I'm looking for some inspiration here. Are there any bands/albums that you routinely listen to when you have to write (papers/blogs/creative/whatever)?

I wrote countless lit papers while listening to Trippy Daisy's I Am An Elastic Firecracker while I was in school but that's not really jibing at the moment.

I have some laborious writing to do tonight and I need some ideas...

amon tobin

Pat Benatar.

My senior year in college I started a 15 page paper roughly 18 hours before it was due and two records — "Over The James" by Avail and "Bricks and Blackouts" by Gaunt — got me through the night. I got an A on the paper.

A few years ago I listened to "Exile on Main Street" so much while writing articles at work that it came to be I couldn't write without it.

Hope that helps.
Good luck.

two good albums i haven't listened to in ages.

Godspeed you black Emperor always worked for me, back when I wrote shit.

I wrote a huge paper on MLK jr in college and I listened to Miles Davis Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain repeatedly. I had to give a speech on it and actually played Kind of Blue softly in the background when I gave it.

I find that the music you listen to when writing is better if it corresponds to the topic/subject matter at hand.

I haven't done it yet, but I find that Goldmund - Corduroy Road and any Eluvium album to be useful writing music--at least if you are well rested.

IMHO, Gaunt were WOEFULLY underappreciated.
A couple months after Jerry Wick died I went to Columbus for a week to interview people who knew him (Eric Davidson from New Bomb Turks, Sam and Jovan from Gaunt, Ron House from Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments) with no real intention of what I'd do with it afterward.
He's a great character for a book or movie. And the music slays.

I should do something with that stuff.

I compared E-40 lyrics to a W.E.B. Du Bois essay and got a 99 on the paper.

Also, it probably depends on what you have to write, but for sheer lyrical motivation and wordplay, nothing beats Dylan. Specifically Highway 61 Revisited, Bringing it All Back Home, or Blonde on Blonde.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have to write something I've written many times over....but now make it new all over again. Nerve wracking...

i tend to go with stuff without words to distract me. lately:

I often go for the Thrilljockey crowd:

- sea and cake - the fawn
- tortoise - s/t
- sam prekop
- califone

Ninja Tune stuff is good too:

- Irresistible Force - It's Tomorrow Already
- Funki Porcini - Headphonesex

I find stuff that is: constant, mid-tempo, with either no lyrics or mumbly lyrics (see sam prekop) works well.

When I was actually able to write songs (it's been since the surgery), I would just sit by myself, alone in a quiet room.

Or I would listen to the ambient sounds of the world around me as I took a walk outside. There is music everywhere.

When I was in college I'd listen to stuff like Autechre, Squarepusher, Mouse on Mars, and what little jazz I had. Instrumental music, but nothing too boring.

you may have misunderstood the topic

This is, intentionally or unintentionally, really funny.

Yes I did.

When I have to do really heavy-duty writing, I cannot listen to anything.
Editing and whatnot, I can listen to anything.

Steely Dan, for some reason, was always really good for writing in college.

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