Playlist Meme

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Jun 14, 2006

Filed under: Nerd Culture 6 comments

So, a playlist meme, eh?

My own playlist is a bit odd. I enjoy lots of different kinds of music, but I 90% of the time when I’m listening to music I’m listening to some form of techno / electronic. Not because I like this sort of music best, but because it doesn’t have any vocals.

I obviously spend a lot of time writing. I write code full-time at work, and then I spend my evenings PHP (to make a WordPress plugin), or prose (writing actual words in English, like this post). I spend most of the day writing, and for some reason I can’t write while listening to music with lyrics. I have no idea why. It might be the same reason that I’m bad at watching %anime with subtitles. I think I’m just bad at filtering out extraneous input. Listening to music with lyics is like having someone talking to me when I’m trying to code – I can’t filter it out. Even if the lyrics are stupid “yeah yeah baby” type fluff, my brain tunes in and I stop typing. Not good for productivity.

(“Sampled” vocals – where one or two words are used in a piece of music almost as another instrument – are fine after a few seconds. Once I hear the words a couple of times my brain realizes the words aren’t information and becomes desensitized to them.)

So my own playlist is a bit mind-numbing to others. I think lots of people would go mad if they had to listen to this, but it’s perfect for me. For whatever reason, The Crystal Method is ideal for energizing me without distracting me.

1. The Crystal Method – Trip Like I Do (7:34)
2. The Crystal Method – Busy Child (7:24)
3. The Crystal Method – Cherry Twist (4:25)
4. The Crystal Method – High Roller (5:29)
5. The Crystal Method – Comin’ Back (5:39)
6. The Crystal Method – Keep Hope Alive (6:12)
7. The Crystal Method – Vapor Trail (6:31)
8. The Crystal Method – She’s My Pusher (5:41)
9. The Crystal Method – Jaded (7:05)
10. The Crystal Method – Bad Stone (5:09)
11. The Crystal Method – PHD (6:27)
12. The Crystal Method – Wild, Sweet And Cool (3:54)
13. The Crystal Method – Roll It Up (6:02)
14. The Crystal Method – You Know It’s Hard (4:40)
15. The Crystal Method – Name Of The Game (4:15)
16. The Crystal Method – The Winner (5:11)
17. The Crystal Method – Ready For Action (5:01)
18. The Crystal Method – Ten Miles Back (7:00)
19. The Crystal Method – Over The Line (6:54)
20. The Crystal Method – Blowout (7:57)
21. The Crystal Method – Tough Guy (11:32)
22. The Crystal Method – Acetone (5:15)
23. The Crystal Method – Born Too Slow (2:59)
24. The Crystal Method – Bound Too Long (6:23)
25. The Crystal Method – Broken Glass (3:55)
26. The Crystal Method – High And Low (5:24)
27. The Crystal Method – I Know It’s You (5:48)
28. The Crystal Method – Realizer (3:48)
29. The Crystal Method – Starting Over (4:02)
30. The Crystal Method – The American Way (4:27)
31. The Crystal Method – True Grit (5:06)
32. The Crystal Method – Weapons Of Mass Distortion (4:51)
33. The Crystal Method – Wide Open (7:25)
34. The Crystal Method – Keep Hope Alive (There Is Hope Mix) (5:42)
35. The Crystal Method – Keep Hope Alive (Trip Hope Mix) (6:18)
36. The Crystal Method – More (5:59)
37. The Crystal Method – Now Is The Time (Secret Knowledge Overkill Mix) (7:04)
38. The Crystal Method – Now Is The Time (The Olympic Mix) (7:29)
39. The Crystal Method – The Dubeliscious Groove (Fly Spanish Version) (6:46)
40. The Crystal Method – Dylan Rhymes feat. Kathrine Ellis / Salty (Meat Katie Remix) (5:36)
41. The Crystal Method – Elite Force / Ghetto Fabulous (5:31)
42. The Crystal Method – Evil Nine / We Have The Energy (5:00)
43. The Crystal Method – Hyper / Come With Me (5:02)
44. The Crystal Method – Koma + Bones / SpeedFreak (2:39)
45. The Crystal Method – New Order / Bizarre Love Triangle (The Crystal Method’s CSII Mix) (5:32)
46. The Crystal Method – PMT / Gyromancer (Elite Force Remix) (4:14)
47. The Crystal Method – Smashing Pumpkins / 1979 (New Originals 1799 Remix) (6:57)
48. The Crystal Method – The Crystal Method feat. Kevin Beber / Kalifornia (4:25)
49. The Crystal Method – The Crystal Method / Bound Too Long (Hyper Mix) (5:24)
50. The Crystal Method – The Crystal Method / Intro (1:38)

…and on it goes, but you get the idea. It’s pretty much everything The Crystal Method has ever put out, 74 tracks in all. Once in a while I’m in the mood for something more mellow and I’ll go for Moby or (if I’m feeling REALLY mellow) some Explosions In The Sky.

 


From The Archives:
 

6 thoughts on “Playlist Meme

  1. Mark says:

    “Listening to music with lyics is like having someone talking to me when I'm trying to code – I can't filter it out. Even if the lyrics are stupid “yeah yeah baby” type fluff, my brain tunes in and I stop typing. Not good for productivity.”

    Heh, in this respect, you are almost the exact opposite of me. I don’t really pay attention to the lyrics at all, even if I’m concentrating on the song!

  2. I used to listen to a lot of Pat Metheny when I used to code. I think my favorite album by him is “Secret Story”, and even though there are a couple of tracks with vocals, the voices are being used as instruments, not as means by which to deliver poetry.

  3. julenka says:

    I’m kinda the same, for when I’m studying or writing essays. I still need music, so I’ll put on something mellow. My favourite ‘studying music’ is Thomas Dybdahl. He wouldn’t work for you, as he definitely has lyrics, but he works perfectly for me. His songs are long, his music is very subtle, and his voice is so deep and rounded that it almost merges with the music. It’s perfect studying music! :)

    [Of course, it’s not too bad otherwise, too. I don’t want to demote him to the status of ‘study music’ forever, but he does make for good study music. ;P hehe.]

  4. Shamus says:

    I see Akismet pulled you over as a suspected spammer. Stupid software. Sorry julenka. All fixed now.

  5. julenka says:

    Ah. It’s all good. The same thing happened over at Kaedrin. I have a dynamic IP with my ISP, so I’m betting that one of the other users of this ISP has been doing naughty things. =p Heh. Thanks for clearing my name.

  6. Varewulf says:

    I’m way way behind here, but I just wanted to add that I’m the same. If I’m going to write, I can’t listen to music with lyrics. I do like having music on while reading, lyrics or not, because when I focus on reading the music just fades into the background. Unless I’m trying to read something dull… then the text fades away and I focus on the music instead. ^_^;;

Thanks for joining the discussion. Be nice, don't post angry, and enjoy yourself. This is supposed to be fun. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*

You can enclose spoilers in <strike> tags like so:
<strike>Darth Vader is Luke's father!</strike>

You can make things italics like this:
Can you imagine having Darth Vader as your <i>father</i>?

You can make things bold like this:
I'm <b>very</b> glad Darth Vader isn't my father.

You can make links like this:
I'm reading about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader">Darth Vader</a> on Wikipedia!

You can quote someone like this:
Darth Vader said <blockquote>Luke, I am your father.</blockquote>

Leave a Reply to julenka Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.