Taxi Music

No, not the yellow cab kind.

I’m talking about smooth, uptempo jazz. I’ve had it playing for about 30 hours straight (even during sleep) and my productivity has gone through the roof. I was wondering exactly why this happened, and then I hit it.

I work well on airplanes. There’s something about being seated between a bunch of turbofans or turbojets that really gets me focused. On transoceanic flights, when the sky outside is dark and the cabin lights are dim, I get especially optimistic results because long haul flights generally have a better music selection.

Smooth, uptempo jazz reminds me of aircraft taxi-ing music, as the vehicle is about to take to the skies. Once the takeoff happens, the entertainment system is shut off until cruising altitude is reached, at which point the entertainment system reboots itself and this wonderful musical genre reappears for listening pleasure.

It’s quick without the dramatics of house music, but not slow enough to warrant immediate sleep. It’s lively enough for foot-tapping but mellow enough that it doesn’t cause outright dancing (at least for me). It’s nondescript enough to be enjoyed in a group environment, yet romantic enough to serve as ambiance for a particularly cozy private encounter.

When you’re in the process of writing something half-important, as I am now, the ambient musical selection can make or break a steady writing session. I found that with this form of jazz, I could take a break, come back and resume at the same pace. Its powerful instrumentals tug at the heart strings and cause the mind the buzz.

I’ve chosen Sky.FM‘s uptempo channel. What I like about Sky.FM is that they’re using an HTML5 music player as opposed to Flash. It brings back memories.

Yes, I’m going to leave it on tonight as well. It’s typical bachelor pad music, so why not?

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