Musical Gems

As I made very clear in my last post, I am really not very good at concentrating for extended periods of time, especially when it is to do something that is likely to affect the outcome of my future. Hence I usually revert back to one of the 5 activities mentioned in said post. Since the stress of living on the edge has become too much for me, I have been forced to find ways to focus on the task in hand, and one of these methods is through music. I am indeed very aware that music was on my list of procrastination activities, however it can sometimes be a help and not a hindrance dontchaknow?  


The problem that I used to have with listening to music whilst working, was that I would always pick something that I was very lyric-ey, and either start bopping along, or accidentally start incoorporating the lyrics without realising...quite an inconvenience when going back to edit my work only to find that 'bitch I'm in the 212' has somehow snuck its way into my essay....I'm definitely not in the 212. Lucky I proof read my essays; something much more unfortunate could have ended up in there and I'm pretty sure my tutor would not have appreciated it! If you are unaware of the song I am referring to, watch this video: 


I should mention that the lyrics are filthy.... it's so unexpected! Especially when you see the video; she looks so cute and innocent with those plaits!  

This song is not for everyone. It is however very catchy, so be warned. (not as catchy as 'Call Me Maybe' though....nothing is as catchy as that song.) 


So, due to my inability to block out catchy lyrics, I was forced to find music which would help me focus; something that wasn't distracting, but was a pleasant background accompaniment to my essay writing.

Well, Bon Iver's album 'For Emma, Forever Ago' was just the ticket! Although there are lyrics, Justin Vernon's vocals are so chilled that I barely notice! And the other cool thing is that on Youtube, if you type in 'Bon Iver full album', a few of their albums come up which you can listen to in full! This is perfect if you want a good solid 40 minutes of music without having to worry about having to select the next song! (I guess you could just make a playlist on Youtube, but this is just so much easier!)

I always enjoyed 'Skinny Love' which was in the charts for quite some time, and reentered the charts when 15 year old singer/ songwriter, Birdy, released a cover of the song which became extremely popular on Radio 1. Although the song is good, it is by no means their best, so there are plenty of other gems to discover! 

Another gem which I have discovered on Youtube is a film called 'Man with a Movie Camera'. There are two good things about this film. The first is that the film is accompanied by a score written by the Cinematic Orchestra who created the piece especially for the film. Although the music is not what  you would expect to see paired with a silent black and white film like this, I feel that it works really well, and again it's really good background music for working to!

The second good thing about this film is that it is actually quite interesting to watch! The film was produced in 1929 by Russian director Dziga Vertov, and is a silent documentary consisting of various short clips and photographs of life in Odessa and other Soviet cities. Although I definitely couldn't watch  the whole thing all the way through in one sitting, it is quite cool to be able to watch little clips of it every now and then! (and it makes you feel all culture-y and intelligent.)

So there we go! Try these out and let me know what you think! I guess they're maybe not for everyone, but they work for me!


Have a lovely day! x