As you may know I earn my crusts by teaching English to teenagers. One of the things that gets me through my day is using music in lessons, especially while they are writing.
I like using stuff that is instrumental and without too many massive changes in dynamics / samples / distortion etc so that pupils can work quietly to it without it distracting them.
I've had success so far with 'Campfire Headphase' by Boards of Canada as well as stuff like Hammock and Tracer AMC.
Anyone got any other thoughts / suggestions?
The latest Earth album maybe?
It's kinda country-drone..
That is exactly the kind of thing
I've toyed with trying 'bees made honey' myself (it fits the no massive dynamic change thing perfectly) but I worry that it might be too slow / bleak and some of the more sensitive Yr 7 girls might burst into tears.
I'd go for it!
It's not really bleak? I thought it was quite light! It makes me think of being in a desert, and trying to gain a sense of scale. I introduced one of my co-workers, a 50-something ex-miner to Earth! ("It sounds a bit like that Pink Floyd")
If you tried playing Earth 2, then I'd imagine some kids might start crying!
Actually Earth 2
is one of the few things that would make my daughter go to sleep when she was teething (alongside psychocandy). Something about that kind of white noise sound is soothing to babies I suppose.
Pinch - Underwater Dancehall
Don't let the minimal/dubstep tag put you off if that kind of music isn't your tea, this is perfect English lesson music.
Just heard the first track on emusic
it has vocals (ones that will unfortunately make my kids chuckle) so I don't think so, thanks anyway.
Underwater Dancehall has two CDs
One is instrumental, the other has vocals. The instrumental CD is superb.
thanks - had a listen to the second CD
well it's certainly different to the post rock / electronica genres I've tended to rely on - I may well give this a go.
Thanks.
( )
.
^ The world's coolest teacher.
Dntel, Life is Full of Possibilities,
or failing that how about Caribou, Andorra?
that's one half of the postal service isn't it?
I shall definitely check that out.
It is
but it has loads of vocals
It's the infinitely better half of the postal service,
although it's a bit unfair that he's tagged as that now by some people seeing as he was making records way before the postal service was even a twinkle in ben gibbard's eyes. He is/was also part of Figurine, a fun electro pop band with some really catchy songs, under the pseudonym of James Figurine. Talking of which; Mistake, Mistake, Mistake was a bit rubbish wasn't it?
Collections of Colonies of Bees
no
the new hammock album is perfect. stars of the lid i guess
The problem with stars of the lid
is they might all fall asleep. Actually with my Yr 10 that might not be such a dreadful thing...
Labradford
^^^
and Susumu Yokota, and Ulrich Schnauss, and maybe some Odd Nosdam...
Windy & Carl
aMute
Loren Dent
BSS
"Feel Good Lost"?
Bohren
& der Club of Gore
and would you get fired for playing
Air's Virgin Suicides' soundtrack..?
you could try...
something like 'amber' by autechre. pretty minimal, tech-meets-organic electronica. certainly fits the bill in terms of no great changes in dynamics... keeps a pretty steady, ambient kind of pace. it's not boring noodle stuff though.
maybe even prefuse 73? basically hip-hop meets electronica. there's a mix of vocal and instrumental tracks, but nearly all the "vocals" are cut up and put back together so they're no longer words, just vocal sounds. their first album 'vocal studies and uprock naratives' is basically amazing.
sounds good
certainly autechere's untitled would be a bit 'difficult' for this sort of use but a more steady, ambient version sounds ideal.
If anyone's heard Mogwai's 'Zidane' record that has also been very successful, but I'm very much open to using a range of genres not just post-rock.
yeah...
amber's WAY more eay-going than untitled, a much more traditional ambient feel.
i was gonna suggest the Evens
if it was primary school you taught. and only because they had that song about vowels... err "Vowels".
i'd go for some blistering death metal and ear-punishing noise. terrify the fuckers into learning.
I did once use Merzbow's
'Venerology' with a particularly recalcitrant Yr11 class. They lasted about 10 seconds. I can't repeat this method however as the teacher next door gave me a bollocking because she thought the school was falling down.
Rounds
by Four Tet?
Hex by Bark Psychosis
Ocean Songs by Dirty Three
Actually I have used 'everything ecstatic' from time to time
and that works well, so I should really try 'Rounds' too. Good plan.
Ocean Songs works really well for atmosphere based creative writing stuff (I had a high ability group write blisteringly good stuff to it last year) but doesn't seem to create the right mood for essay writing.
As and when my copy of 'Hex' ever arrives from Papa New Guinea (or wherever the hell I found earth's last remaining copy) I shall try that out too.
Agreed with the sentiments above
cool fucking teacher.
Does make you wonder what your old teachers listened to. I always naturally assume it consists of dad-rock/classical/easy-listening. But in hindsight that seems more than a tad presumptuous.
I'd give them some Ulrich Schnauss, some Lunz, Some MBV/Slowdive, some ( ), Eluvium (much shorter than Stars of the Lid, so less snoozing...) some Troubles, some Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom, some Stafraenn Hakón, maybe some of The Cure (Disintegration).
*blushes*
I'm not sure it's cool, it's probably mindlessly self indulgent of me to foist Dirty Three stuff onto the adolescents in my charge.
Anyway Eluvium is a great idea - I don't know why I didn't think of that cos I've got the split LP with Jesu, just exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.
Not sure about Disintegration though - undeniably beautiful and powerful as it is I think it is probably far too intrusive (especially fascination street and lullabye).
er
mum? (I can't remember what the album was called - I'm talking about the Icelandic ambient dance peeps, not someone's mum... but you knew that...)
good thinking
'yesterday was dramatic' might well do the job. Not too many vocals and nice and quirky. Excellent.
Thanks to everyone who's given me some thoughts so far.
your an english teacher!!
(please help me)
can Prospero in the Tempest be described a sychophantic??
:D
mogwai??
wait. thats a bit epic.
I am indeed.
In answer to your question 'no'. Caliban can be as sycophantic as hell - he describes himself as 'your footlicker' on several occasions, but Prospero definitely not.
Mogwai's 'Zidane' soundtrack works well but things like 'Christmas Steps' are too intrusive in the way they change dynamics.
ohhhh
caliban can.
fanks :]
i hope i get an essay on him in the A level. lots to say.
how about going to back to basics and whipping out some sigur ros? surely?
Steve Reich
would probably be good, Music for 18 Musicians is the obvious one to go for.
If you're on emusic, I'd recommend Eliane Radigue - http://tinyurl.com/56g95v - Pure Drone, but beautiful none the less. I found it perfect when working from home one evening a month or two back.
The latest Field EP is another good one, very nice minimal techno in 4 parts.
I've just downloaded music for 18
only today. I will road test it on Yr 7 and see how it goes. Ta.
music /band
one band you may like is a band called 'Mink'....let me know what you think although probably not to good for school.
Dirty 3
How about
some minimal type stuff
Echospace?
Jonquil 'Lions'
Reminds me of playgrounds and jumpers for goalposts......probably alone with that sentiment though.
Human Bell's S/T album might work
Nice, slow post-rock, with not too many dynamic changes.
And how about any Harmonia albums, Stars of the Lid (although that's quite soporific), and an Australian band called Decoder Ring, who did a lovely OST for the film Somersault - largely instrumental as far as I remember. Would Sigur Ros work?
Your English lessons sound like a lot of fun! My English teacher didn't play music through lessons, but he was always more than happy to sit for hours and talk about punk music, lend you obscure jazz records, and always saved articles for us about bands we liked. Lovely man.