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
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
Insecure – Max Million (Feat. Maria B)
9 September 2020
Insecure is a thought provoking and self empowering anthem, created on the soul purpose to inspire and uplift.
Featuring Mariea B adding a Rythmic Blues
Sunrise or Sunset- Xanika
9 September 2020
“My track Sunrise or Sunset was inspired by the creative flow of working from home, being chill and not knowing if the light through the curtains is Sunrise or Sunset but the moment is bliss.”
I Loves You Porgy – Nina Simone
22 August 2020
I’ve loved this song for as long as I can remember – certainly long before I understood what it was about.
There’s so many ways to appreciate it – from the gorgeous melody to Nina Simone’s stunning delivery, to the whiteness of its writers and how Porgy and Bess continues to force us to look at systemic inequities in American life: race, gender, disability and poverty…
Somewhere Without Lights – Aidan Tulloch
20 August 2020
I see you – sitting at your keyboard – fingers at the ready, mind cycling with ideas and entry points – starting and stopping as each sentence leads to a dead end.
The idea of what you want to say teasingly present but unformed, elusive and hard to grasp…
Gin & Lemonade – TOVE
23 July 2020
Who’s up for an alcohol induced ascent above the madness? And I’m not talking about some upbeat energetic overview where you’re in a balloon or an airplane and you’re feeling great about it all – no – I’m talking about a loose edged experience, laid back and fuzzy, where ‘cos you can’t see the ground, you don’t have to worry about it…