Andrew
The first visual memory I have is that of the white upright piano in Singapore, Hell and the Dark Forces lived at the bottom, Heaven and the Angels at the top, they would play battles through my fingers and I was hooked.
As a psychology graduate I studied how sound affects human performance.
As a musician I compose instrumental music that stimulates your brain but doesn't mess with your language centers, leaving you free to write creatively without distraction.
As a curator I research how music can improve your life and create flow - I can tell you what music to listen to when studying for a test and why listening to sad music can make you feel better.
As a creator / contributor at musicto I believe that music can make the world better.
What I'm doing nowPlaylists
Fables – Yard Arms
16 December 2020
I’m all too familiar with the effects of becoming dependent upon drugs and alcohol – I don’t wish that on anyone – let alone myself – but in the immortal words of Irvine Welsh:
“People think it’s all about misery and desperation and death and all that shite, which is not to be ignored, but what they forget is the pleasure of it…
Binary Warriors – Humn_Error
16 December 2020
Sometimes it’s just so fucking bleak – the past, the present, the future – nothing’s right – everything’s wasted, me included. At times like this – I need something simple, something recognizable, something tangible that I can attach myself to – I need sonic salve.
While the organic opening to this track is rather foreboding, the subsequent six minutes of solid 4 by 4 electronic beats feels relentlessly optimistic…
Smirr – Adenine
8 December 2020
There’s music on this list that’s there to help production – to provide an energetic accompaniment to your writing or typing – the tracks are not terribly reflective – they’re there to help an existing idea manifest.
But what if you don’t have the idea? What if your muscle memory is all warmed up and ready to go but nothing’s coming out? How do you write your essay then?
Honestly – Second Hand Poet
8 December 2020
I’m trawling along the bottom again – I don’t know why – honestly… It’s the not knowing that kills – and not just you, but your loved ones too as you can’t articulate and are forced to watch as they project and hurt…
Pirate Karate – Wooden Drone
24 November 2020
One of the things I’m always looking out for on the essay writing list is repeatability – for tracks that you can put on a loop and then lose yourself for an hour – or longer. It’s why the tracks on this list skew much longer in length than your average 3 minute song…
Break the Bottle – Jess Silk
19 November 2020
God I love the story tellers.
The lyricists who construct a reality you can step into, to experience it as if you were there – as if you knew the characters – who do it so seamlessly that – even if it is by proxy – you get to feel the emotions for real.
That’s the point of this list – it’s designed to make you feel – to connect with the emotions that we’re oh so good at keeping hidden, buried under guilt and social conditioning. Because when we don’t deal with those emotions – well – that’s when the bad shit happens…
Looking Glass 4 (Red) – Yellow6
18 November 2020
Sometimes all you need is the repetition.
I’ve written about this several times on the playlist – about the psychology of music – about expectation and dopamine and audio hacking and all those things that make music an effective tool for getting shit done, particularly in the creative writing space…
Ansumana – Susso
27 October 2020
Here you have two families from Gambia working with a UK producer and together they’ve managed to blend their two worlds into something that is – at least to my western ears – not just accessible, but joyful and intriguing and leaving me wanting to know more about both artists.
Graveyard – Lucy Schwartz
12 October 2020
That chorus hook could launch a thousand love songs, instead it’s here – working for you – creating the safety net for those of us who dared to try and ended up failing on the battlefield of love.
Into Clouds – Luttrell
30 September 2020
I’m here looking for energy – I’m looking for deep groove – I’m looking for repetition, but not lame repetition – not something that just repeats and takes me nowhere.
I’m looking for a shepherd – a guide, a sonic soulmate that lifts me up and creates the universe while I write it all down…
Damn – Nat Lefkoff
30 September 2020
I’m here again because I’m sad.
Which is kinda OK really – this being the music to grieve to playlist – but it’s more than the normal sadness – and while it’s not quite despair – it does feel overwhelming.
I could give you the exact point in time and particular reference – which you would all understand, if not necessarily appreciate – but that’s not the point of tracks like this…
Peter Gibbons – Will Herrington
18 September 2020
And sure – the track may not be for you – and if that’s so – feel free to skip it too – but if the blues, jazz, awesome piano playing and rock solid grooves make you smile – then stick this on repeat