about the project

This started years ago as two friends just trying to find great wordless music. We had similar tastes and a preference for music without words when studying, reading, or working... easier to concentrate without lyrics.

 

We rotated through some fairly well-known bands making this type of music: Mogwai, Ratatat, Explosions in the Sky, Emancipator, Rodrigo y Gabriela, RJD2... and a lot of Sigur Ros (not technically wordless, but Icelandic so it works.)

 

Then with Spotify, the algorithms brought us lesser-known acts we quickly loved: El Ten Eleven, Bonobo, GoGo Penguin, Brontide, Little People, Yppah, Grandbrother, Caribou, Tourist, Moderat, Olafur Arnalds, Delicate Steve... and many, many more. Along the way, we caught great wordless gems by non-wordless artists we liked: Phoenix, the xx, Foo Fighters, TV on the Radio… and some Radiohead (since Thom Yorke’s voice is mostly unintelligible anyway).

 

Years passed. The playlist grew. We made sub-playlists, best-of playlists, b-side playlists. We developed insanely complex curation processes we'd rather not go into. 

 

It’s been a fun little rabbit hole, so we created this website to share it—and hopefully find, join, and/or build a community for wordless music.

 

If you like what you hear, sign up for our newsletter on the homepage to get (a seriously small number of irregular) emails from us with new music. If you've got your own favorite wordless music, share it with us by dropping it on our open, public collaborative playlist or sending us a note: wordlesscollective[at]gmail[dot]com.