This is a blog related to programming, and such articles will be forthcoming, but I feel it's important to set the tone before going any further, and I genuinely struggle to work without music. When I started on this post it was supposed to include a variety of music, but I quickly realised it was taking on a very D&B slant, because once I'd included one track I wanted to include others that I enjoy from the genre. At that point I decided this will be a D&B installment in a series, because I listen to a pretty wide variety of music day to day. It would appear that the Hospital Records label in particular has had a large impact on my listening of late.
Disclaimer: everyone has different tastes and what works for me may well be so far removed from what you like that you'll wish I'd never made this list, but I'm writing it anway, because I wanted to highlight some music I've tripped over a few years after the fact, and have absolutely grown to love. Some people prefer to work in silence, and if that's the case you can probably stop reading.... now.
I'm was planning to embed some music from Spotify, again, people have different opinions and different sources for their music, but Spotify has been mine since I got sick of managing an MP3 collection. I don't know the exact date, but it's been over 10 years. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a way to specify a sensible volume level for their embedded player, and if often starts mid-track, with a heavy beat, way too loud, so YouTube it is. For each artist, I'm going to list/embed one of my favourite tracks, but more often than not you can bet I love the whole album/EP they came on.
I don't remember how or whan I came across B-Complex, and her body of work isn't huge, but I'll take quality over quantity any day. A piano melody over the top of a track that just keeps rolling. I can't get enough of this track, but don't just check out the EP, because all of her work is so damned good".
More piano, maybe there's a theme? I often leave Spotify playing on radio mode because I find it's a great way to discover music, and this track had me hooked within the first 30 seconds. I listened to it, listened again, and then listened to the album it's apart of: Life Cycle. It's perfect for some late night hacking.
I discovered Netsky during a hackathon back in 2013, but haven't stopped listening to his music since. I'd be lying if I said I loved every track on the album (III) that this track heads up, but I'm never even close to skipping one.
From the album Torus, this is perhaps a bit more upbeat than some of the other tracks listed. Again, I love this album, but I'm Including this track in particular because I've had the lyrics in my head all morning.
More from Hospital Records: lyrical, fast, uplifting and even includes some organ for good measure with a synth riffing that could have been lifted straight from a Sega Megadrive game. High Contrast's work is quite varied within the genre, and another of HC's tracks that never fails to get me chair-dancing is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Probably far better known than most of the other artists I've listed, but Pendulum have been one of my most listened to artists for the last decade, and I listened to them a lot before that ever since they first hit the world stage with Slam. From the album, Immersion, I'd probably pick The Island -, Pt. I over this track, but couldn't find an official video for it on their channel, and this is a close enough second that it's practically equal. Immersion can't get enough air time IHMO.
I hope this has introduced you to some new music, or at least re-kindled interest in tracks/artists you may have forgotten along the way. The next installment will likely involve a lot more guitars. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
After writing this post and sharing it on Twitter, a friend of mine asked whether it was available as a Spotify playlist, so I quickly threw together a list with these tracks and a couple of others, it'll keep growing but if you use Spotify and like the music you've heard here, you might want to subscribe to it.