Infinite Summer

I'd be interested to hear what sort of music you all have been listening to as you read. I'm sure some demand silence to achieve the required level of concentration, but I'm of the must-multitask generation. I have to say I think "In the Flowers" by Animal Collective is the perfect accompaniment. It starts out slow, leads up to the line "If I could just leave my body for the night" and then breaks out into this crazy mess of noise that somehow, inexplicably, sounds like IJ feels. If that makes any sense.

Though I usually do have music on when I'm reading, I found I haven't been listening very often while reading IJ. I don't want to fall into a pattern of "reading without absorbing what I read," which you can get away with while reading some books, but could be quite detrimental to a thorough understanding of what's going on in IJ.

But the other day I was reading and listening to Bohren & der Club of Gore's Sunset Mission, and it seemed to mesh pretty nicely with what I was reading at the time.

If I'm somewhere that's quite noisy, then any 65daysofstatic or Daydream Nation are the only things I can really read to. That's in general, not IJ specific, though.

I second Stars of the Lid. I will also throw out Eluvium, Fennesz, and Tim Hecker as other great soundtracks to IJ. I might even through in some Hot Water Music in for a change of pace.

haha Hot Water Music...there's a name I haven't heard in a while.

I second both Animal Collective and selected Sonic Youth and think either one would work while reading. I'll try them while reading at work next time; our break room is a chaotic noisefest.

Silence. Which is unusual for me; I usually listen to whatever is in my CD player at the time.

But IJ requires my total concentration.

DJ Shadow
(DJ) Nobody
The Gaslamp Killer

I haven't been listening to anything while reading lately. I've been known to listen when I'm in a public place for an extended period, though. Tim Hecker and Stars of the Lid, already mentioned, are good choices. I'll add Port Royal to that list (it's a little similar). I also sometimes listen to Alva Noto's really glitchy stuff while reading, or Dan Deacon's early-career sine wave stuff. Unobtrusive, lyric-less stuff.