Books and Music

[Moff Chumley]

I like to read, and I like to listen to music. Needless to say, I've found combining them to be a good idea. Something I've noticed on several occasions, is in some cases, the effectiveness, the expressiveness, of both the book and the music can be inreased in certain combinations. For example, I've read through Life, The Universe, and Everything a couple of times by now. The most I enjoyed it was while also listening to Meddle, by Pink Floyd. I don't know what it was about that combination; I guess the juxtaposition of the spaciness of the music and the fast pace of the book, the overall Britishness of the whole equation, the sense of questioning, just came together nicely. Some other great combinations I've arrived at:

Scott Pilgrim and The Arctic Monkeys, not in the least because I always imagined Scott Pilgrim's music to sound like The Arcic Monkeys. They're both very atmospheric, light-hearted, quirky endeavors. They're also both rather angry, but in a sort of resigned, bored way.

8-Bit Theater and The Mars Volta. The Mars Volta is fond of very long, sprawling, chaotic songs, about as violent, complicated, and sudden as 8-Bit.

Chuck Palahniuk and Steely Dan. This one is a bit more weird, I guess. Chuck Palahniuk's books tend towards the very gritty, bitter, symbolic end of things, while Steely Dan's stuff is notoriously shiny sounding. Allow me to justify: I practically learned sarcasm from Donald Fagen's lyrics. When you pay attention to the lyrics in juxtaposition to the song, it's pretty jarring. Furthermore, Chuck Palahniuk's stuff is so layered and complicated that anything particularly difficult to listen to would detract from the books.

Anyone else have favorite pairings?

[Jimorian]

One Christmas long ago, I got Asimov's Foundation Trilogy and Tears for Fears - The Hurting.

The synths on that album were just weird enough, even compared to other 80s new wave, that it made a perfect Sci-Fi soundtrack as I listened to it over and over while reading those 3 books. :smallsmile:

[leakingpen]

Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison and Rush: 2112

[AshDesert]

Listening to Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath and reading LotR is pretty epic if you put them together right. Just hitting play and reading from the start doesn't work though. Neon Knights + the Shire doesn't really work, for example.

I like listening to Echoes on repeat while reading any sort of sci-fi. It provides a nice, spacey atmosphere, and it never gets boring no matter how many times I listen to it in a row.

I like listening to Benny Goodman while reading Huxley's novels from Crome Yellow to Brave New World, because it evokes that 20's feel that he was satirizing (despite the fact that Benny Goodman's music was primarily released in the 40's). Psychedelic music (especially British and The Doors) goes really well with The Doors of Perception and Island (which makes sense, considering he was Timothy Leary to the people across the pond and The Doors named themselves after The Doors of Perception).

[Sneak]

Questionable Content and everything.

In an equally easy match, An Equal Music and any string quartet music.

[Makensha]

The final fight in Enchanter's Endgame (The Belgariad) and the Power Rangers Theme Song. Did no one else get that vibe when they read it?