I cannot work without music. It's always been this way. There's something soothing about playing music in the background. When I'm creating, it helps me take the necessary pauses to break concentration. It's a constant in my life, while at the gym, riding the subway, doing dishes or checking my email music is playing in the background.
As I mentioned recently, a dear friend and I have been exchanging mix CDs. And as I make them, I feel as if I'm collecting the soundtrack to my life. They have been taking on themes, generally seasonal or geographic, which became a fun challenge this season. My friend Chris mentioned a while back, as he was looking to life his spirits he found a majority of upbeat sounding songs contain depressing lyrics. I thought about this for a moment and then casually tucked it away in my brain. Then as I put together what I thought was a particularly clever spring compilation, I found myself singing along I realised that the collection was quite depressing.
Now I'm not generally one to sugar-coat things, but during this season I'm not looking to be depressed while I'm working. So with a little reworking, I came up with something a little more appropriate. Here it is:
- The Hollies - "Bus Stop"
- Death Cab For Cutie - "No Sunlight"
- Duran Duran - "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise"
- The Velvet Underground - "Who Loves the Sun?"
- Super Furry Animals - "Hello Sunshine"
- Vampire Weekend - "White Sky"
- Robbie Williams - "Let Love Be Your Energy"
- Basement Jaxx - "Raindrops"
- Florence & The Machine - "Dog Days Are Over"
- Madonna - "Ray Of Light"
- Frightened Rabbit - "Living in Colour"
- The Magnetic Fields - "Love Goes Home to Paris in the Spring"
- Sprengjuhöllin - "Worry 'Til Spring"
- Project Jenny, Project Jan - "Brooklyn"
- Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - "Johnny Appleseed"
- David Byrne - "Don't Fence Me In"
- Neko Case - "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth"
- Eddie Vedder - "Hard Sun"
- Jimmy Eat World - "Chase This Light"
- Neil Diamond - "Sweet Caroline"
- Love & Rockets - "Rainbird"
Now I'm ready to work.