It’s that time of the year again, when your books become your best friends and phrases such as "happiness’, "care-free’, and "relaxed’ dash out of the window, without even saying bye. Exams bring stress, panic-attacks and late-night studying, but they also tend to cause distractions. What every student needs in order to drain out the distractions, and focus on their studies, is a decent, long playlist. But what should you listen to during these terrible times? Here’s a list of our favourite albums/playlists while studying:
1. Pink Floyd’s "The Endless River’
Essentially, you should listen to Pink Floyd all throughout the year, but exams should be an extra incentive to add a little bit of David Gilmour and Nick Mason (the last two members of Pink Floyd) to your playlist. A predominantly ambient and instrumental album, with only one song out of 27 tracks having a vocal lead track, this album was described by Mason as a tribute to Richard White, the band’s late keyboardist. This is an album which places parts from Pink Floyd’s biggest albums, such as Division Bell and previous unreleased tracks, together into an album worth studying to. If you look for peace and ambience with just a mix of long guitar solos, this one’s for you.
2. Hans Zimmer’s Movie Soundtracks
There’s no need to introduce the world’s best composer, who composed music for more than a whopping 150 films, with the names ranging from "Lion King’, "The Dark Knight’ Trilogy, to the unforgettable "Pirates of The Caribbean’. Ranging from the most dramatic soundtracks that get you feeling like you’re at bow of a ship (“He’s a Pirate”) or feeling like a child again (Lion King’s “This Land”). More modern ones, like "The Amazing Spiderman 2’’s soundtrack, includes more electronic music integrated with the traditional orchestral arrangement, and they will surely keep you up all night studying.
3. Carbon Based Lifeforms’ "Interloper’
For those of you who are more into psychedelic and ambient, CBL are the band for you. The duo’s third album, and a continuation of the previous two, "Interloper’ is THE album that will calm you down, put you in the mood and assist you through long hours of tension. Hot cups of herbal tea are a welcome addition; just make sure you don’t end up burning incense in your room as well.
4. John Mayer’s "Where The Light Is’
An artist I have come to know only recently, John Mayer is for those who need to chill and find that good mood before delving into the depths of their books. Known to work with big-name artists such as Eric Clapton and B.B. King, the singer-songwriter as well as accomplished guitarist is influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Robert Cray, and his Blues rock style will surely set the atmosphere for a quiet, tedious date with your books. A live concert filmed in LA, "Where the Light Is’ includes an acoustic set as well as a band set, and has his most famous songs as well as covers of other artists.
5. Indie Rock
The biggest craze right now is all about Indie. With bands popping from every corner of the world, this genre, that is most popular in England, has resulted in several bands such as Alt-J, Bastille, Hozier, Bombay Bicycle Club and Vampire Weekend. For those of you that are trying to keep up with the trend, these are for you; this is what’s hipster right now. Actually, it’s become mainstream, so we’re not really sure if it’s still hipster. No one gets it; we don’t either.
6. Disney Songs
Point all the fingers and call all the names you want, but I am a sucker for Disney songs, and it is the 11th commandment to always sing along to any Disney song you hear. Didn’t know it? Better write it down in your Bible then. Jokes aside, nothing will make you feel like a kid more than the very same songs we used to listen to back in the day, and hopefully feeling like a kid will also result in rushing through your notes as we used to do back then as well. Maybe that’s way too hopeful, but at least you’ll have a smile on your face while you’re working out formulas and screaming that you’re on your way and that you will go the distance.
7. Classy music (in a classy way)
In a trick learnt 2 years ago on Tumblr, there’s nothing that says courage like being the classiest person alive. So go ahead and open the following 3 links. Now, you have the sound of the rain, a fireplace burning that gives you that feeling of warmth and jazz music that will make you feel like a real grown-up. Pour yourself a double whiskey on the rocks and jump back into those books with renewed determination.
http://www.rainymood.com/
http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=HMnrl0tmd3k
http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=DIx3aMRDUL4
8. Spotify
Few are the people who have not yet heard of and signed up to Spotify, the digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs. Whether you want to listen to whole albums, discographies or playlists according to genre or mood, Spotify will choose your music depending to your likings, and you will be set for long days with Spotify playing whatever you heart wishes it to.
Those are a small number of suggestions that we humbly present. Music is something that helps us focus and we believe that a lot of people feel the same way; thus, we hope that this will help you get a grip of what you intend to listen to for the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, we wish you good luck with your studies and may the odds be ever in your favour!
