. The "minimalist" (he hates that word) work of composer Steve Reich is also very good for zoning out. All the other people in the modern "ambient" genre are ripping him off to some extent or another. I suggest starting with Electric Counterpoint. EDIT - some more: Hecq - 0000 Almost anything by The Orb, especially The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld. Make sure you get the proper UK version not the cut down US release. Portico Quartet by Portico Quartet All the Boards of Canada stuff
- joshwd 13y agoAnother vote for SAW (and SAW Vol 2) as great ambient productivity music. Also I'm a big fan of M83 Digital Shades Vol 1 for this purpose.
- amitdugar 13y agoThank you for suggesting Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works. I'd never heard of this before. Loving it :)
- JonnieCache 13y agoFun fact: if you believe the title, he wrote some of the tracks when he was 14 years old. Personally I don't believe it for a second.
- hexagonc 13y agoI don't find it surprising, especially for someone that is already a musical prodigy. I remember dreaming of beautiful melodies as a kid, but lacking musical talent, I was unable to play them on a musical instrument. Thus, the melodies were just stuck in my head and usually forgotten shortly after waking up.
- epsylon 13y agohttp://di.fm http://di.fm is great for electronic music, they've got plenty of channels. Try also searching youtube, and if you find anything you like, use the "youtube mix", it's automatically generated but usually contains a lot of similar songs.
- thirdsun 13y agoMy suggestions: Billow Observatory - Billow Observatory Nuojuva - Valot Kaukaa Global Underground 24/7 - Danny Howells (Day Disc) Willits + Sakamoto - Ancient Future Nils Frahm - Felt Bersarin Quartet - II The World on Higher Downs - Land Patterns
- prawks 13y agoAdding another suggestion, a little late: Helios (Keith Kenniff, aka Goldmund) - Caesura
- nilaykumar 13y agoCheck out Emancipator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCSN4DLG6Ng&list=PL7669BCCE53A9C09A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCSN4DLG6Ng&list=PL7669BCCE53... Trip-hop.
- rjd 13y agoThrash metal for me, no idea why it works for me but it does. Oddly enough I'm not really a fan of it while I'm not working.
- wojt_eu 13y agoYes yes! I'm a fan of Metallica but I can only listen Kill'em'All while programming. Either that or repetitive ambient/instrumental/chill-out without vocals.
- ajtaylor 13y agoKill 'Em All works well for me too. I know all the other songs far too well to not listen to them and try to sing along in my head.
- jwandborg 13y agoI use all songs available on Spotify by In Flames. It's mostly melodic and rhythmic, usually upbeat, and the vocals and the higher spectrum percussion drown out ambient discussions without being very thought-provoking in themselves.
- sinkensabe 13y agoSame here! Dark tranquility and Omnium Gatherum works great for me as well!
- GotAnyMegadeth 13y agoListening to New World Shadows right now
- Zapadlo 13y agoHello there metal fans, I enjoy tuning in people's MDM broadcasts on Grooveshark. With suggestions its a nice mix of background music you don't have to manage and occasional song that you would like to hear.
- induscreep 13y agoLook at some of the SomaFM radio stations...high quality ad-free streams across a variety of genres including ambient
- jjsz 13y agoYes, http://somafm.com/ http://somafm.com/, is the "bomb".
- stevepotter 13y agoBig fan of SomaFM for work. They have some great xmas stations that come out in December, if you like. SomaFM did stress me out a bit with their constant requests for donations. They made it sound like they were being shut down any day, yet they're still here. I donated, by the way. Didn't stop the cries for help though.
- sliverstorm 13y agoDI.fm has a pretty good ambient station