I like music – like most people presumably do – but I am hardly a music geek. I wish I could create my own. But that’s a talent I was not blessed with. For my work, there are really one two modes: Either, I work by complete silence (most of the time) or I work listening to music that’s turned up way too loud on my headphones. The later happens when I am in creative burst mode.
Like right now.
It’s 1:30am and I should sleep. Really. I have to get up at 6am for some #souldraining. But how can I sleep, when I have to chronicle the rise and fall of the Terran Federation?
Anyway, as an aside, I thought I’d post some of the stuff I am listening to while world-building.
Right now that’s the album “Drink the Sea” by The Glitch Mob. Especially “Fortune Days”, “Animus Vox”, “Bad Wings”, and “We Swarm”. My playlist is also looping through some tracks from the “Tron Legacy: Reconfigured” album.
At other times, I enjoyed the music from the Battlestar Galactica series (heavy on percussion, I guess – reminds me a whole lot of Homeworld, but that’s probably just me imagining things). I also have the Homeworld tracks, ripped from my Homeworld game CD which I seem to have lost in one of my many moves over the years. Awesome music – I wish I had as cool a soundtrack for my science fiction universe. Maybe some day.
Of course you couldn’t do science fiction without classical music – Kubrick saw to that – and I once listened to the Blue Danube for an entire day. Holst’s The Planets are another must though I am not a huge fan of the tracks other than “Mars – the Bringer of War”.
I also collect game and movie soundtracks. The music of some of the Baldur’s Gate titles – and sequels and spinoffs – was pretty epic, as is the Guild Wars music. Michael Hoenig and Heremy soule are great! For movies, pick any adventure, action or science fiction movie. Pirates of the Caribbean, The Gladiator, The “Imperial March” from Star Wars, The Mummy, you name it.
The sound track of The Fifth Element has a special place in my heart, as does the movie. “Timecrash” makes me wish I had a decent music setup here that could produce decent base sound (but my neighbors probably appreciate that I don’t).
Some of my world-building can get quite weird. For example, I do have a playlist I call “Mythos Mecha”. That might give you a hint what it was for… it includes Cab Calloway, The Inkspots, the music from Bubblegum Crisis (Konya wa Harikeen is awesome!), “masked Ball” from Eyes Wide Shut, “Love Removal Machine” by The Cult, “Go!” by Tones to Tail, Tesla’s “Last Action Hero”, “Where Evil grows” by Poppy Family, and a whole lot of instrumental stuff from movie soundtracks. Eclectic, eh?
As a final, special tip – you can actually find awesome music on ccMixter, Jamendo, and remix.kwed.org – but you gotta dig through a lot of bad music to find it. Still, how can you not love, for example, Ditto Ditto, or Houdini Roadshow? Or, hell, Sad Robot by pornophonique? What can I say, I grew up on a diet of 6581.
On the subject of The Mythos – Another really good album to listen to – in my opinion, as always – is “Live on the Radio” by White Ghost Shivers. Really great 1920s Harlem Jazz style music.
I posted on this subject before – my playlist for the 2008 NaNoWriMo reads like my approach to music consumption during my ‘work’ really hasn’t changed. Getting old and set in my ways, I am.
Latest Comments