This is all OOC.

I mostly write to music.  Most of my novels have theme songs — oddly, A Marriage of Insects is the one that doesn’t, having been written before I discovered that bit of magic.  And it really is magic, in the terrestrial psychological-effect sense.  I have trained myself to focus on Mating Flight when I hear Morning Musume’s Onna Ni Sachi Are, or Wrath of Trees when I hear Varttina’s Maahinen Neito.  For more extensive writing, I have a whole playlist — which I constantly tinker with, and some of which I listen to elsewhere, but is suitable for writing that story.

Sythyry doesn’t have theme music. 

Theme music, or a solid playlist, would help me write more Sythyry.

So here’s the contest.  Suggest music for Sythyry to me. 

  • First Prize: Super-cameo: a character of your design will be Sythyry’s favorite musician in Srineia.  Hijinx and/or doom may be involved.
  • Second Prize: Everyone who tells me something useful (or something new that I like even if it doesn’t work in the Sythyry playlist) gets a cameo as a musician.  Or, if you prefer, is allowed to decline a cameo as a musician.

Here are the absolute requirements and rules: 

  • A successful entry has to suggest Sythyry or World Tree when I listen to it.
  • I have to be able to listen to it, and buy it legally, somehow. 
    • (Pointers to Amazon mp3s or iTunes songs are perfect for me to buy it.)
    • (Actually, something that I happen to have around and hadn’t thought of would be even better.)
    • Pointers to sites where I can listen to at least a sample before buying are good. 
    • If it’s too much work to get ahold of or I can’t figure out how to, I won’t listen to it.
  • Multiple suggestions are fine, and even encouraged.

Here are my suggestions:

  • I do like vocal music for writing, especially energetic stuff.  Not required, but helpful.
  • Music with English lyrics mostly interferes with writing, though.  (Scraps of English, as often found in J-POP, seems OK.)  French and Welsh music is only a little of a problem — I don’t speak them well enough to fuss about the words in music — and other languages are all good. 
  • I’m not that fussy about artistic merit or stylistic appropriateness.   Morning Musume is aimed at adolescent Japanese girls, but works reallywell as writing music for me. 

Thanks very much!