Adam Silverman, 2L
Contributor
As the winds ripping up Fifth Avenue begin to warm, you will not feel them. You will be in the library studying, outlining, scraping the dead skin from your scalp, furtively removing your shoes—desperately trying to concentrate as you play catch-up to a semester that has left you mired in hours of Facebook sludge and Hulu muck.
Everyone has his or her own study style, but one thing is common to all students: at some point, you will need to shut out the distractions and hit the books. There is no better way to do this than with a pair of earphones and some music.
The following is a non-comprehensive, heavily-biased guide to study music. As a general rule, study music should be without lyrics. The law is about words. Success on exams is about organizing those words with precision. You do not need someone else’s words—words far more interesting than those in your Civ Pro outline—competing for your attention. Take it from Rakim: whether writing a song or an outline, writing takes full concentration.1 The following selections will help you focus.
1 “I start to think and then I sink / into the paper, like I was ink / when I’m writing I’m trapped in between the lines / I escape, when I finish the rhyme.” Eric B. amp; Rakim, “I Know You Got Soul,” Paid in Full (4th amp; B’way/Island 1987).
Morning Music
You are cracked out, spasmodic, and acutely pissed off that you are even here. Hours can disappear in the morning, when your brain seems to look for any excuse to avoid the rigors of parsing complex legal ideas. Morning calls for music that is fresh and fluid—orange juice for the ears.
Artist amp; Album(s):
Juilliard String Quartet – Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 15 in G: [classical]
John Fahey: The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death [American guitar music]
Raymond Scott: Restless Nights amp; Turkish Twilights; Microphone Music [jazz]
Jack Nitzsche: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest [soundtrack]
Late Night Music
We’ve all been there. It’s late. The ghastly white light emanating from the recessed fluorescent bulbs makes the words flutter and twitch on the page. Dinner is long gone. Sleep is hours away. You’ve wasted hours today on God-knows-what, squandering any possibility of reaching your self-imposed goals. It’s time to buckle down and plow through as much material as possible. You need music that is propulsive and lean.
Artist amp; Album(s):
Amon Tobin: Permutation; Bricolage; Supermodified [electronica]
Charles Mingus: Blues amp; Roots; Mingus Ah Um; Pith [jazz]
Neu!: Neu! 1; Neu! 2; Neu! 75 [Kraut rock]
Trans Am: s/t [post rock]
Blocking-Out Music
(On Train/Pre-Exam /3rd Floor Lounge)
“Blocking-out” music must be full-bodied and percussive, so as to provide a thick, uniform buffer between you and a city full of distractions.
Artist amp; Album(s):
Allen Tousaint: The Wild Sound of New Orleans [early ramp;b]
The Fucking Champs: III; IV [instrumental metal]
Davie Allen (and the Arrows): anything [biker rock]
Link Wray: Rumble! The Best of Link Wray [guitar rock]
Afternoon and Beyond
The following are some general suggestions for the times when you do not need the music to perform a significant function, but want some music nonetheless.
Genre (Artist amp; Album):
Techno/Electronic
Schlammpeitziger: Collected Simplesongs of My Temporary Past
Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works 85-92; Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2
Pole: 1; 2; 3; Steingarten
Swayzak: Snowboarding In Argentina
Múm: Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK
Dub amp; Instrumental Reggae
Twilight Dub Sound System: Horsie; Binshaker Dub; Volcanic Dub
Lee “Scratch” Perry: Musical Bones: Africa’s Blood; Blackboard Jungle Dub
Keith Hudson: Pick-A-Dub; Brand
Cedric Im Brooks: United Africa
Soul/Ramp;B
The Meters: The Very Best of The Meters (Rhino)
Booker T amp; the MG’s: Melting Pot; Green Onions
Jazz
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue; Sketches of Spain; Bitches Brew; Jack Johnson
Django Reinhardt: Djangologie/USA
Jelly Roll Morton: Birth of the Hot
World
Tinariwen: These Tuareg nomads play badass desert rock. They carry AK-47s and have been shot more times than 50 Cent.
Babatunde Olatunji: Drums of Passion [Nigerian drums]
Andres Segovia: Millennium Collection [ish guitar]
Ambient, Classical, and Film Music
Brian Eno: Music for Airports
Erik Satie: Piano Works
Ennio Morricone: Crime amp; Dissonance
Surf amp; Instrumental Rock:
The Ventures: Walk Don’t Run: The Best of the Ventures
Jack Nitzsche: The Lonely Surfer