Tag Archives: study tunes

Late night study tunes: edn. XIV (afternoon edition II)

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I’m going to have to think of something to rename this section in a couple of months, as I will no longer be studying!

In the mean time, though, this is the first Late Night Study Tunes post from my new apartment (!!). My selection of music is still a bit limited here, as I don’t really have Internet yet.

I mean, I do have internet (because I’d die without it), but uni is paying for it, and I get the feeling they don’t want me streaming hour after hour of music from Spotify, which is what I’ve used to listen to music since my laptop died last year. Although I did transfer over my library to my new computer (which is still at my parents’ house as it’s too big for my apartment), I decided it was time to break up with iTunes, and I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement that works well with an Apple computer and a Samsung phone… especially seeing as my iMac steadfastly refuses to recognise my phone as a device (a known fault between iMacs & the Samsung Galaxy Note II — one that I wish I’d known about in advance!).

So. I have the music on my iPad, which hasn’t been updated since June 2012, and the 30 or so albums I’ve put on to my phone. Slim pickings for someone who listens to music all day, and is always at the mercy of her flippant musical desires.

Today is a good one, though. Today is Portishead.

Portishead might be the perfect band for every occasion. Perfect when you’re sad and need to be uplifted, or when you’re sad and want to wallow. Perfect when you’re having a quiet drink with friends, or entertaining a special someone over dinner. Perfect for when you’re studying. Very perfect for when you’re studying.

I saw them a couple of years ago at Belvoir Amphitheatre. I think that venue may have been made for Portishead; the bush setting on a beautiful still night really complemented singer Beth Gibbons’ eerie vocals. I say every show is amazing, but it was really fantastic to see Portishead live, as they’re another band I just kind of assumed that I’d never get to see in concert. It was a brilliant show.

Here you go. Have some Numb, from the album Dummy.

Back to work.

Late night study tunes: edn. XIII

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I’ve been listening to some great stuff tonight. Random playlists I’ve found on Spotify. Playlists by people whose taste in music I like. Jazz. Classical. Glitch. I don’t normally listen to music in playlist form, actually, as I really enjoy the journey inherent to the album format and generally always prefer to listen to whole albums.

I was suddenly overcome by a desperate urge to listen to an album that I haven’t laid ears on in many years: Orgy’s debut (and, what I thought until tonight was their only) album, Candyass.

CANDYASSIt turns out there are others. I’m probably not going to rush to listen to their other work. However, this album, Candyass. Oh my god, I played it to death as a 15 year old. I got Candyass from my parents for my 15th birthday, and in retrospect, it’s up there with what might’ve been one of the most awkward gifts they ever had to buy for me. I cringe at the thought of them going into a CD store (remember those? It was probably Beat at Karrinyup) and buying a CD called Candyass by a band called Orgy for their 15 year old daughter.

The only purchase that was probably more awkward was when they bought me Marilyn Manson’s autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell for Christmas the previous year. Good god. Sorry, folks. I turned out okay, didn’t I? (Definitely going to listen to Marilyn Manson next.) I also had the 1998 Family Values Tour DVD video. I watched the shit out of that thing until it broke. I need to pirate purchase a copy of it. You know, just in case.

Incidentally, I accidentally wrote ‘Marilyn Mansion’ before, so I Google imaged ‘Marilyn Mansion’ hoping to find something ridiculously funny but this is the best I could do:

marilynmansionBack to Orgy. Orgy were (are?) a band populated by a bunch of glammed up, androgynous men, singing about all kinds of salacious sexual lyrics in a genre of music variously described as alternative metal (hah) and death pop. Even at the time, it felt like they were too old to be dancing around in platform heels and Urban Decay make up (they were, once, official endorsers of the brand. BTW, amazing brand. Their Naked & Naked II pallet? Amazing). And they were: frontman Jay Gordon was 31 when Candyass was released.

Old enough to know better.

But pseudo-heavy music was kind of glam at the time, so it was probably okay. The Y2K-induced end of the world was fast approaching, so why not wear platform heels and latex and make up?

The band were most famous for their cover of New Order’s Blue Monday. I can’t even remember what my favourite song on the album was, but this – Stitches – was the other big single, if I remember correctly. Have fun! Stay pretty.

Late night study tunes: edn. XII [daytime version]

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Today I’m going to finish a chapter. Today I’m going to finish a chapter. Today I’m going to finish a chapter…

merdenoms

So I’m turning to one of my favourite albums for motivation and inspiration. I really, really dig A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms. It was on constant rotation in my car CD player for about five years (back when I used to [a] own CDs and [b] listen to them in my car. Oh MP3s, how you changed everything).

I am a pretty massive fan of anything Maynard James Keenan does (but let’s not talk about Pusifer, who are rubbish). Tool are one of my favourite bands. I haven’t been as generally enthusiastic about everything A Perfect Circle did, but that’s possibly because I thrashed this album when it first came out, and for years afterwards. The same thing happened with Tool’s Undertow, but especially AEnima; I spent so long listening to those albums that it actually took me years to appreciate the two that followed. (Fun fact: I was 12 when AEnima was released. Woah!)

I really, really dig Mer de Noms. It’s the perfect mix of guitars and melodies and anger and beauty. That’s about as eloquent I can manage with my descriptions at the moment. You try reading existential philosophy for two weeks straight and coming up with anything better.

I hate posting a link to a video that was the lead/biggest single off an album because I feel like you (whoever “you” even are) will be like oh, she doesn’t really like the band, she just likes the single. But fuck it. Judith is just a really fucking cool song, and I run this city, so here it is:

Riddle me this, though: Why do so many women play bass (rather than other instruments) in bands? I feel like it perpetuates this idea that women are less accomplished/skilled/etc in rock bands, so they play bass because it’s “easy”. (I can’t play bass so it can’t be that easy. Then again I also can’t rock climb, so…)

It annoys me that she’s wearing heels, too, because it just doesn’t look comfortable, but I really enjoyed Maynard’s long dark wig phase, so I suppose that balances everything out.

In other somewhat related news, I’m going to see Tool in Melbourne in April. Yay! We got terrible seats (seats! blech!), but it should still be rather good. The trade off is that I’m no longer going to Coachella. With where my thesis is at, it would’ve been incredibly irresponsible of me to go traipsing around the world for a month, so I’m just going to the UK for a conference and then for a little mini-break in Paris. I sold my ticket to a lovely lady from Philly, and she seemed pretty happy, so all is well. I’ll get to Coachella one day.

On a side note, given that I also have a ticket to see Glen Hansard in Melbourne in March, I think the sooner I move there the better. Perth, you’re alright, but good lord. Get some gigs, please.

Late night study tunes: edn. XI

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A double header on tonight’s Late Night Study Tunes: Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac.

Radiohead-Kid_A_(2009)-Frontal radioheadamnesiac

I was in 11th and 12th grade respectively when these albums came out, and they were the first time that I really got Radiohead. To be honest, before hearing Kid A for the first time, I wasn’t really a huge fan. I found Thom Yorke to be kind of…

Whiny.

There. I said it. I know, right? I don’t get to say Thom Yorke is whiny. Nobody does. Thom Yorke belongs in that exclusive club of musicians who may as well get up on stage and shoot rainbows out of their butts, they’re so amazing (see: Billy Corgan, Win Butler, David Bowie).

But the truth is that I didn’t love Radiohead up until 2000, which was terribly passe of me, I know. I’m supposed to say that I’ve loved them ever since their pub shows in Oxford prior to the release of Pablo Honey.

I was nine when Pablo Honey was released, so obviously I wasn’t at any pub shows. Let’s not be snot-nosed hipsters about the whole thing.

Everything changed with Kid A, and Radiohead quickly became one of my favourite bands. They still are to this day. I’ve been lucky enough to see them live three times (twice on the Hail to the Thief tour and once in November last year) and have been solidly including Radiohead as part of a balanced, nutritious diet for 13 years.

I doubt anyone has managed to get this far without ever hearing Radiohead, but if you haven’t, go on – do it. I’m not going to recommend a song because they’re all so different, but be prepared to go on a sonic excursion.

Oh, okay. Just a couple.

Pyramid Song – this is from Amnesiac, and I’ve included it for the memory of seeing them perform it live in 2004. The show was at Sydney Entertainment Centre, and you could have heard a pin drop in the stadium, so quiet was the crowd. Truly mesmerising.

Talk Show Host – probably a controversial choice, but this is actually close to my favourite Radiohead song. The eagle-eared amongst you might recognise it from the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack.

 

Late night study tunes: edn. X

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You’d be excused for thinking that this is a music blog lately, but the one thing to remain consistent when I’ve got my head stuck in books and multiple versions of thesis chapters flying across my screen is the fact that I listen to music all. the. time.

Tonight is something a little different, an artist I haven’t come across before (and actually don’t know how I found) but I’m really enjoying it. Definitely the right music for the mood I’m in now, which is something along the lines of holy shit so much work to do but must stay calm. Inspired but calm! Inspired but calm! Do not panic! 

That’s a mood, trust me.

chequerboard

+10 points for the excellent album art.

Chequerboard, it seems, is the brainchild of Irish “musician & general maker of things” John Lambert. This album, Gothica, features minimalist, glitchy electronica. It’s very atmospheric and ethereal – very lovely study music (actually a huge compliment).

And! It’s available for free download via Chequerboard’s Bandcamp page, so I suggest you get on board (pun!) with that.

Late night study tunes: edn. IX

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It’s not really late night at all yet, but thought I’d post this one up. Here’s an album that is from, without doubt, the best era of Australian rock (to my mind, at least). The late 90s was an amazing time for music in this country… but then again, I was in my early teens and was definitely spending a significant amount of my time with headphones glued to my head, cutting my teeth on guitars and drums and teen angst. Excellent.

superjesussumo

This album, Sumo, was the 1997 debut release for The Superjesus. I turned 13 years old in 1997. It was a good year for music in my life!

I’m pretty sure that every boy wanted frontwoman Sarah McLeod and every girl wanted to be Sarah McLeod.

I’ve had this song stuck in my head all week:

I don’t really know much of what happened to The Superjesus after this album. My tastes really shifted and got a bit dark for a while there, and I’ve only just recently really remembered that they existed. I can feel an early teen years tuneathon coming on…

Late night study tunes: edn. VIII

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I’m struggling to find the time/motivation to write a real post at the moment. I’m been working my butt off so my life pretty much revolves around study at this point. I’ve been sitting at my desk since 11am. It’s midnight. That’s a long time. But I’m getting lots done.

My insatiable thirst for knowledge is biting me on the bum, though, because I need to stop reading and just finish writing! I’m so close but the editing process is just highlighting so many gaps in my research that need filling… particularly as certain parts of this thesis were written prior to 2010, and you know – the Internet, it changes quickly.

Anyway, I’ve been listening to music all day, which has been nice. I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve gotten used to having constant sound, and I can actually listen to stuff with vocals in it again! So although I’ve listened to heaps of different stuff all day, I thought I’d post this:

This is the debut, self-titled album from a group of young Australian guys (I think they might be brothers?) named The Rubens. They’re just really good. That kid who’s singing has a beautifully soulful voice that more than likely belies his youth, and for a young band (both in terms of age and time spent together as a group) they have a really smooth sound. I love a great debut album, but sometimes you listen back to them after a while and it’s almost shocking to hear the rawness of early work. I feel like this is a much more polished effort, though, but still an honest recording.

I’d be really interested to know what my tiny handful of readers out in Internetland are listening to lately. I’ve been devouring new music lately… something about the final stages of my thesis and my renewed thirst for knowledge is transferring over to music, as well.

Late night study tunes: edn. VII

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Tonight’s soundtrack comes courtesy of Tame Impala’s recent album release, Lonerism.

lonerism

Unlike (what seems like) most people, I didn’t love their first album, Inner Speaker… but then again I didn’t actually listen to it extensively, so I will probably go back and revisit it.

I’m enjoying it. My brain really didn’t want to kick into study mode tonight after the weekend, which will be my last weekend off until after my thesis is handed in. It was a doozy, and I’m in pain, but it was worth it because now it’s all work, all the time.

Speaking of which, tonight, for the first time in quite some time, I’m feeling very anxious that I won’t be able to get this project done… but it’s almost certainly related to the fact that I have just begun editing the first half of my thesis and am thinking to myself, what the hell was I thinking? Reading back on one’s own work from the past four years is, unfortunately, a cringe-worthy experience.

Late night study tunes: edn. VI

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It’s not really late night yet, but, behold! Bat For Lashes’ new album, The Haunted Man.

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2012/07/bat-for-lashes-the-haunted-man.jpeg

I haven’t really listened to Bat For Lashes much in the past, but I suddenly have no idea why not. They’re really fucking good.

Everything about this album is awesome, from the title to the cover to the music. Oh, the music! I know it’s a bit naff to link to the lead single, but really, it’s just that good.

They’re playing at (St Jerome’s) Laneway (Festival) next year which is fantastic and all but I wasn’t planning on going because the Perth show is the weekend before I hope to submit my thesis, but now I’m totally torn because they’re really quite wonderful, so I suppose I will have to try make up a week’s worth of work somehow in order that I may be footloose and fancy free on the 9th of February.

Late night study tunes: edn. V

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A year ago, I don’t think I’d ever heard of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Now, they’re one of my favourite bands, and a constant go-to when I’m studying or writing.

This is my first proper listen through of their latest album, Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

(WordPress, I see you have changed your format for uploading media since last night. Sneaky. Very sneaky.)

Also, I will be seeing them in March! For the Perth Festival! Yesss!

Thesis in the background there. About to knuckle down and edit/finish this chapter. Then, I’m really very nearly almost done. Yikes.