Perfect Music to Study To

If you are anything like me when it comes to study, then it is impossible to sit there and concentrate with complete silence. The mind wanders, and everything becomes infinitely more distracting.

However, with the right music on in the background, it can help me focus on the task at hand and keep my mind from wandering.

With exams next week, thus studying being required, I present my favourite albums to study to. As lyrics can often be a distraction, this is predominately instrumental music, consisting of instrumental hip-hop and "post-rock".

Note: These are all absolutely amazing albums listed below, perfect for listening to at anytime. All of this music can be distracting for different reasons, usually due to its sheer brilliance, but I still find these albums to be a great study aid.

First the traditional instrumental music:

Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
Stars of the Lid are a duo from Texas who create what is most commonly described as "drone-based ambient music". This is their sixth album, a double album, and features long, slow songs that utilise a wide range of musical instruments, played in an unconventional manner, to produce their signature sound. The songs feature a very subtle progression, and thus are not to invasive to distract, rather perfect background noise to keep you focused.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Probably the most respected band in the post-rock genre, who are sadly no longer creating music, this is GY!BE's third album (again a double album). It is composed in a very traditional "post-rock" sense, in the fact that it closely resembles a classical composition, and as such features cello, violin, horns, and a range of percussion, as well as the traditional instruments of a rock band. There are some, though unobtrusive, vocal samples, which will not distract one from their studies. The album features slow build ups in the music, culminating in a climax, and then it all comes crashing down, once again settling at a slower pace. It can be quite loud in parts, so you might not want to have this one as loud as SOTL.

Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place
From the most respected, to probably the best-known band in post-rock, Explosions in the Sky create a somewhat more accessible sound then GY!BE or SOTL. While this means in parts it can get quite fast paced and somewhat distracting it is still amazing background music to study to. Think film-score.


Now to the instrumental hip-hop:

MF DOOM - Special Herbs: The Box Set Vol. 0-9
This is the complete collection of underground hip-hop heavyweight MF Doom's Special Herbs series, which are different collections of his production work. There are vocal samples throughout, though no rhyming on these tracks, so the distraction is minimal. He samples a wide range of artists, including Quincy Jones, Whodini, Steely Dan, Isaac Hayes, Boz Scaggs, as well as TV shows and video games. This all culminates in a myriad of tracks perfect to stop the mind from wandering too much.

J Dilla - Donuts

Donuts is considered by many to be the magnum opus of "your favourite producer's favourite producer". It was released just three days before his tragic death at age 32 of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare blood disorder. Like Special Herbs, it contains an astonishingly wide range of samples, but has a much more traditional R&B sound. Artists sampled include Shuggie Otis, 10CC, Beastie Boys, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, amongst others. This is a must have, for both study and general listening.

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.....
DJ Shadow's critically acclaimed debut is credited as being one of the first albums to be compiled entirely from sampling. Therefore it is not possible to list all the samples here, but they include everything from old and modern hip-hop, old R&B, grunge, 70s rock, jazz, movie samples, and different interviews. The result is a phenomenal album of instrumental hip-hop, with the above elements scattered throughout, that is again a perfect companion for study.


So these are my top choices to help you focus when study is the last thing you want to focus on. I hope they help you and give you as much joy as the have given me.