With finals comes studying. But with all the studying you have to do, how will you find the time to listen to all the great music that is out there? Well, you could always listen to music AND study, a habit many of us already do. For some of you, productive studying simply cannot happen without music. A very brief digression: some friends and I were discussing the fact that so many students now study with music, yet we are still not given the option to listen to our favorite songs while taking tests in a classroom setting. Would the option to listen to music while test taking help those of you who do their best work with background noise? Just a thought.
Therefore, I present to you some songs that you may enjoy getting your study on to. Unfortunately, I am not one of these people who are able to listen to music while writing my papers and reading my textbooks. These are songs that I would listen to while studying if I could concentrate with music. If you share this same inability to get stuff done whilst music is in the air, I apologize and feel your pain. It really does suck. But if you’re still down with these songs, listen to them during your “study break” (aka the time when you get pulled into the wormhole that is Facebook only to find yourself an hour later paging through your second cousin’s best friend’s mom’s pictures with no recollection of how you got there).
Silver Jews People
This song comes from the band Silver Jews off their album American Water. Honestly, this whole album seems great for studying because it moves along at such an ambling pace and singer David Berman’s monotone voice is easy to get lost in without getting annoyed by. Also Stephen Malkmus of Pavement was part of the Silver Jews when they made this album. Win.
Neutral Milk Hotel King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1
It seems that everyone has an anecdote for when they first heard songs from Neutral Milk Hotel’s In An Aeroplane Over The Sea, myself included (I was driving around in the rain looking for my dog that had run away – don’t worry we found him). It just seems to be one of those albums that is accessible to everyone. The melodies, especially on KOCF are so easy to listen to. The video includes KOCF parts 2 and 3 as well.
Explosions in the Sky First Breath After Coma
Clocking in at almost ten minutes, First Breath After Coma is an experience of layered, ambient, ethereal pleasure (I really hated myself for writing that sentence but it’s true). This song will make that Bio chapter pass like that.
Crystal Castles Empathy
I talked a little about Crystal Castles last week due to the pair’s explosive front woman Alice Glass. Honestly, even if I could listen to music and study I don’t think I would choose Crystal Castles. But I asked my friend for music she listens to and she replied with “electronic” and I’m pretty sure I have heard CC coming through her headphones in the library before. Even if Empathy is a little too upbeat for homework, it is still a great song.
Well, writing this post just reminded me of how much work I have to do before school ends. Good luck with all your work everyone and just remember, summer vacation is even better when you know you kicked butt on finals.
Photo credit: http://jonnyleather.com/blog1/2009/11/critical-differences-neutral-milk-…