Great Music: El Ten Eleven

One of my favorite parts of the film Helvetica is the soundtrack. After buying the DVD, I checked the track listing to find out who the collection of artists were.

As it turns out, the California band, El Ten Eleven, has 9 of the 21 tracks on the film's soundtrack. I've found this selection of tracks a perfect mix. The band's instrumentals have a quirky, optimistic sound which helps me stay focused whether I'm driving, sketching, writing or designing on the computer.

I've found all 9 of the Helvetica tracks on Amazon MP3 (DRM-free), spread across their 2 albums: El Ten Eleven and Every Direction is North.

Tracks from the film include: Thinking Loudly, Lorge, Every Direction is North, Central Nervous Piston, My Only Swerving, 3 Plus 4, Hot Cakes, Fanshawe and Bye Annie, Bye Joe, Bye Michael, Bye Jake.

El Ten Eleven also features 5 of their tracks as PayPal-What-You-Want Downloads on their site, if you want to check out full tracks before you buy them.

Comments

[Lance.Hill]

Thanks for this Mike! Very mellow sound, seems like it would be great to have in the background while trying to get projects done. I popped the name into Pandora.com and lo and behold they were in there.

Thanks again!

[Reuben Whitehouse]

It's hoppin'!

[Mike Rohde]

Lance, glad you like the tunes. I should have mentioned they were in Pandora � that was the first think I checked too.

Reuben, hope it keeps you hoppin' like a kanga! :-)

[alex harris - alexdesigns]

Hey Mike. Yea I totally dig the soundtrack too. When I first watched the movie and El Ten Eleven came on, I was like I know these guys. Turns out they pop up on my Pandora station for TORTOISE trts.com - so if you like them you many enjoy Tortoise as well.

[Mike Rohde]

Alex, thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to check 'em out! :-)

[Mike Rohde]

In just over a month repeatedly listening to these two albums, I can verify that they are excellent for working to. Doesn't matter what -- reading, research, sketches, or production on the Mac.

Highly recommended for any work that requires concentration.