I usually listen to rock music. (As in the stuff found here http://acclaimedmusic.net/ )
However, I am writing stuff these days, and lyrics distract me. So I need suggestions for stuff to listen to without lyrics.
Classical, rock, folk, jazz, world, new age? Details, man!
One of my favourite instrumentalists - Jesse Cook. Dude can play some guitar!
Also, Joe Satriani for some rock & roll guitar work.
I’m open to anything. Let me list some of the few instrumental albums I have heard.
Mozart, Vivaldi: Too easy-listening
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue: Not exactly what I’m looking for, but I don’t know jazz well enough to describe why not.
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters: Great
The Budos Band: Alright.
Brian Eno - Another Green World: Good.
A plug for the Grammy-winning symphonic jazz instrumental music of Maria Schneider and her orchestra.
Allman Brothers–Jessica. I’d call this song pretty close to perfect. My husband prefers In Memory of Elizabeth Reed which is more bluesy.
Acoustic Alchemy, especially their earlier stuff.
Dizzy Gillespie and The United Nations Orchestra. Great concert.
Elegant Gypsy, Al Dimeola and Paco de Lucia. An early album by the guitar masters.
This one and this one, just because I love them.
Time Out (album), Dave Brubeck Quartet
Brasileiro (album), Sergio Mendes. It’s not strictly instrumental, but it’s in Portuguese so may work for you.
Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate
Ottmar Liebert (almost any album)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - A Mexican brother/sister acoustic guitar duo who play with a lot of energy and technical skill. A cursory glance at YouTube finds that the linked song is featured in some variant of Rock Band, and I can’t imagine how difficult that must be to 5 star!
Four Tet - A British electronic artist with some jazzy undertones and live instrumentation. Generally more chill, good for early mornings and late nights. I’ve linked to my favorite song, “My Angel Rocks Back and Forth”, a gentle piano-driven track, but to get an idea of how broad his sound is, here’s a song with a bit more groove to it - As Serious as Your Life. His previous band, Fridge, may also appeal to you.
There’s also a whole genre of music called post-rock which may appeal to you. It’s generally all instrumental and focuses on a slow build in tension. I tend to find it a bit dull, but hey who knows what the mood will call for? Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky are probably the biggest names making this kind of music.
Ah, missed the edit window: Rodrgio y Gabriela are not brother and sister, just like-minded musicians. Sorry for the misinformation!
I’d add Godspeed You! Black Emperor to that list. Some of the best “background music” I’ve ever heard. You can’t just LISTEN to it, but you can put it on and let it wash over you while you do other things.
Sigur Ros and Cocteau Twins are two bands that have vocals but don’t really have lyrics. They sing in mostly gibberish, employing voice as instrument. Not always my cuppa, but there’s definitely days where I find myself in a Sigur Ros mood.
Also, I really, really, really recommend Moondog, a modernist composer largely remembered for his eccentricity. I think “Bird’s Lament” is one of the best instrumental compositions I’ve ever heard. There’s a great diversity to his work, and some real gems in there.
Oh, and if you like “hard rock,” I heavily recommend Joe Satriani. Unlike most instrumental rock guitarists, his stuff is melodic, structured, and listenable, and it doesn’t solely appeal to guitar aficianados.
Are a few of my favorites.
One of my favorites is The Conversation Soundtrack and it’s hard to pin down as to “type.”
Just for curiosity, what if the lyrics are in a different language - would that still interfere with your writing?
On the assumption that the answer is ‘no’, I’d like to recommend ‘Harmonium’, a Québécois band that covered the entire history of Progressive Rock in three albums.
Also, there’s lots of early music that has text in other languages, and the medieval stuff is far enough back that it seems strange to our modern ears (and not like easy listening, as you say of Mozart and Vivaldi.)
Harmonium -
Harmonium, first cut on the first album.
Vert, first cut on the second album.
Comme un fou, second cut on the third album.
Ensemble Organum - Solage - Fumeux fume par fumée, from the Codex Chantilly
Santanta, Caravanserai.
Fingerprints by Peter Frampton and friends.
Joy Wants Eternity
Saeta
Kawabata Makoto
Do you like electronic music? If so that would open up a lot of options (particularly the IDM subgenre).
Brian Eno’s Another Green World has vocals. There are lyrics all over that album.
But if the OP likes Eno and wants instrumental music, then I’d suggest:
Apollo by Eno & Lanois. Nice spacey instrumental music.
Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports seemed like nothing much the first few times I heard it, but now seems like a thing of great beauty, particularly the first and last tracks.
Eno and Harold Budd - Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror is more conventionally pretty.
There are plenty of other good Eno albums and collaborations, but those three are probably closest to what the OP wants.
…and here’s where I win the thread:
No vocals, no song titles, no fail. (Okay, a few of their newer songs feature John Garcia (from Kyuss, Slo-burn, Hermano, etc.) on vocals, but for the most part, no vocals.)
And you should also check out Atomic Bitchwax’s new album The Local Fuzz. It’s one 42 minute song and it totally fucking rocks (and has no vocals). The link there is to a 9 minute excerpt.