Since sixth form, I have almost invariably accompanied study sessions with sensory stimulants to ultimately make the environment less dull. A dispersal of calming scents through burning of candles has periodically graced this space with its presence, most often during stints of work from home. Otherwise, there are two fundamental additions that always show up regardless of location: coffee and music. By coffee, I in fact mean coffee and tea, because there is a not-so-large limit to the level of caffeine I can consume before becoming counter-productively jittery. During my second year of university, I started buying loose leaf tea, and developed a unwavering loyalty to carrying a jar of peppermint leaves, a diffuser, and floral mug around campus with me. The mug was originally gifted to my sister for perhaps her sixteenth birthday, but I soon developed an attachment to it after sipping numerous instant coffees from it in the St Laurence sixth form study space. My love (or perhaps, dependency) for music can also be traced back to this time. My first venture into the sounds of the previous century was with Queen and their greatest hits, and soon after I was exploring other artists of the seventies with a particular focus on progressive rock. I remember being told that I couldn't listen to Genesis' Selling England by the Pound during a Further Maths class, as well as discussing with a friend in the school library whether or not we liked Pink Floyd's The Wall . There was something about the aura produced by progressive rock that for me depleted the disciplines needed for successful study sessions. By invoking a trance within me it allowed for a sense of concentration that the harshness of silence could not. At the same time, it was generally less abrasive than other music that would tempt one to sing along and be brought out of any focus zone that had accumulated. I suppose for some classical music serves this purpose, while for me, it was (at least, initially) progressive rock. To divulge on another study-based anecdote, I remember once being particularly comforted by the thought of accompanying my planned future efforts to further coursework with the four length tracks on Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans. This would became a classic album for me to sit along side during times when it was important to be particularly productive. Since then, as my studies have continued, a handful of other albums (spanning other genres including post-rock) have joined Tales From Topographic Oceans in this category of 'albums I put on to invoke a work-friendly trance'. Throughout the following they are listed in the order with which we became acquainted.