Don't you hate it when you see an article you want to read and 80% of it is spent on a long pre-amble justifying why the author is writing the thing in the first place? I know I do, and don't even get me started on what it's like dealing with reading recipes online. I don't care about the spiritual journey you went on to discover this amazing risotto recipe, just tell me how much rice and stuff to put in the thing and I can get on with my life. Risotto takes long enough to cook as it is without having a novel to read before I can even turn the hob on.
So here's a list of some albums (in no particular order) that I use when I'm trying to do some work (or read, or just generally relax) when silence is a bit too quiet and I need something to distract that one specific part of my brain so I can concentrate on the actual thing I want to concentrate on. It's a mix of ambient, down-tempo stuff, some modern classical, and there's some post-rock in there somewhere too. Basically, stuff that isn't too distracting and doesn't bombard you with a load of lyrics (it's mostly instrumental stuff).
Message To Bears - Folding Leaves
The whole of Message To Bears's discography is great, but this is one of the main albums I had on repeat whilst writing essays at University. There are some lyrics, but nothing distracting.
Goldmund - Sometimes
Modern classical? Neo-classical? I don't know where the lines are with some genres. Ambient piano, strings, reverby pads. It's all very chill, as the kids say these days (do they still say that? Have they ever said that?)
Helios - Eingya
Downtempo/electronic/ambient music from the same guy who is Goldmund, Keith Kenniff.
Hammock - Departure Songs
Post-rock, ambient, and cinematic. A bit more high-energy compared to most of this list, but if you listen to this whilst doing the washing up you can pretend you're a character in a film during an inspiring montage scene. Or a tourism advert, or something.
The Album Leaf - In a Safe Place
Ambient, slightly glitchy, electronicy, post-rock? I don't know, but it's pretty cool stuff and they have a healthy discography of equally cool stuff.
God Body Disconnect - The Depths of Finality
A bit more moody and dark than some other stuff on here, but if you want something with a few moments of mild uncertainty and intrigue, then give this a go.
Akira Kosemura - In the Dark Woods
Modern classical piano with a few synthy bits here and there.
Lusine Icl - Language Barrier
Ambient electronic, almost edging towards IDM in a few places.
Near the parenthesis - Intervals
Downtempo ambient electronic, arpeggiated synths, gorgeous textures. Nice.
Nils Frahm - All Melody
I found it really hard to decide on which album by Nils Frahm to include here, because there is some great stuff - 'Screws', 'Felt', 'Empty', and 'The Bells' are all brilliant, but 'All Melody' is a really interesting mix of styles and feels.
Luke Howard - The Sand that Ate The Sea
This whole album is an absolute masterpiece. Cinematic, varied, and loads of other adjectives.
Lights & Motion - Dear Avalanche
Cinematic post-rock stuff.
Ólafur Arnalds - For Now I Am Winter
Modern classical with pianos, synths, strings. This is another one I had issues deciding on which album to include here. This album has vocals, but pretty much everything else he's done is all instrumental. He did the soundtrack for Broadchurch, and recently Apple TV's Surface. He's great, and this album is ruddy brilliant.
East Forest - Possible
Modern classical. Piano, strings, calming, yep, I like it.
Novo Amor - Antarctican Dream Machine
Slightly weird? Interesting! But odd, definitely. Ambient... soundscapy... but really cool.
Vancouver Sleep Clinic - Revival
Ambient... pop? Kinda... alt-pop... I honestly don't know how to define Vancouver Sleep Clinic. There's some more uptempo stuff here, but I think it still fits in with this list.
Hayden Calnin - Cut Love (Pt. 1)
'Chillled out Bon Iver-style vibes' is the quickest way to describe this album. He's a singer-songwriter and... just listen to the video and you'll get what I mean.
Jon Hopkins - Music for Psychedelic Therapy
I love Jon Hopkins's stuff. 'Singularity' and 'Immunity' are absolute bangers of albums, but 'Music for Psychedelic Therapy' fits better in to this list. If you don't mind things that are a bit techno-adjacent, I'd highly recommend those other two albums.
Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet
Deep rolling pads, arpeggiated synths, sometimes a bit dark and moody.
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Everyone knows Bon Iver already, right? Indie-folk! Cool vocal fx!
Sigur Rós - Takk
Everyone knows Sigur Rós too, right? 'Takk' is a great album. As is 'Ágætis Byrjun'.
So yeah, that's my list. Have a listen. Stick one of these on whilst you're doing something a bit boring and don't want to get distracted by too many words. This took me far too long to do, and now I'm behind on the other work I was supposed to do today!