Music to do stuff to

When I try to do something productive, which involves physical rather than mental activity (cleaning my room being today's case in point), and need to motivate myself, I always plays music, and I noticed today I always follow a similar flow of music styles.

To initially get me started, I play some rap/hip hop/pop music. Today's selection comprised of Missy Elliot, De La Soul, Gwen Stefani, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake, and Spearhead. On other occasions it can also include songs from The Ministry of Sound, or a selection of good upbeat swing music: Lucky Millinder and Chick Webb are some of my favourite examples, plus other songs around the 170bpm - 220bpm range.

I then get really sick of it and I start playing harder punk or alternative stuff, such as Blink 182, The Vines, Machine Gun Fellatio, Regurgitator, Foo Fighters, and when I get all nostalgic, I play Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Then I get sick of that, and I end up playing something like Jack Johnson (currently listening to his In Between Dreams - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing), Pete Murray, The Strokes, or Arrested Development.

It's funny how regularly I follow this pattern. The last category is incidentally part of my mood music category. Although for me nothing beats old school Radiohead for a proper feeling sorry for yourself state of being.

My travel music when I was in the UK was always Pete Murray's first cd, Feeler; or the Arrested Development cd, Among the Trees; mixed with a bit of this and a bit of that. Jack Johnson reminds me of working in the Icecream Parlour (ICP) at Herrang as it was our only cd and was always on repeat.

Anyway, back to cleaning my room, and I think Jack Johnson is going to need to be replaced by Spearhead...