Inspire Composers
A “memory bank” of the music that has made me go “oh wow, this is really inspiring” in the past
featuring artists like
Adam Fielding, Jeremy Blake, Arch Echo, Richard Speven, OKADA, Jameson Nathan Jones, Hannah Sumner
Are you a composer who is currently in a creative rut? Are you feeling like that you have explored all the sonic possibilities in your head? Allow me to surprise, and hopefully inspire you with this playlist, which is a “memory bank” of the music that has made me go “oh wow, this is really inspiring” in the past.
This playlist does not stick to a particular genre, time or format. In fact, that is the whole point of this playlist, to hopefully have something that surprises and encourages you to keep exploring, serving as a reminder of “what else is out there”.
The Beginning and the End – Adam Fielding
19 June 2018
Adam Fielding is a UK based electronic musician – funny story how I encountered his stuff…
Many years ago, I was looking into Propellerhead’s Reason, a Digital Audio Workstation that was very popular among electronic musicians. Adam Fielding uses Reason exclusively to produce his tracks,…
Sing me to Sleep – Jeremy Blake
12 June 2018
Red means recording! Super excited to put this track on this list.
If you do not know who Jeremy Blake is, he runs a YouTube channel called “Red means Recording”, where he makes really entertaining music videos giving the viewer an insight on how he makes his music. He’s most well known for a series of videos where he uses the teenage engineering OP-1 as the main driver in a piece of music.
Bloom – Arch Echo
8 May 2018
Arch Echo is a 5 piece fusion progressive rock band based out of Nashville, Tennessee.
Once again, the wonders of related videos on YouTube got me to this band when I was surfing through Plini, David Maxim Micic and Nick Johnston…
Law – Richard Spaven
29 April 2018
Richard Spaven is a fantastic drummer from London, UK and this track is a single from his album “The Self”. I first encountered this track on Youtube when Spaven did a live performance version on Meinl Cymbals’ channel. If you have never checked out Youtube channels of drum manufacturers, you are in for a treat – I have discovered some amazing music through their gear videos.
Bruised and Bleeding – Okada
23 April 2018
Okada is the musical brainchild of Gregory Pappas, with a focus on an ambient electronic sound edging on drone/loop based/meditative music but with enough development to keep one interested throughout the track that is 15 minutes long…
I Walk Alone (feat. Justina Soto) – Sungazer
16 April 2018
Some of you may have expected this since I mentioned Adam Neely in the previous track.
Sungazer is his musical project with drummer Shawn Crowder, where its sound palette is mainly driven by glitch sound effects, bass, guitars and drums….
Didn’t know it – Hannah Sumner
10 April 2018
I first encountered Hannah Sumner’s name through one of Adam Neely’s videos on Youtube and decided to look her up as I have not been paying much attention to vocal-based music recently (Adam Neely is a performing musician in New York with a YouTube channel that has some really interesting educational content on music)…
Line – Akisai
2 April 2018
I first encountered Akisai through a playlist channel on Youtube, which led me to their official channel and music video for this track.
Empire Liquor Mart (9127 S. Figueroa St.) – Gabriel Kahane
26 March 2018
“On March 19, 1991, Latasha Harlins was shot and killed during a dispute over a bottle of orange juice.
She was fifteen.
Her killer received no prison time”
Electric Sunrise – Plini
25 February 2018
When I grew up with progressive music such as those of Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, King Crimson and Pink Floyd, it is inevitable that other lay listeners would have this perception of “progressive music is always so gloomy and moody, I wouldn’t want to be listening to it all day long, especially on my commute to work”…
Endless – Portico Quartet
25 February 2018
I first encountered this track from the Red Bull Music & Culture YouTube channel where the Portico Quartet played the track at their live space. I was hooked right away.
Portico Quartet’s sounds are one of those where you’d just go “are they jazz? are they electronica? are they – nah screw it, its Portico Quartet.”…
Beyond Styx, Pt.1 – Hubris
25 February 2018
If you are well versed in the genre of music known as “post-rock”, you would know that techniques such as delayed guitars, swells (long notes that fade in and out), and a really “wet” band mix are all common techniques that have been used time and time again by bands in the genre to the point where they may be perceived as cliches…
