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Best Bandcamp Café Albums

With 'Café' in the Title

By Robin GrapePublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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What I Look for In "Cafe" Music:

Although I don't expect all albums with "café" in the title to have been created with the intention of being "café music," I'm going to treat these albums as "café albums," for the purpose of writing this article.

The best "café" albums, to me, are those that give you some comfortable noise to fall back on in between thoughts.

If there are vocals, they are quiet or in-the-background enough so as to not get in the way of the listener's own vocalized thoughts.

Usually, this kind of music refrains from entering into the higher frequency ranges the way non-cafe music does. In other words, cafe music is not as "full" or "dense" as other kinds of music.

And this makes sense. If you're listening to music while you work, you don't want it to take your focus off of a task at hand.

Cafe music should guide you along a steadily-moving river of work productivity.

It should take a role similar to that of an appropriately-used oar—propelling you forward, neither too quickly nor too slow, and it should get you into a good traveling rhythm.

Following what I've just said about the role of café albums, I've left out any albums that are very short, contain a lot of vocals, or are too all-over-the-place, as each of these things contributes to an album which has the potential to prove more distracting than beneficial.

NOTE: I tried to include only one (or so) albums of each genre/style/etc., just to keep this article from containing multiple albums that are too similar from each other.

So if you dislike one album, there's no guarantee that you'll dislike the rest.

'Café' by Beat Gates

Café by Beat Gates

Favorite Track: "Jazzy Groove"

Duration: About 30 minutes.

Ideal Cafe Environment: Spacious working environment, plenty of other people working around you, rainy day

Each track on this album is fairly repetitive in a good way. With song titles like "Keep it Simple" and "Summer Evening," I imagine that the artist's main goal was to craft complex, winding music. If you look closely enough, you can read text on the album art labeling this music primarily "chillout beats."

These songs are long enough that the repetition doesn't wear on you as much as some kinds of electronic music. And they're also atmospheric and laid-back enough to not interrupt your thoughts while you tap away at your keys or do whatever it is that you do while at a cafe.

Words make an insignificant — thankfully — appearance on "Space Romance," remaining in the background after first kicking off the track.

The album remains very much the same throughout its roughly 30-minute duration. This means you probably won't leave the café humming any tunes from this particular album, but the point of café music isn't to take up space in your mind, so it does its job well.

I kind of wish this album had a bit more variation in sound or atmosphere, but that may just be because I'm not the biggest fan of this genre.

This album does well what it aims to do.

'Café' by Pio Lobato

Café by Pio Lobato

Favorite Track: "Loop do Mathias"

Duration: About 48 minutes

Ideal Cafe Environment: Artsy or has low ceilings and covered walls, mid-day, any weather

A café album that is experimental enough to be interesting, without being distracting, this album by Pio Lobato contains guitar, bass, and a fair amount of effects.

From one track to the next, there's quite a bit of variation. Some tracks may be a tad too aggressive (like the last track, "Tema do Hippie Velho"), for easy cafe listening, but overall, I think the album is quite easily digestible.

'Cafe' by Este

Cafe by Este

Favorite Track: "Chloe's Wrath"

Duration: About 30 minutes

Ideal Cafe Environment: Any cafés, as long as you're playing games or doodling instead of getting work done.

An atmospheric album with some very groovy bass lines—the kind that should remind you of Kerning City (from Maplestory).

Though not labeled "Intro," the first track on this album feels a lot like an intro, and it's only when this track ends, in my opinion, that the album gets going.

I don't think intros are bad. On the contrary, they can help ease you into an album. I'm just giving you a heads up. I don't think people should judge an album based on its intro.

Once the intro has eased you into the album's collection of instruments and effects, the second track ("Sudden Changes") strips away everything that had been building up towards the end of the intro. But just for a moment.

Plucky guitar and ambient synths soon meet drums and bass about 30 seconds into the song. This is something every song on this album seems to do. They all begin fairly minimal before adding other sounds into the mix after you're ready for them.

I think, by doing things this way, the transition from one track to the next is never stark or attention-grabbing, which will let you keep your attention on your work, or whatever is distracting you from your work.

'Café' by Ah Yeah No Maybe

Café by Ah Yeah No Maybe

Favorite Track: "Vibes"

Duration: About 50 minutes

Ideal Cafe Environment: Busy, on the larger size, warm weather

Part jazz, part hip-hop, with no clear direction (in a good way).

This album is all over the place, which can be just what you need to keep your mind off of monotonous work. Let your mind wander and let this "jazz-hop" fuel your fire.

The same intensity that can be good for some café experiences can be bad for others. If you're looking to relax or listen to music in the background, this isn't the album for you.

A lot of these tracks are upbeat and more catchy than other café albums, and several of the tracks have vocals, which can distract you from whatever you're working on.

Again, the album is particularly not-versatile as a "café album," unless intense jazz music is what you prefer working to.

Café Teatro "Burga" by Foehn Records

Café Teatro "Burga" by Foehn Records

Favorite Track: "La Última Vez Que Tocamos Esta Canción"

Duration: About 50 minutes

Ideal Cafe Environment: Not busy, any size, any weather

A great album if all you want is some steady background noise. The album boasts five tracks, with none of these lasting fewer than six minutes, and the final track lasting 17 minutes.

Each song is not too dense, not too sparse, and not to fast --- all good things to have in a cafe album.

An introspective album at heart, each track feels like its own little silent, short film, which is something I really like about this album.

The instruments and feel vary from song to song, and the songs are interesting enough to hold your attention if you need something to listen to while taking a break from work. But they aren't so ear-catching that they'll grab your attention when it's preoccupied.

'Cafe Solo' by Benjamin Herman

Cafe Solo by Benjamin Herman

Favorite Track: "Isfahan"

Duration: About 60 minutes

Ideal Cafe Environment: Cool (but not too cool), full of a variety of different kinds of people working on a variety of different things, natural or cool lighting (nothing overly bright or warm)

Cool and smooth —in terms of viscosity — jazz.

If you want to listen to a raw album that makes you feel like you're in a jazz club, when in reality you're sipping coffee or tea in front of a laptop or book, then Cafe Solo can do that.

Live sax, bass, drums, sometimes piano, and the recording quality all contribute to a "café environment in a retro PC game" vibe. This album would fit perfectly in a Spy Fox or Pajama Sam game, I believe.

I'm more fond of this album's slower, more drawn out tracks, but it's got a nice mix of fast and slow to keep the album's unchanging mix of instruments from feeling stale. I'm not sure how it would stand up to listening while NOT focusing on something else, but as a "café album," I think it's fantastic.

'Café Ole' by Luis Villegas

Café Ole by Luis Villegas

Favorite Track: "Don Quixote"

Duration: About 50 minutes

Ideal Cafe Environment: Sunny, warm, during the middle of the day

With a name like "Café Ole," you (should) know what you're getting yourself into.

This album of (mostly) up-tempo Latin music occasionally works in elements of other styles of music, which is refreshing.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, a few of the songs contain upfront vocals, which is a no-no for me when it comes to working music.

But otherwise, this album is long, passionate, and interesting. It's too intense to "fit" into all working environments, but in the right conditions, this album flourishes.

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About the Creator

Robin Grape

melancholy animal.

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