Midweek Music Box: Bit Trip Fate

Embrace the frustration.

Despite the soundtrack that I've picked for today, I am not frustrated or angry.  I'm just a little overworked and over-tired of late.  I can't seem to fall into one nice, focused groove.  Now, much of this has to do more with the need to clean our apartment constantly for showings, trying to do home showings at the drop of a hat, finding and working writing jobs, maintaining the gaming blog, recording and editing a movie podcast I do with my brother....  

"Anger"

So yeah...okay, maybe I've let a little frustration and annoyance creep in.  But that makes this particular soundtrack all the more perfect.

Sometimes I get flustered with the pace of my life right now.  I'm not a terribly "type A" person as they call it.  I'm not always making lists of my "to do's" and trying to live my life in a certain order and get things done "just so."  If I don't do those things "just so" I won't freak out.  "Life finds a way," as Dr. Malcom once said.  So,  I can keep up a pace with or without a predetermined structure most days.  Of course, sometimes it is a necessary evil, the list making and following a pattern that is.  It's just when it becomes an all encompassing monster that I get frustrated and even a little angry.  If a "type B" person like myself finds themselves forced into a situation where we need to make lists, then by golly don't mess with that stupid "to do" list!  After all, you were the one who made it happen you type A'er! 

Where was I?  

Oh yes.  When that happens, when "to do" lists creep in, I need just the right set of music to help me get into the groove of writing since that's part of my family's income.  So, cue some appropriately titled Bit Trip music from the guys at Gaijin.

"Frustration"

I find the whole of the Bit Trip series music to be an utterly enjoyable affair, and Bit.Trip.Beat has an infectious and upbeat (oh so pun intended) quality that I've mentioned before.  I typically have that going if I'm trying to write about a informational article and need to keep up a cheery mood, or if I'm about to write an upbeat section from one of the books I'm working on and need to shift out of "clean the house" mode.  However, when I need to grind away at something, and knock off things from a "to do" list, I turn to the tunes of Bit.Trip.Fate to help me get through.

"Patience"

The key tracks I go to are "Patience," "Frustration," and "Anger"--and no, not just because they mirror my own feelings when I am working through a "to do" list.  There's a certain cadence within the music that serves as a great parallel for the pace at which I type and I think if you are looking for some thing to help you get through your own "to do's" then you can't go wrong with Bit.Trip.Fate.  

"Anger" has little blips and bloops interrupted by an occasional bass thump. These are eventually overridden with thumping bass and synth-sound mix that does an excellent job conveying both the emotion and the desire to push through it and get over it.  Frustration starts slow and quietly builds until the whole soundtrack booms, thumps, and eventually morphs into a rocking and beating tune that also does a great job putting a musical "soundtrack" to the feeling that it finds itself named after.  Of course "Patience" is a quieter tune than the other two, and it never builds to a volume level too high nor does it get populated with the same bass and "wubba wubba" sound of the other two.  It's a great little track for keeping focused during all too quiet moments where you need a little extra push to help get through a time consuming task.  At least, that's what I've found.

Overall, the tracks I've mentioned and linked to have an intrinsic rhythm to them that keeps my fingers flying while at the keyboard.  In a weird way it gets my mind "in tune" as it were, to the task of getting tasks done.  Getting through a laundry list of to do's can be frustrating just to look at, but if you have the right background music, like that found in Bit.Trip.Fate, it can go so much more smoothly.