The rules: no lyrics (except in languages I don’t understand), no sudden dynamic shifts, no songs that make me want to stop and listen. The music has to be good enough to create an atmosphere and boring enough to not become the main event.
For writing:
- Ambient 1: Music for Airports — Brian Eno. The original “music designed to be ignored.” Works perfectly.
- Selected Ambient Works 85-92 — Aphex Twin. More textured than Eno. Good for when I need something slightly more present.
- async — Ryuichi Sakamoto. Late Sakamoto is sparse and melancholy. Somehow helps me write better.
For coding (high focus):
- Music for 18 Musicians — Steve Reich. Minimalist repetition. The phasing patterns occupy just enough of my brain to prevent distraction without demanding attention.
- Substrata — Biosphere. Arctic ambient. Makes my room feel like a research station in Svalbard. Ideal for debugging.
For coding (low focus / repetitive tasks):
- Lo-fi hip hop beats, unironically. The meme became a meme because it works. Any of the major Spotify playlists are fine. I’m not proud but I’m productive.
- Donuts — J Dilla. Instrumental hip hop that’s more interesting than lo-fi but still stays in the background. 31 tracks, most under two minutes. Perfect for pomodoros.
For math / reading papers:
- Silence, honestly. Or very quiet rain sounds. When I’m parsing notation, any music with structure competes for the same cognitive resources.
For late-night sessions:
- Vespertine — Björk. Not ambient — there are vocals — but the production is so delicate it works. The music box sounds and microbeats are almost subliminal.
- In a Silent Way — Miles Davis. 1969 fusion that sounds like music dissolving. Quietest Miles Davis record. Great after midnight.