Months of travelling with the same music has me skipping quickly through my MP3's offerings. My travelling tunes just sound a bit stale and weary. An injection of life is what's needed. But what are the best tunes to travel too?
The MP3 player is the music loving travellers dream. I can't imagine how much more difficult life would have been if I'd been carrying a tape or even CD collection with me. But even with hundreds of songs to choose from I'm finding myself skipping through more and more of my stuff... It just all sounds so... used.
Previous favourites were:
Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars" for those long highway bus journeys.
Manu Chao - "King of the Bongo" for those lazy riverboat trips.
Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" for aircraft take-offs.
... oh, and I couldn't beat a bit of BB King or Billie Holiday for those occasions when you're just staring out a train window.
So whether its Boy-zone, Bach, Berlin or Napalm Death, let me know what your favourite travelling tunes are.
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Hi Bob & Vik,
Not very recent but solid sounds nevertheless, here are some favourites on my last trip:
Queens of the Stone Age - "The lost art of keeping a secret" to wake up in the morning
Massive Attack - "Teardrops" the perfect sunset song
Nathalie Merchant - "Motherland" for staring out the window
Calexico - "The Chrystal frontier" for those 'beer o' clock' moments
And of course.. Bob Marley - "Them belly full but we're hungry" .. Can't travel without him now, can we ??
Love your blogs! Keep up the good work.
Reply to this Ievy,
"Teardrops" is an excellent call - definitely one for the sunsets.
On the subject of Massive Attack, from the same album I'd nominate "Angel" as an excellent Temple tune.
Oh, and I recently discovered that Leftfield's "Africa Shox" makes a good accompaniment to any drive through the wilderness.
Thanks for your thoughts - I'll be checking out Nathalie Merchant... in a purely Musical sense obviously.
Cheers,
Bob.
Reply to this Never looked back since I discovered techno, electronica and ambient.
Think Dido, Enigma, Sade, Tiesto, Oakenfold.......
Nothing but tunes.....no words, just sounds.
So versatile, will do for the Sahara, the Amazon, an idyllic beach, with a 500lb carnivore tearing after you...Any situation.
Reply to this Maybe I should keep my mouth shut, or my fingers still, but I do not see how one can enjoy traveling with something stuck in your ears blocking out the sounds of travel. Whether it is the click click of the trains wheels, or the cab driver yelling something nasty to you as you wander all over the road trying to make up your mind which way to go, it is all part of the travel game. How can you talk your companions or to anyone around you with any degree of interest in what they say or what you say? Maybe it is my one and a quarter track mind, or a generation gap, I don't know.... I like music, but not when there is something more interesting around to see or hear.
Reply to this AntiTourist,
Your devotion to the cause of immersing yourself in travel is inspiring and you are undoubtedly blessed if you are always somewhere where there is something more interesting to hear. Unfortunately for me, five and a half days of listening to the click click of the Trans Mongolian train wheels or seven hours a day in a car across Australia is too much for me to take without some zoning out for a while.
And as for my travel companion - well she values music as much as I do - and who can blame her when she's had me as her source of conversation for X number of years.
Reply to this Hi Part Time Bob,
I see your point. I guess my travel is almost 100% behind the wheel of our van and I find even the radio a little bothersome at times. If I was lucky enough to hear the noise of the Trans Mongolian Train, I think I would take up music by ear plugs myself, or heavy drinking in the club car. I hope you and your Travel Companion have as many happy trips as my TC and I have had over forty some years. Have you ever tried Brubeck? God, that makes me feel old. Ham, of HamLou
Reply to this I always listen to the music while traveling. AntiTourist, I appreciate your devotion to fully immersing yourself while on the road but I don't see how the music can ruin your experience. I'm convinced that it can actually enhance it. Think of it in the same way you would think of music in a movie. When rightly used, music in the background can only add to the overall experience rather than obscure it. A good example is „The Fountain" - without the music it’s just an OK story but with the music it's a little masterpiece. Same with traveling. You’re saying that the music will be a kind of barricade shielding you to a degree from a new surrounding – I agree, with the headphones on all the time, you’re blocking out one of your senses but no one says you have to listen to the music all the time. After having come back home, whenever you listen to the tunes from the road, they will instantly bring all the memories back. I promise.
As for my music tunes. When we were in Thailand I mainly listen to The Beach OST. While the movie is uneven and goes downhill after they find themselves on Maya Bay, the CD successfully captures that adventure feel. Tracks such as:
Sugar Ray "Spinning Away"
Dario G " Voices"
All Saints "Pure Shores"
make me want to pack my back pack and leave.
Angelo Badalamenti "Beached"
with Di Caprio’s quotes from the movie, was unofficial theme song of our trip to SE Asia and I was driving Beata crazy repeating after him. When we were going to KL we had a brief stop in a restaurant. There was a jukebox playing a beautiful Malay song:
Amy Search "Tiada Lagi" video
Funnily, we heard it again on Tioman in an Internet café; the guy working there was really cool and he let us copy the song to our mp3s. It will always bring memories from Malaysia. I used to dislike James Blunt, used to think of him as of a crybaby but when I actually listen to his two CD I came to like his music a lot.
I think that ambient / ethnic / chillout can work great as a travel soundtrack. These can create the perfect musical background. There’s a great site with whole compilations ready to download (note, the page is legal so please don’t erase the link).
www.ambient-nights.org Try Life As It Is first and
Ethni City part 1. And then the rest. I promise that if you give a try you won’t be disappointed.
Reply to this Some further ideas:
Yanni “First Sight” – one of my favorite travel tune; the whole album “Ethnicity” serves well as a backpacking soundtrack.
Yanni “Never Too Late” – another song from the same album.
Republic of Loose “Comeback Girl” – although this little known band comes from Ireland, the song greatly captures that laidback, party feel I would associate with having a great, lazy time on a sunny beach.
Bruno Coulais “The Death Of Lhakpa” – this one comes from Himalaya OST, one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever! If I ever go climbing into snow covered mountains in sub zero temperatures this will be THE song I will be humming all the time.
Richard Ashcroft “Brave New World” – for those sleepy times on the bus/train when you stare thru the window watching landscapes flashing by.
Bedouin Soundclash “When the Night Feels My Song” – when you’re on your way home.
Nick Cave & Ellie Warren “Rider Song” – traveling thru American deserts among the Rocky Mountains.
Danny Elfman “Finale” – from The Kingdom OST. When the nostalgia strikes
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