This Fall, I’ve found myself in an 8-bit, video game mood. With some bluegrass, for good measure.
Bastion and Transistor are gorgeous, ethereal iOS games put out by the venerable studio Supergiant. This Spotify playlist does a great job of gathering the two soundtracks and adding a couple remixes, for fun. While video game soundtracks should be pretty obvious background music for coding (especially the final boss themes), I’ve never found one that was as sensitive, narrative and well thought out as this. In particular, Ashley Barret’s hummed tracks are wonderful for feeling the melody while not having to get all tangled in words.
I was looking for a good coding soundtrack, and turned to Spotify’s search for some quick wins. There were a ton of great lists, but Hacker’s Coffee was the only one that not only held me, but sent me looking looking for music from the featured artists. Highlights include Hans Zimmer’s Mombassa, from the Inception Soundtrack, a number of tracks by 65 days of static, and Infiltration, from the Mass Effect Soundtrack. Due to this soundtrack’s sheer depth (532 tracks), there is a high chance you’re going to find something you like.
A couple weeks ago, I randomly saw Steve Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers. While I’ve never been a fan of bluegrass, I was super impressed by what I heard and felt. Turns out the twangy busyness of the banjo (which should be quite distracting), actually turns into a lovely mélange when backed by guitars and mandolin. Look out for all the awesome fiddle hooks, too, especially on the title track Radio.