Music in the Workplace...

We've already done this, no? I have played anything from Nurse With Wound to Michael Jackson.

(great book though: my favourite is the bread chef who phones up to say "feed the bitch")

I am listening to duelling _Rattle And Hum_/Basia at the moment. HELP ME I AM IN HELL.

In my office there is somewhat of an unwritten rule against music unless on headphones.

I tend to listen to the local college radio station...

Now it's Christmas kitties vs. the Rolling Stones. This is actually cheering me up a lot.

Working in a "labywrinth of office cublices" does mandate Lite 96.1 music played at an inaubible level. The problem is if I am listeining to the so-called "lite-variety", I want to hand pick the songs. Basia sounds fantastic to me...however, Michael W. Smith will play next. Luckily, Windows does come with a cd player built in and I happen to mix CD's of Mid-Century-Modern stuff ala Bossa Novas meet Sunshine Pop. I still miss the days of my former job where haedphones were encouraged.

lets see if i can link this correctly

ilm poll: "appropriate" work (retail) music (jess) :

Here was jess' original question.

We have an office stereo, but I never put anything on it, preferring to listen to headphones instead, however this does produce some great impromptu bootlegging. A little while ago I was listening to Like Herod from the first Mogwai album, whilst the rest of the office was listening to a Cliff Richard best-of(!). And because there are quite large dynamics on that album - to make the loud parts VERY LOUD - I couldn't hear the quiet bits over the stereo.

So I got:

"You're gonna find me, (la la la la) out in the country..."

Imediately followed with impecible timing from ver 'Gwai:

"dur-nur-nur-nur-neeaaagggh! Dur-nur-nur-nur-NUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRR!!"

Quite spectaclar rea

I listen on headphones when I listen. The problem is that my back is to the opening to my cube, so it leaves me in a vulnerable position - I always expect to turn around and find my boss standing there red in the face from trying to get my attention. As to content, I've tried GoGaGa (I think that's what it was called, it's defunct now) and 3WK from the Real Player alternative stations list.

Also, your top post, Alex, reminded me of something I used to wonder about when I went to the Hong Kong Cafe in LA many years ago. The bands (loud punk/art damaged stuff) played upstairs in what was an ordinary Chinese restaurant, and the music must have permeated every square inch of that place. I can't imaging what goes through the minds of some Chinese family sitting down to dinner with Wall of Voodoo or the Circle Jerks blasting away.

I used to work at Barnes and Noble in the music section and we would play the most horrible music. The corporate big men would send us letters telling us what we were allowed to play during store hours,which was like Russell Watson and Charlotte Church. It was horrible. Every once in a while though there would be a good jazz mix or we could listen to Rufus Wainwright (but only because it says B&N in one of the songs).

There was a crazy guy that would come to the store and he would always wear headphones-not bc the music was bad but bc he didn't want the subliminal B&N messages in his ears. We called him Headphone Man. The funny thing is...he'd buy the music he was listening to on his headphones at B&N.

Wow! I just wandered into Les Halles today at 6pm because me and Emma were looking for a place that had a) coffee and b) ashtrays. It looked very nice inside and I felt a little slummy just coming in there to sit at the bar and drink coffee (tho when the bill came - $6 for 2 coffees - I felt justified to do WHATEVER). The music out front was some kind of bad house-lite but it was quite low in the background and not a problem.

Incidentally, I do indeed reccomend the book ("Kitchen Confidential") as it's a hilarious and informative bit o' lit. In the mid-to-late 80's, I worked as a dishwasher at the Barefoot Contessa, a self-styled prestigo-swank gourment "take-out" place in Westhampton out on Long Island. Originally, there was one stereo system for both the floor and the kitchen, and the management were reasonably lax about policing the music choices. It started off with inoffensive stuff like THE COLOUR OF SPRING by Talk Talk and the Style Council, but quickly graduated to more energetic fare like I JUST CAN'T STOP IT by the English Beat, into SOUND AFFECTS by the Jam, and eventually full tilt into (a bit of a leap) DAMAGED by Black Flag. The latter choice was the last straw, after which the owner/manager restricted the play list to *STRICTLY* one of the following: PICTURE BOOK by Simply Red or ...::::shudder::::....the soundtrack to "Annie." Imagine our torment. Worse still, the tape-deck featured the audio-replay function, which means it would play the same tape OVER AND OVER AND OVER. After only a few days of that, the dishwasher staff retaliated by severing the speaker wire that fed the rear kitchen, replacing it with a shoddy, beat-up boombox that spewed forth a steady diet of Iron Maiden and hardcore....music suited to dish-washing, but precious few other kitchen activities. At the end of the summer, I missed the place so much I actually bought a copy of PICTURE BOOK by Simply Red, if only because I'd been conditioned to it like a good Pavlovian pup and it reminded me of the summer.

You don't know how lucky you all are.
At my night job, I have to listen to recordings of credit card applications phoned in by telemarketers. And you can't play CDs in the computers CD drive. The only thing allowed to play through those headphones are the sales you are auditing. After 6 hours of that you start to *CRAVE* listening to *ANY* kind of music.
This also explains why I show these telemarketers no mercy. In the back of my mind I'm thinking "I could be at home listening to some records, rather that your blathering, you crooked, incompetent ninny!"
The only thing that keeps me sane is the Freakytrigger articles and ILM chats I'm secretly reading while I'm doing this.

Kitchen Confidential = great. Music at work = necessity (and I work in a library! hurray for a back office!). Like Helenforsdale, I listen to whatever the hell. Lull is beautifully meditative if I wish to get something done.

Reviving because I am bored at work. I work in an office (where I don't have to worry about disturbing others), and these are the CDs that I have played the most often in the last sixth months:

Pinback: Offcell EP (this one is often on repeat for a few plays)
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk
Fugazi: The Argument
Super Furry Animals: Rings Around the World

If I worked in a lab, or I did math or computer science for a living, I would listen to a lot more heavy metal. Yeah, that would be cool.

Currently listening to Joy Division live at the Factory 79 on my work computer. Hurrah for mp3s!