We have a well-traveled group hereabouts. How do you folks prepare a sonic journey for yourselves to accompany your travels outside your home range? (Context for travel matters and varies considerably, of course.)
Are bespoke playlists tailored to a purpose for your trip or the destination part of getting yourself excited & ready to travel? Or if you’re returning to a place you’ve visited before and that’s gotten under your skin, do you find your ear tuning itself to music you associate with that place ahead of your trip?
What do you bring with you to ensure you can enjoy your music while on the go?
While I drove to Memphis a few years back, I listened to 12 hours of The Stax Singles, then brought it home with Elvis Live from Memphis. Driving back home from Nashville, I listened to all Minneapolis bands.
REM is always a go to long drive soundtrack for me. Just great road music.
01. "Pasttime Paradise" – Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life
02. "Enjoy Your Rabbit" – Sufjan Stevens – Enjoy Your Rabbit
03. "Myxomatosis (Judge, Jury & Executioner" – Radiohead – Hail To The Thief
04. "Cry To Me" – Freddie Scott – Are You Lonely For Me?
05. "In The Night" – Basia Bulat – Oh, My Darling
06. "Futura Free" – Frank Ocean – blond
07. "What Love" – Lion Or Gazelle – There's Blood In Fire
08. "End It All" – The Muffs – Blonder And Blonder
09. "Today I Was An Evil One" – Bonnie "Prince" Billy – I See A Darkness
10. "Let Him Roll" – Guy Clark – Old No. 1
I wouldn't say that I make specific playlists, but certain albums get inextricably linked with certain trips. For example, Prince died a couple days before I went to Japan, so I listened to Sign '☮' The Times repeatedly while I was there. Now that album always reminds of that trip. Reflektor and others for my Europe trip.
Road entertainment problems are a thing of the past -- thanks to cellphone charger/holder, bluetooth, streaming radio, MLB radio, MP3, zoom, hotspot WiFi, there is no more need to turn off the radio when out of signal range of any (good) stations. Plus they all play nice while Google Maps is up.
Yeah, I'm a fan of these technologies. The family can do whatever they want, I'll just keep an earbud in with hours of entertainment while I drive.
It's a long time since I did a random ten list. You'll note that my musical tastes have not changed. Anyway, here goes.
1. Can't You Feel My Heart Beat--Herman's Hermits
2. Heard It In A Love Song--Marshall Tucker Band
3. Rainy Days and Mondays--The Carpenters
4. New York's Not My Home--Jim Croce
5. Band on the Run--Paul McCartney and Wings
6. Mr. Blue Sky--Electric Light Orchestra
7. Sweet Is the Melody--Iris DeMent
8. Dreamboat Annie--Heart
9. Solitary Man--Neil Diamond
10. Ramblin' Man--The Allman Brothers Band
"I'm Rhubarb_Runner, and I approved of this list."
Nice to see “Mr. Blue Sky” in Chaps’ list on a day we’re discussing travel music. As we’ve discussed before, that album is top-shelf road trip music.
Fortress Around Your Heart - Sting
Santeria - Sublime
New York City Cops - The Strokes
Going Down to Liverpool - Katrina and the Waves
66-5-4-3-2-1 - Hypstrz
Razamanaz - Nazareth
Tiger Feet - Mud
Needles and Pins - The Ramones
Magnet - The Lemonheads
The Finer Things - Steve Winwood