Music is to the ears what photography is to the eyes. Together, they satisfy the soul.
Music is the soundtrack to our lives, work, and to our waking dreams. I only played an instrument (the clarinet) briefly in elementary school and failed to see past the ornery, uninspired ways of my fourth grade teacher. A mistake. However, I've been a lover of music all my life, particularly classical, film music, world beat, and EDM. Here's a sampling of music that inspires my creativity and the sounds through which I see the world.
Mixtape.
MAX RICHTER [VIVALDI'S FOUR SEASONS] ↗
The concerto you've a million times as you've never heard it before.
ÓLAFUR ARNALDS ↗
For when you're in flow (also, listen to him live in concert and enjoy his [perhaps] accidentally hilarious stories between songs! wait for the whale in the bathtub story . . .)
LUDOVICO EINAUDI ↗
Anything and everything by Ludovico Einaudi. Start here.
IAMBEAR ↗
It sounds how Iceland feels.
ERIK SATIE - GNOSSIENNE NO. 1 ↗
Under umbrella on rainy streets of 19th century France.
ALEXANDRE DESPLATS - RIVER ↗
All things DesPlat are wonderful.
SHIGERU UMEBAYASHI - IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE ↗
I imagine this Japanese movie to be the most haunting romance ever.
PARADIS - RECTO VERSO ↗
Jovial French low-fi. The whole entire album.
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO & ALVO NOTO - THE REVENANT ↗
Low resonance.
MATTHEW SCHOENING - EMOTIONAL CLOCKWORK ↗
Infinite loop and recursion.
CLANN'S SEELIE ↗
Universal pulse.
AGNES OBEL - THE CURSE ↗
Soft, undulating, harmonic.
FEJKÀ ↗
Dulcet tones.
DEVORZHUM - DEAD CAN DANCE ↗
Melancholic World Beat with a soothing Eastern rhythm.
JAMIE XX - I DON'T KNOW ↗
Hypnotic club beat.
AYUB OGADA - KOTHBIRO ↗ (from the Constant Gardener)
Literally "rain is coming" Dholuo. Soul saddening and soothing.
TWO LANES - LIVE FROM MÁLAGA, SPAIN ↗
Smooth tracks.