Audio Caffiene

Yes folks, it's time for that cheap blogger's trick, the "favorite music for (whatever)" list! Because, quite frankly, I have no new ideas today. So I will inflict the following on you.

Friends, what keeps you awake while you're driving long distances? Lots of folks like audio books (I almost typed "books on tape", once again betraying my age though at least I didn't say "books on wax audio cylinder"). Others like to listen to the same satellite radio station playing the same genre of music with no human intervention for hours on end. Then there are those folks who like to listen to local talk stations, angerin' up their blood at the perceived foibles of the power elites.

Sometimes I just like to put the radio on and hit "scan" until something interesting catches my ear. As time has gone by and terrestrial radio has become more homogenized I increasingly like to be my own DJ. Though I don't do mixtapes, er, sorry, mix playlists. I listen to whole albums or portions of them. My rule is the driver can pick the audio accompaniment, and if I'm driving more than an hour or two I tend to load up on noisy stuff, mainly white boy rock music though there are other elements mixed in. A large part of any long road trip for me is pulling CDs from the collection that I might want to listen to on the road. On any given trip I have no idea what my mood will be so I typically pull about four or five times as many albums as I need. This may sound like a lot but bear in mind I do still do radio checks in between.

And so it was today I pulled the contenders for tomorrow's soundtrack. The soundtrack for pulling that soundtrack was "Tragic Songs of Life" and "Satan is Real" by the Louvin Brothers, "Frau Immer" by Neu and a double CD of Looney Tunes music. In other words stuff that's absolutely nothing like what I'll want to hear on the drive.

What did I pull? Glad you asked:

Husker Du "The Living End" - I tend to like live recordings for driving, and this one is a great one even if, 22 years later Bob Mould claims never to have listened to it.

Pete Townshend "Empty Glass" - Arguably his most consistent non-Who recording. The title track is heartbreaking.

Too Much Joy "Son of Sam I Am" - a favorite from my college years found on CD at a WFMU record fair a few years back. Still don't understand how this band never hit it bigger with their bouncy, smart-ass power pop not to mention a killer "Seasons in the Sun" remake.

Soul Coughing "Ruby Vroom" - their first and best. Nothing gets me in the zone behind the wheel like "Screenwriter's Blues".

Sleater -Kinney "All Hands on the Bad One" - to me, this band is almost the female version of The Who, and they are missed.

Eels bootleg, last show of the 2008 "Evening with Eels" tour - The most recent live incarnation of Eels was E and the Chet playing all the instruments, sometimes more than one in the same song interspersed with E reading from his autobiography. At times an awe-inspiring display of musicianship, at other times a funny comedy show, at other times a simple but beautiful rendering of Mark Everett's music.

Bob Mould "Modulate" - I haven't listened to Bob's much-despised foray into electronica-rock hybriding in years, but I remember it being good to drive to.

Mission of Burma "The Horrible Truth About Burma" - they were the best live show I saw in 2008 so why not listen to a live record from the 80s?

Howlin Wolf "His Best" - sometimes I just feel like it, though my blues CD's are usually reserved for late summer nights with a beverage.

Soundtrack "I'm Not There" - fantastic renditions of Bob Dylan songs by other artists. Stephen Malkmus' version of "Ballad of a Thin Man" and Jeff Tweedy's "Simple Twist of Fate" are incredible.

Les Claypool's Flying Frog Brigade "Animals" - another live record, this of Les Claypool, and I think Steward Copeland of the Police and I forget who else performing Pink Floyd's incredibly underrated (if anything by Pink Floyd can be underrated, more on that in a second) "Animals". I say "underrated" because hipsters love everything up to "Dark Side of the Moon" and figure the Floyd jumped the shark there and the classic rockheads love DSOM, "Wish You Were Here" and of course "The Wall" and "Animals" gets kind of lost in the shuffle.

Pavement "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain" - my favorite Pavement record, I could hit repeat on "Gold Soundz" and "Range Life" for days and not get sick of them.


Steinski "What Does It All Mean?" - excellent retrospective of audio collage and hip hop done by the legendary (within old-school hip hop and audio collage circles anyway) Steven Stein. It doesn't sound quite like you probably think it sounds right now...google up some Steinski and see what I mean.

Wilco "Residency" bootlegs - a few discs from the band's 5 night performance of their complete catalog (in no particular order) about a year ago.

Johnny Cash "At Folsom Prison" - there is no better driving music that Tennessee Three era Cash. If God speaks to me when I die, I expect him to sound like Johnny Cash.

Frank Zappa "You Are What You Is" - some of the social commentary is dated, some of it stands the test of time brilliantly and the music is just about all genius.

Camper Van Beethoven "In The Mouth Of The Crocodile, LiveFeb 18 2004" - do you like your rock quirky, mixed with Eastern European folk snatches and with fiddles? This is the band for you. Another live album, go figure.

So what do I start the drive with tomorrow at 5am? Probably WFMU. After all that work....