check out Jamie Lidell's new album.

Anton Webern: "The Complete String Trios and Quartets"
(Arditti String Quartet - Montaigne/Naive 782136)

oooooh. for late night driving you need brian eno + daniel lanois: apollo. also aphex twin: selected ambient works, vol. 1... i remember driving across nevada in the middle of the night to that one. the eno will make you feel like you're on the moon. then just for a changeup how about some nick drake?

there is nothing quite like Kyuss, Blues for the red sun, the hum of a v8, the windows down, hooning across the nullabor planes at sunset.

(ok, so its not the US but i rekon it still should apply)

a theme is needed. i would find music from each state that i would be driving through and arrange it accordingly.

crillywazzy - i've driven "across the moon" to aphex twin (southern california, mexicali to san diego at night) i read your post and I was like it's so true! i've told people that before, exact thing. i love ambient electronic, and would fill my i-pod with nothing but.

If you happen to be driving across Canada - definitely Stompin' Tom

I have always found that day time nice weather driving calls for some alt-country. Wilco, Sun Volt, Jayhawks, The Band, etc...

For nighttime something more ambient like Eno or even Interpol.

grateful dead, best of [long strange trip]

i take it you're not looking for steppenwolf, bto, or thin lizzy.

i second the jayhawks. how can you not sing along with 'rainy day music'?

closely related, i also need some good music suggestions.

but it has to fit with the train. re: route and this

ok a couple of songs, not albums. The first is "scenic pastures" by archers of loaf. The second is "leave the city" by magnolia electric company off the trials and errors album

crillywazzy- you pulling those from the flaming lips: latenighttales?

the mars volta, when you need to go fast.
bennie benassi + the biz, when you need to run from the cops

frou frou--let go
frou frou--shh
thievory corp--lebanese blonde, all that we perceive
alex gopher--the child
jem--they
strokes--reptilla
gorillaz--dirty harry
mirwais--disco science(snatch soundtrack)
al dimeola, paco de lucia, john mclaughlin--mediterranean sundance
u2-sunday bloody sunday
ben harper, zero 7, sasha/digweed, steel pulse, staind, live, the dead, wsp

variety is nice...
i just drove from chicago to cali--i agree with Strawbeary--ambient electronic is nice too.

how could i forget johnny cash, garbage, and an elvis song or two, just because.

i'd recommend the reservoir dogs soundtrack for late afternoons

plan it by geographic regions.

desert tracks, plains tracks, mountain tracks, etc. etc.

if you are driving across the central plains, you have to get Damien Jurado's album Where Shall You Take Me.

i'd suggest something from the spice girls, but not their first album, it was way too popular. the second album, spiceworld, was much better.

i too listened to this repeatedly during a cross country trip and in southern california (between barstow and needles) i definitely had that "feels like i'm on anohter planet vibe"

when you're in "flyover country" pop in modest mouse's, the lonesome crowded west.

strawbeary: yup. me too... though i love the pure ambient stuff even more. my cd changer at home is full of brian eno, harold budd, david sylvian, stars of the lid, that sort of stuff... but as long as i live i'll never forget the nevada night drive to aphex. (which we had to put on instead of eno since my friend wanted something with a bit of a beat to it :) )

meliasonvt: i am not sure what the reference to flaming lips means... can you explain?

option 01:

get a bunch of wesley willis tracks.
listen to them repeatedly.
when you get where you are going, (if you don't go legally retarded in the process) begin using the phrases.
duck if anyone decides to punch you.

option 02:

burn all the celebrity jeopardy skits onto a cd.
enjoy to your hearts content.

"you got lights, you got cameras... bitchin' technology!!!"

Ryan Adams...great music to sing along with

i drove across country...jayhawks the whole way.
alt country is great for long roadtrips.
also, sufjan stevens.
ratatat (at night- urban)
driving into the desert i screamed the gambler with my best friend...you need cornball music to lighten things up.
david sedaris.

i drove across country...jayhawks the whole way.
alt country is great for long roadtrips.
also, sufjan stevens.
ratatat (at night- urban)
driving into the desert i screamed the gambler with my best friend...you need cornball music to lighten things up.
david sedaris.

crillywazzy-

latenighttales is a series of cd's where bands put out a "what we're listening to" type album.

the flaming lips had a few songs from artists you rec'd.
nick drake - river man (heck yeah)
brian eno - another green world
aphex twin - film

i like a lot of aphex twin's stuff, however i was kinda let down b the 26 mixes for cash i got from a friend. however, it samples some phillip glass (who's gonna premiere a new piece at BAM this year) and die fantastischen vier, which brought back my days in germany.

anyway, i thought you had been listening to the late night album.

neil young always does you right.

in this order.

on the beach
tonight's the night
zuma

pulp fiction soundtrack

kill bill soundtracks
biggie
massive attack
heltah skeltah
nine inch nails
linkin park
jay-z
queen of the damned soundtrack
rammstein
conjure one
chemical brothers
classic old dirty bastard
first two wu-tang albums
eminem

comedy cd's

all in no particular order

simon and garfunkle greatest hits...also graceland is a must...
and shady grove (garcia/grismond

iron and wine "naked as we came"

FOGHAT!

kidding...

Get DJ Shadow's "Entroducing..."

Great music to drive to...

Boards of Canada
Orbit
DJ Spooky

Most anything by The Doors.
Save 'L.A. Woman' for Texas, because it takes forever to cross. That song will save you a few hours. I-15 from Vegas is pretty good for 'Roadhouse Blues'.

My favorite road song of all time:

Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Probably the greatest jam of all time. Blast that shit driving through the desert.

Other album suggestions:

Ziggy Stardust - Bowie, Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division, Here Come the Warm Jets - Eno, Everything the Talking Heads ever released, Souvlaki - Slowdive, Multiply - Jamie Lidell (this album rules. Mowtown is BACK), Jeff Mills Live at the Liquid Room - Jeff Mills (best mix EVER, and has saved my life on many late-night drives), Substance - New Order, At Action Park - Shellac.

Keep it MOVIN'

-andrew

Oh yeah, "Entroducing" is a great driving album.

On the hip hop tip, you can't have a roadtrip without some Wu-Tang. Or "Black Elvis/Lost in Space" by Kool Keith.

-andrew

NIN With Teeth is awesome, can't get enough.

meliasonvt: never heard of that series... guess we just like the same music. or maybe they drive late night through nevada too?

Okay...Lucaro, The Smiths, The Gipsy Kings (if you like latin music) Fu Manchu, The Killers, STP, Radiohead, Jayne's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Thievery Corporatation, Tricky, Sneaker Pimps, The Doors, Jimmy Hindrix, maybe a little electronic music to keep you awake...DJ Tiesto, St. Germain (a little jazzier) Nyana, Etc.

thanks so much for all the response.... my limewire acct is going crazy right now.

The music selection is one of the best things about driving cross-country. Think about it as a soundtrack that accompanies the often surreal scenes of the drive.

Music to play when:
-You're photographing grain silos in the utter flatness of Kansas.

-A cop is following you in Louisiana and you're sure he's eyeballing your California plates

-You're trying to find Marfa, Texas.

-Driving away from the Hoover Dam

-Early morning in the desert and you're doing 90

-Driving through midwest lightning and you're thinking that maybe you should pull over

-Going through Delaware

and other weird things that inevitably happen. I tried not to think it over too much, I just grabbed some discs that wasn't too familiar with and was curious about. Play the entire album, not just one song. God knows you'll have the time.

If you go through Georgia, you have to have the B-52s on, it just makes a little more sense.

Royal Tennenbaums soundrack

essential for travel through the midwest:
wilco -- yankee hotel foxtrot (and others...)
lambchop -- nixon (as well as is a woman, and aw'c'mon/no'you'c'mon)

also Born to Run (though watch out listening to it late at night on a deserted highway -- you'll suddenly look down and be doing 90 for all the energy in this disc)

really also enjoyed the O'Brother soundtrack last time we drove long distance.

the last 2 New Order albums are also quite good and perfect for that little pick me up.

tryin to make it far enough to another time zone
few and far between the midnite hour
never feel alone you're really not alone
switchin it over to AM
tryin to find a purer sound
cant recall the call letters
steel guitar and settle down
catchin an all nite station
somewhere in louisiana
sounds like 1963
but for now it sounds like heaven.

I would go with Motown - can't go wrong with that - everyone sings along. unless of course you don't want them to sing along then get something electronic - Massive Attack or Sublime (I know they aren't electronic).

some more essential road trip music:

johnny cash
creedance (ccr)
elvis
beach boys
devo
the cars
offspring
goldfinger
biz marky
utah saints......

radar love. essential

i would also pick up dylan's masterpiece, time out of mind

the NIN with teeth album had its moments, but was the worst album he's done in my opinion. i hope to god the one he is working on now has more consistency. i heard they'll be putting it out in a year or so, not five years.