Dear Doctor, I like to have music on when I read, but nothing too distracting. Is there such a thing as good background music?
The Dr would like to issue a health warning before we go further: avoid “New Age” CDs containing chirping birds, waterfalls, lentils falling on recycled goji berry residue. These can seriously bland out any cranial creativity a good book might inspire. There are alternatives, and I’ll make my recommendations based on the concept that great music can greatly enhance any “background”. It makes me wonder why the majority of restaurants, shops and hotels have yet to discover this?
The Dr enjoys some Charles Willeford at times, Clarice Lispector at others, maybe some Latin American and classic French à la Belle Époque. If you read as much as I do, you will need heaps of CDs to create a soundtrack for your reading time in front of the open fire. I have one cure-all suggestion from a newish record label called Moochin’ About. Its Jazz On Film box sets feature Crime Jazz and the New Wave, including Miles Davis’s seminal Ascenseur pour l’échafaud.
There is a popular theory that classical music has a brain-boosting quality, so I will also prescribe a much cheaper option: a little BBC Radio 3 in the mornings and late at night. It’s advert-free and good company. Speaking of which, reading does not have to be a solitary indulgence. Make a weekend family visit to your library, then get cosy at home – wine for grownups, warm milk and honey for children – and dust down the vinyl (CDs will do, but records have a “warmer” sound). Each person can then look for an album with a connection to the book they are reading; to be played in the background, of course.
