The Best Songs to Write to

The Nothing Bogus community shares their favorite music to write to. Here's a big fat playlist full of relaxing rhythms, stimulating beats, and transporting sounds.

Hello! Today, a small interruption from our usual programming. Rather than running the typical interview or essay + listings, this week’s newsletter has been outsourced to you — and in particular, the writers within the Nothing Bogus community. I recently put a call out, asking what music y’all like to listen to when writing, and I received a TON of great recommendations for songs, albums, and artists. I put it all together (or at least what was available on Spotify) as one big 18+ hour playlist. And I’ve got to say, it absolutely SLAPS. There’s a little bit of everything: calming classical, obscure funk, moody experimental music, some giant pop hits, and much more. A lot of you told me you don’t like to write to music, but anyone who does should be able to find something here that puts them in the mood.

Here’s the catch: This is going to be the rare edition of Nothing Bogus that is exclusively for paid subscribers. I’m going to do these sorts of paid-only posts extremely infrequently, but I’ll try to always deliver something fun and useful. Will it be worth paying $5/month? Honestly, probably not. Instead, I’m hoping it’ll offer just a little extra incentive to those of you who’ve been enjoying the newsletter to support it financially. A lot of work goes into putting this thing together on a week-to-week basis, and I won’t be able to sustain Nothing Bogus forever at this rate.

Before we get into everyone’s music picks, a note: If you missed the call to action but would like to contribute to the playlist, fear not! You can email me at any point (nothingbogus1@gmail.com) and I’ll update this post and the playlist. In that way, it’ll be an ever-evolving document. By the time you get through all 18+ hours, hopefully there will be another three or four of listening.

Next week, we’ll be back to our regular programming, with a great chat that goes deep on producing the year’s defining DIY hip-hop comedy. As always, email nothingbogus1@gmail.com to have your production listings (cast, crew, equipment, etc.) featured for free.

Now, without further ado, some extremely non-bogus music to write to:

Max Cea, Filmmaker, Writer, Publisher of Nothing Bogus:

When I’m writing a script, I like a long instrumental album that has some momentum to it. Something that’ll take me for a little bit of a ride. I’ll typically try to choose something that’s project-specific. But generally, I find myself returning to beautiful scores, like the Phantom Thread soundtrack, or transportive jazz albums, like Kamasi Washington’s The Epic.

Kyle Greenberg, Filmmaker, Filmworker

EXTASE by AWKWARD MOMENTS. Awkward Moments are often on rotation for me these days after experiencing their live performance at Houghton 2024. The analog and digital "encounters" that they create are something really special and expand beyond just a single definable genre as all the best things tend to do. The Awkward Moments original score for the new Megalopolis trailer really takes things to a fun new level as AM created something to not just amplify the authenticity and entertainment of the piece, but “stimulate the Third Eye Chakra, helping open and balance this energy center."