Best Writing Music of 2013

By Jason Boog 

What’s your favorite writing music from 2013? I’ve rounded up my annual list of the best music that helped me write this year.

Follow the links below to listen to the instrumental songs we’ve picked so far this year. Share the instrumental songs or albums that inspired you in the comments section.

Follow this link to read our Best Writing Music of 2011 list and our 2012 list. If you want more inspiration, check out Largehearted Boy’s annual list of Year-End Music Lists and Open Culture’s timeless Best Music to Write By list.

Best Writing Music of 2013

Ólafur Arnalds – Arnalds: Sudden Throw
Ólafur Arnalds – Arnalds: Brim
Ólafur Arnalds – Arnalds: Words Of Amber
Ólafur Arnalds – Arnalds: Hands, Be Still
Ólafur Arnalds – Arnalds: Only The Winds
Ólafur Arnalds – Arnalds: Carry Me Anew
Ballaké Sissoko – Maimouna
Ballaké Sissoko – Boubalaka
Ballaké Sissoko – Badjourou
Ballaké Sissoko – Kabou
Ballaké Sissoko – Nalesonko
Ballaké Sissoko – Kalata Diata
Ballaké Sissoko – N’Tomikorobougou
Ballaké Sissoko – Asa Branca
Ballaké Sissoko – Kalanso
amiina – Perth
amiina – Hilli – Lighthouse Version
amiina – Bíólagið
amiina – Leather and Lace
amiina – Kola – Lighthouse Version
amiina – N65 °16,21 W13 °34,49
Sigur Rós – Brennisteinn
Sigur Rós – Hrafntinna
Sigur Rós – Ísjaki
Sigur Rós – Yfirborð
Sigur Rós – Stormur
Sigur Rós – Kveikur
Sigur Rós – Rafstraumur
Sigur Rós – Bláþráður
Sigur Rós – Var
Mogwai – Hungry Face
Mogwai – Jaguar
Mogwai – The Huts
Mogwai – Kill Jester
Mogwai – This Messiah Needs Watching
Mogwai – Whisky Time
Mogwai – Special N
Mogwai – Relative Hysteria
Mogwai – Fridge Magic
Mogwai – Portugal
Mogwai – Eagle Tax
Mogwai – Modern
Mogwai – Wizard Motor
William Tyler – Country of Illusion
William Tyler – The Geography of Nowhere
William Tyler – Cadillac Desert
William Tyler – We Can’t Go Home Again
William Tyler – A Portrait of Sarah
William Tyler – Hotel Catatonia
William Tyler – The Last Residents of Westfall
William Tyler – The World Set Free
Clint Mansell – Happy Birthday (A Death in the Family)
Clint Mansell – Uncle Charlie
Clint Mansell – The Hunter and the Game
Clint Mansell – Blossoming…
Clint Mansell – A Family Affair
Clint Mansell – Becoming…
Clint Mansell – Crawford Institute (Family Secrets)
Clint Mansell – The Hunter Plays the Game
Clint Mansell – In Full Bloom
Clint Mansell – The Hunter Becomes the Game
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – You Have Already Gone to the Other World
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Witch’s Theme
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Wedding Theme (Ukraine)
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Dance Melodies from Bihor County (Romania)
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Hora Pa Bataie (Romania)
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Nyisd Ki Rózsám (Hungary)
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Where No Horse Neighs and No Crow Flies
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Învârtîta Din Blaj (Romania)
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Horses of Fire Rachenitsa
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Bury Me in the Clothes I Was Married In . . .
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – The Snow in Kryvorivnya
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Oh, Lord, Saint George, Bewitch Ivan, Make Him Mine
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Ivan and Marichka / The Sorceror
A Hawk And A Hacksaw – On the River Cheremosh (Ukraine)
Kit Downes – Wander and Colossus
Kit Downes – Bleydays
Kit Downes – Outlawed
Kit Downes – What’s The Rumpus?
Kit Downes – Two Ones
Kit Downes – Falling Dancing
Kit Downes – Owls
Kit Downes – The Mad Wren
Kit Downes – Jan Johansson
Phronesis – Walking Dark – From ‘Walking Dark’
Dave Stapleton – Henryk Part II – From ‘Flight’
Daniel Herskedal – Neck of the Woods
George Shearing – I Didn’t Know What Time It Was
George Shearing – A Time for Love
George Shearing – Ghoti
George Shearing – The Things We Did Last Summer
George Shearing – Laura
George Shearing – The Skye Boat Song
George Shearing – Confirmation
George Shearing – The Girl Next Door
George Shearing – Can’t We Be Friends?
George Shearing – I Cover the Waterfront
George Shearing – Out of Nowhere
George Shearing – That Old Devil Called Love
George Shearing – Subconsciouslee
George Shearing – Beautiful Love
Glenn Jones – Chimes
Glenn Jones – Across the Tappan Zee
Glenn Jones – Going Back to East Montgomery
Glenn Jones – Blues for Tom Carter
Glenn Jones – The Vernal Pool
Glenn Jones – Alcouer Gardens
Glenn Jones – My Garden State
Glenn Jones – Like a Sick Eagle Looking at the Sky
Glenn Jones – Bergen County Farewell
Glenn Jones – Chimes II
Date Palms – Yuba Source Part I
Date Palms – Six Hands to the Light
Date Palms – Yuba Source Part II
Date Palms – Yuba Reprise
Date Palms – Night Riding the Skyline
Date Palms – Dusted Down
Date Palms – Exodus Due West
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Seven Hills
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Cyan
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Prologue
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Jibeinia
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Skuld
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Pearl
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Visitor Q
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Miss
Alexi Tuomarila Trio – Ceremony
Ólafur Arnalds – Suspects
Ólafur Arnalds – Arcade
Ólafur Arnalds – Broken
Ólafur Arnalds – Beth’s Theme
Ólafur Arnalds – Main Theme
Bill Frisell – The Music of Glen Deven Ranch
Bill Frisell – Sing Together Like a Family
Bill Frisell – A Good Spot
Bill Frisell – Going to California
Bill Frisell – The Big One
Bill Frisell – Somewhere
Bill Frisell – Gather Good Things
Bill Frisell – Cry Alone
Bill Frisell – The Animals
Bill Frisell – Highway 1
Bill Frisell – A Beautiful View
Bill Frisell – Hawks
Bill Frisell – We All Love Neil Young
Bill Frisell – Big Sur
Bill Frisell – On the Lookout
Bill Frisell – Shacked Up
Bill Frisell – Walking Stick (for Jim Cox)
Bill Frisell – Song for Lana Weeks
Bill Frisell – Far Away
Reuben Fowler – Introduction to Holness
Reuben Fowler – Holness
Reuben Fowler – Dundry (For Jgb)
Reuben Fowler – Parts 1/2 – Introduction / A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Reuben Fowler – Part 3 – The Lost
Reuben Fowler – Part 4 – The Lost and Found
Reuben Fowler – Part 5 – Ending
Sarah Neufeld – Tower
Sarah Neufeld – Hero Brother
Sarah Neufeld – Dirt
Sarah Neufeld – You Are the Field
Sarah Neufeld – Breathing Black Ground
Sarah Neufeld – They Live On
Sarah Neufeld – Wrong Thought
Sarah Neufeld – Right Thought
Sarah Neufeld – Sprinter Fire
Sarah Neufeld – Forcelessness
Sarah Neufeld – Below
Tim Hecker – Prism
Tim Hecker – Virginal I
Tim Hecker – Radiance
Tim Hecker – Live Room
Tim Hecker – Live Room Out
Tim Hecker – Virginal II
Tim Hecker – Black Refraction
Tim Hecker – Incense at Abu Ghraib
Tim Hecker – Amps, Drugs, Harmonium
Tim Hecker – Stigmata I
Tim Hecker – Stigmata II
Tim Hecker – Stab Variation
Billband – Sparkle
Daniel Wohl – Ouverture
Daniel Wohl – Neighborhood
Daniel Wohl – 323
Daniel Wohl – Cantus
Daniel Wohl – Ouverture
Daniel Wohl – Plus ou moins
Daniel Wohl – Limbs
Daniel Wohl – Insext
Daniel Wohl – Fluctuations
Daniel Wohl – Corpus
Colin Stetson – To See More Light