Top Music To Be Creative By

You. Hey, you! We see you there slumped over your keyboard, caught in the lull between Christmas and New Year’s Day, counting down the minutes to your next day off. Instead of seeing how much drool you can collect on your mouse, why not use this time to download some awesome tunes?

We’ve collected some of our favorite songs and artists to listen to while working. Always enterprising (and not listening to this blogger’s instructions to provide musical influences), we also threw in a few TV shows, videos and podcasts. We’ve organized our selections into groups so you can find your musical muse, as well as provided a playlist of all our faves at the end of this post. Try them out on Spotify and Hulu. Who knows—you could even be inspired to get back to work.

Hall and Oates. For fans of blue-eyed soul and voluptuous moustaches. “She’s Gone” and “Maneater” are particularly fun to belt out—and thoroughly confusing to the twenty-somethings in the office.

Lionel Richie. “Truly” and “Endless Love” make you forget all about the terrible reality show his daughter inflicted on the nation.

ELO. “I’m Alive” and “Xanadu” conjure misty memories of Olivia Newton John in sparkling roller skates.

Jem. Peaceful, melodic and cool. The song “They” would be great for a movie montage where you’re walking around all inconspicuous-like before pulling off a heist.

Bon Iver. A folk band that will give you some hipster cred. Bon Iver is derived from the French phrase “bon hiver,” which means “good winter.” So seasonally appropriate!

LCD Soundsystem. Put on “Dance Yrself Clean,” wait for the track to build and then go crazy. Do not care how many weird looks your office neighbors shoot in your direction.

Go Radio and Muse. Says one of our Y-chromosomed designers, “These bands help me feel manly while working on horticulture projects.”

The Black Keys. According to another team member, this band’s music “makes me feel sexy while I design sexy things.” Yes, anything, from reminder postcards to Twitter backgrounds, can seem sexy when you’re listening to songs like “Lonely Boy” or “Howlin’ For You.”

Beyoncé. Specifically “Run the World (Girls)” and “Countdown.” Beyoncé will make the minutes fly by as you bob in your swivel chair. And if that’s not enough to convince you, her unborn child is almost certain to become a musical icon, designer, activist and President of the United States all rolled into one, so it can’t hurt to start sucking up now.

Adele. The BatesMeron office looooooves Adele. Adele, please heal your voice, stage another tour and hold a special private concert in our office. In exchange, we will give you a box of the caramel bee chocolates we sent out as holiday gifts this year. This is, no lie, a fair trade.

Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. We can’t endorse all songs created by Kanye, as sometimes Kanye makes songs that reference Barry Bonds and it is stupid. However, MBDTF is addictive from beginning to end. Songs where the volume needs to go up: “Runaway” and “All of the Lights.”

Radiolab podcasts. Not music, but we’ll make an exception because they make science and philosophy accessible, enjoyable subjects.

TED videos. TED has an online repository of inspiring, thought-provoking videos, and they’re all free. Take a few minutes out of your lunch to learn something new.

Breaking Bad. A TV show about a man with cancer who starts making meth to support the family he’ll soon leave behind. It will make your heart hurt and your stomach twist and your brain appreciative. Here’s a minisode from Season 1 to give you a taste.

Want to listen to our favorite songs and artists, all together? Check out our Spotify playlist. We’ll meet you back here for our next Tops list, Our Top Projects of 2011.