Released on 24 February 2009, Wellington-based composer Rhian Sheehan’s Standing In Silence is a relatively recent addition to my armoury of music to write by, but I could tell on the first listen that it fulfilled each of my criteria. Sheehan has been an active recording artist since 2001 and his work has featured in a number of films, commercials and an Emmy Award-winning TV series. This album is what I’d normally describe, if forced to put it into words, as “ambient” music, by which I mean it enhances the mood in the room, augments or improves an existing atmosphere without dominating it or dictating a mood – aural wallpaper, if you like; although that sounds dismissive of the music and it isn’t meant to be because a functioning soundtrack is an intrinsic part of a lot of my writing.

Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians is a 33-year-old piece of music I discovered relatively recently that’s had probably the most direct influence on my writing – so much so that I wrote it into one of my later short stories as a character. Steve Reich is now 75; not that you’d guess from listening to this record. I can’t think of a more modern-sounding piece of music – it’s positively futuristic, which in itself is extraordinary, since he uses only orchestral instruments (cello, violin, clarinet, bass clarinet, pianos, marimbas, xylophones, unamplified vibraphone and women’s voices), no electronics, and only the musicians’ breath to create the effect of what could be mistaken for a sequencer.

As Frank Zappa memorably said, music is the best. In the early to mid-2000s, I reviewed a variety of CDs for the IDG New Zealand magazine >>FFWD, including albums by Can, David Gray, Dave Brubeck, various world music artists, Herbie Hancock, The Who, The Blue Nile, Peter Gabriel and many others. Writers review other people’s work for all kinds of reasons; not least because, although the pay rates are often negligible (or non-existent), it provides you with a ‘free’ source of listening or reading. Many of the CDs I’m listening to today were acquired as review copies, so it’s a win-win. And there’s nothing like being required to articulate in a couple of hundred words what you think of something for arriving at clarity in your own mind.

As I said in my previous post, music often plays a role in creating conditions conducive to writing. Just to recap, my criteria for great music to write by are: 1. It has to be more than wallpaper, should enhance your mood while not distracting you from the task at hand. 2. It should engender a mood of anticipation; filled with possibilities, not the intimidation that makes a blank page seem bigger and scarier than the potential it holds. 3. There should be an underlying, bristling electricity that hints at anything-could-happen. You’re seeking an inner tranquillity and an outward tingling; a 3 o’clock in the morning feeling that shifts your mind up a gear.

I’m reviewing another oldie this time, Brian Eno and Harold Budd’s 1984 recording The Pearl. An interval of 27 years between its release and my review seems about right, although it sounds fresh enough to have been recorded yesterday.

Listening choices often play a role in the creative decisions a writer makes. What music is most likely to get your creative juices flowing? 1. It must be more than wallpaper but less than a 30-minute makeover. It should enhance your mood, not distract you from the task at hand. 2. It should engender a mood of anticipation and possibilities, not the intimidation that makes a blank page seem bigger and scarier than the potential it holds. 3. There should be a bristling electricity that hints at anything-could-happen. You’re seeking an inner tranquillity and an outward tingling; a 3 o’clock in the morning feeling that shifts your mind up a gear. These are recordings that fulfil those criteria and more.

If you’re not familiar with the Strawbs and their music, you’ll be surprised to learn that not only have you missed the 30th anniversary of the band, they’ve released at least 31 albums and are still playing live and releasing albums today. Formed in 1963, as the Strawberry Hill Boys, at that time they were a folk and bluegrass band. What is considered to be the band’s first album was released in 1968. Dave Cousins spares more than five minutes of his time to talk about his music then and now.

There was always something subterranean about the band Doll By Doll; as though a secret network of subversives existed to mould their image, design their record covers and promote their appearances. There are three absolute standout tracks on ‘Doll By Doll’: Caritas, The Perfect Romance and A Bright Green Field. And if you remain unmoved by the latter, you have no pulse, no blood coursing through your veins, no soul. I defy you to find a more cohesive and satisfying record.