This track by Zen Paradox was one of my favourite early 90's trance tracks. Although its a bit darker, more intense and a little heavier than the track I posted a few days ago by Emeralds I still think its worthy of being included in a music to design to collection.

Todays music to design to is another of my favourite albums from the mid 90's. Orbital were responsible for some amazing ground breaking work back then and this track is just beautiful. The first few minutes might be mechanical  and turn some of you off but its worth sticking in there to get to the classic chopped up Orbital vocals at around the three minute mark. The album Snivilisation is certainly more accessible than some of the "deeper" albums they released and its certainly well worth a listen if you like this track.

Thanks to the iso50 blog I came into contact with this Emeralds track called Candy Shoppe. Its a beautiful blippy piece of beatless electronic music that has got some great chord changes amidst the squelches that prove to be inspirational if you can stay within the chaos of the overlapping textures (huh? - Have a listen and you will see what I mean).

In general I tend to write code a lot more than I design for the web. Depending on the task at hand I can find my playlists change and maybe even go away entirely. The music I like to design to is the music that makes me dream, good and bad. It is music that travels and taps into emotion. Sigur Ros, Aphex Twin, Xiu Xiu and Cinematic Orchestra would feature well on that list.

However, it is the music I code to that I’d like to examine. It plays the same role and fulfils identical needs as music I used to listen to while doing math in school. The idea is to get focussed and stay focussed. While you’re there you’d hope for the music to be intricate and challenging enough without being distracting. Classical music works best and if what they say is true, it will also make you smarter.

Well after a little break Im back with my fourth installment of music to design to. This week is a little mix of some early 90's techno, some more Fourtet and Sigur Ros as well as some long lilting ambient electronica from Aphex Twin.

Peyote - Happy Birthday - DJ Dag Essential DJ Mix

Fourtet - My angel rocks back and forth - Rounds

Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun - Hvarf/Heim

Aphex Twin - Blue Calx - Selected Ambient Works Vol2

This is the final round in the Joomla dj battle royale between myself and Kyle from Joomlapraise. Yesterday Kyle sent down a fairly rocking Indie selection and today Im going to contrast it with a very down tempo back to basics piano and soundtrack mix from the likes of Yann Tiersen, Sigur Ros and a bit of Phillip Glass. This mix is certainly not something to jump around to but is perfect for laying down some good designs if you are in a quiet mood. Enjoy!

Remember that the best commenter wins a free subscription to the Joomlabamboo template club for 12 months!

Yesterday I put together the first volume in the music to design to which inspired the Joomla blog dj battle royale between me and Kyle from Joomla Praise. My mix was accused of being "new age" and "artsy" and Im afraid that todays set will probably achieve a similar reaction - this is of course music to design to so Id say Im probably bang on the money in terms of matching creative music for designing and creating.

Remember that we are both giving away a free 12 month membership to our respective clubs for the best comment made on these posts so if you want to win  a free membership to Joomlabamboo or Joomlapraise then leave us your thoughts - the winner will be drawn at the end of round three just in time for Christmas.

Tourmaline - Manual - Azure Vista

{audio}Tourmaline.mp3{/audio}

Building Steam with a Grain with a grain of salt - Dj Shadow - Entroducing

{audio}BuildingSteamWithaGrain.mp3{/audio}

Coastal Brake (Lusine Remix) - Tycho - Coastal Brake

{audio}CoastalBrake(LusineRemix).mp3{/audio}

You can't go home again - DJ Shadow - The Private Press

{audio}YouCantGoHomeAgain.mp3{/audio}

My Heart Sings - Freakpower in Dub - Give em enough dope volume 2

{audio}MyHeartSings.mp3{/audio}

This is the first in a regular series of Monday blog posts we are calling Music to design to. The aim is to start the week off with some music to get us in the mood to design, or code, or to joomla or whatever. It doesnt have to be current (as you can see from the list below) but it has to be good.

My first mix is an electronic, post rock and acoustica selection from tracks that are regularly on my playlist – some have been on my playlist for four years!

I hope you enjoy it!

1. Fourtet – Hands – Rounds

{audio}FourtetHands.mp3{/audio}

2. Lusine – Operation Costs - A Certain Distance

{audio}OperationCosts.mp3{/audio}

3. Sigur Ros – Hljomalind – Hvarf/Heim

{audio}Hljomalind.mp3{/audio}

4. Andrew Bird – Plasticities (Remix) - Soldier On

{audio}Andrew Bird_04_Plasticities.mp3{/audio}

5. Bon Iver – Skinny Love – For Emma, forever