Music 2 Design 2
Not everyone works while listening to music, but at Beedier our ears are often entertained while are hands and brains are moving. We thought it would be a bit of fun to share weekly Spotify playlists, and ask others to contribute too.
We find that different music suits different work tasks. If you are pumping CAD, then perhaps some techno to keep the mouse clicking. For writing, we find that ambient music helps focus the mind, and for creative inspiration – classical or jazz.
So to add a lighter note to our offering, which is generally quite stat and data heavy, we have opted to introduce a weekly music playlist for you to share and enjoy.
Each will present about half a days worth of music, to help get you through a lethargic morning or an afternoon that is dragging. You’ll find a recap of all of our posted playlists on this page, or simply go to Spotify and add us a Friend.
We assemble these playlists on Spotify. Why? Because it is the most used music streaming service, and one of the few that allows free access with advertising. If you already have a Spotify subscription, then enjoy without the interruption of adverts. And follow our Beedier account on Spotify for regular additions to the playlist collection.
And we would love some more playlist contributions from designers and architects. What do you listen to when you are working in the office or at home?
In the interests of keeping to the Beedier modus operandi of thoroughly researched articles – we would like these playlists to be genre based, authoritative, and chronological. Email info@beedier.com with your suggestions.
Brazilian Bossa Nova 1958-70 (M2D2 006, 8 April 2024)
Beedier’s editor spent a large part of last year in Brazil, time building the website, Zeitgeist data, and content – as well as enjoying the culture and architecture of the country. Brazil is collectively in love with music, and Bossa Nova is the sound of Rio de Janeiro’s coffee houses and beach bars, during the modernist period of the city’s development – a slowed down samba for the art crowd. We present here a collection from the first decade or so of the genre’s inception. Perfect music to inspire the design of light filled spaces full of people.
21st Century Ambient Drone 2000-20 (M2D2 005, 25 March 2024)
We suggest that this genre of ambient music is great for writing. Keynote drones, breathing, and incidental abstractions from nature, technology and everyday life – enough to create a subtle backdrop for creative thinking. The playlist presents some of key musicians and sound creators of ambient drone from the past twenty five years including Tim Hecker, Stars of the Lid, Taylor Deupree, Sarah Davachi and Rafael Anton Irisarri.
Extended Eighties Groove 1980 – 84 (M2D2 004, 18 March 2024)
It feels like Spring finally here so time for something uplifting. Eighties Groove, sometimes referred to as Boogie, is the synth driven R&B dance music that came after Disco, but before New Jack Swing. The sound of the early eighties American roller disco – so perhaps something for Friday afternoon, wherever your Friday may fall in your work diary. This collection compiles the extended plays, 12″ remixes by the likes of Larry Levan, John Morales, Sergio Munzibai and Jellybean Benitez. Peppering the club standards, with some lesser known nuggets.
Iranian Women’s Voice 2018-24 (M2D2 003, 11 March 2024)
With reference to both last Friday’s International Women’s Day, and the start of Ramadan, our third music playlist of the Music 2 Design 2 series, celebrates the strong tradition of women musical artists in Iran. Sometimes you need to break up the working day with something soulful and poignant, and these vocals really are quite stirring – even if you don’t speak Persian. A selection of deeply felt torch songs, with religious, secular and political themes – the musical influences are often a fusion of traditional or classical Persian with contemporary music.
German Minimal Techno 2018-24 (M2D2 002, 4 March 2024)
A selection of compact minimal techno from the first wave of German producers. We find that this unfussy techno is quiet and methodical enough to suit quite a range of work tasks, especially CAD. The simple repetition just keeps pushing you forward, without too much excitement to distract.
British New Jazz 2014-23 (M2D2 001, 26 February 2024)
The first playlist is a whistlestop overview of the vibrant New British Jazz scene over the past ten years. Beedier remembers the excitement of watching some of these bands emerge in various London venues – pubs, community centres, church halls and back rooms of Caribbean restaurants. Perhaps it was the first time we saw jazz become dance music, people on tables and sweat dripping from the ceiling – rather than an opportunity for chin stroking in a cocktail bar. Now these musicians are appearing on the Graham Norton Show – as it should be. We hope this playlist might raise the energy levels slightly, and get the design juices flowing.
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