Sometimes, you just need to be anti-social in order to have a peaceful relaxing day in your neighborhood.
When I sit down to write, I need almost total silence in my surroundings. Doesn't matter where I am, indoors or out, I need to be as close to complete silence as humanly possible, which is saying as lot, because my den is directly below the living room, and the great outdoors, well, you got the occasional car, peoples and animals. So 96% is the best that I can shoot for.
When it comes to transcribing, that is a completely different topic all together. I need my proverbial white noise to help keep me focused, whether it's MLB (summer), podcasts or music. I know it's odd, but this works for me. Today's post will feature my favorite artists/collections that have become my go-to white noise when I'm transcribing.
Even though this is a top ten list, to quote a stale YouTube channel, it's just a list with no discernible difference between artists, only what I choose to pull out to help me concentrate. With the disclaimer out of the way, let's hit the ground jogging.
1} Any new stuff: I'm still heavily into buying used and the occasional new c.d., even though the new has become fewer as the months/years pass by. So whenever I'm ready to transcribe, I will often pick through my TBP pile to see if there's anything to pique my curiosity or fit my particular mood. I should note that I have quite the eclectic collection, so...yeah.
2} Schoolhouse Rock: Back when Schoolhouse Rock was going through its 90's renaissance, my brother picked up a 4 c.d. collection from Rhino Records (now out of print). It eventually came into my hands some many years ago, and it has become one my fave go-tos for transcribing music.
3} Children's music: I'm a fan of children's music from my younger days, when thought and time were given to create songs that would last, so I have two c.d.s: one featuring Marlo Thomas & Friends and one by Carole King. Strangely enough, both c.d.s were created for t.v. specials back in the 70's and the 80's respectively.
4) Weird Al Yankovic: Been a fan of his music since the late 80's, when I had first heard his stuff on Dr Demento (formally a nationally syndicated radio show), and I got hooked. I have a few c.d.s of his and his stuff is so earworm inducing that even decades later, I can still remember chucks of melodies to dozens of his songs, both hits and non.
5} Samantha Fish: A really great blues guitarist and I first got into her via a FB friend who had posted a link to one of her videos. And as I'm want to do from time to time, I started acquiring her back catalog. I'm still a few current releases behind but I'm hoping to rectify that in 2026.
6a} & 6b} Sanmy Kershaw/Maddie & Tae: I rarely listen to 'country pop' and these two artists have become the exceptions. With the former, I found one of his c.d.s for sale at my local library, my curiosity was piqued and the rest they say, is history. As I'm want to do, I'm currently working my way through his back catalog. As for the latter, I first heard their hit 'Girl In A Country Song' on college radio. Curiosity properly piqued, I found the riotous video and immediately bought the c.d., and I'm also in the process of acquiring their current catalog.
7} Billy Joel: Like him or hate him, he has created some interesting music over the decades, so I have about six c.d.s that make it into my rotating playlist periodically.
8} Band Maid: An all female Japanese hard rock band that was brought to my attention via YouTube algorithms, which as of late is how I'm exposed to new music. Got hooked really bad and spent a pretty penny acquiring their back catalog and mostly present releases.
9} Train: Popular alt band from the late 90's through the early 00's. Acquired several of their c.d.s, with the latest being a live release from the later 2010's. Fantastic band even when nothing is charting, they're another of my go-tos.
10} Johnny Cash: About several years before he passed away in 2003, he teamed up with producer Rick Rubin and created a series of phenomenal c.d.s that were collectively called "The American Recordings, vol 1-6". This collection features original, classics and covers from well known artists and even duets. I highly recommend this particular music series (note, he won a Grammy for his version of 'Hurt').
I have a bonus recommendation that I would love to pass on to everyone: a cover band tthat is called Broken Peach.
They're a Spanish band who performs phenomenal cover-mashes. They tour mostly on the Spanish coast, have a multitude of releases on Spotify and came out with a c.d. of original material a couple of years ago. They came to my attention via YouTube's algorithms when one of their annual Halloween videos cropped up on my front page, "Tainted Love/Sweet Dreams Are Made of These", which in a span of four years has hit nearly 10 million views.
So my friends, I sincerely hope that you enjoyed my quirky top ten list of music I like to listen to while transcribing. I do want to add one option more to the list: everything else in my collection in case the top ten list doesn't do it for me at the given moment.
Happy Monday, and may no fourth be with you, just the magic number of three.
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