I reasonably regularly drive overnight to, or indeed from, Italy. Usually alone so music is very important. As most continental night time radio stations are fairly poor I take my own. I don't want you to think I'm doing a "Clarkson" in some transcontinental supercar, in fact it is mainly in my trusty old Mondeo estate ! However, in the dark even in such a workaday car there is still something quite exciting about making such a journey on largely empty and well cared for roads. I have a very wide taste in music but am currently favouring Goldfrapp, Winehouse, David Jordan and Nickleback among many others. At the other end of the scale I am cheesy enough to occasionally revert to Matt Monro in the Alps as in the "Italian job" ! Pink Floyd gets me through the wee small hours and somehow Mozart always seems appropriate as dawn breaks.
If you had all night to listen to your favourite music on a long but pleasant journey, what sort of things would you choose? I think I need some fresh ideas!
Thanks in advance
SS
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iPOD* has revolutionized portable sounds, my iPOD has an A-Z of the soundtrack of my life. Alan Parsons, Beatles, The Cars, Duffy (some obscure Welsh tracks that SWMBO has sourced from somewhere) all the way to ZZ Top. Every possible genre, including Classical. Charles Trenet and the such-like for continental trips. But the biggest bonus of all are podcasts of my beloved Radio Four - brilliantly simple. I have just ripped Whicker's War (audio book version) and RS Thomas reading his own poetry.....superb.
*there are other MP3 available !:-)"
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I like the talking book idea. So obvious really I suppose but I hadn't previously thought of that.
Thanks.
SS
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It has to be radio for me - it's the not knowing what you're going to get next that I like.
Good thogh they are, MP3 or I-pod takes away that sense of the moment that's there only as long as the song is playing and replaces it with something deliberate and predictable.
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No-good in a unless you speak the lingo though.
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In a Mondeo - Arctic Monkeys "And look here comes a Ford Mondeo, Isn't he Mister Inconspicuous "
In the mountains - Ride of the Valkyries
My other faves:
80/90s - U2, New Order, Blur
Ibiza classics from Chicane, William Orbit etc
Rap genius - Kanye West
Something edgier from Dr Dre/Eminem/Snoop Dogg/50 Cent
Modern rock - Coldplay, Snow Patrol
No speed cameras/cruise control on - early Prodigy
Vocal genius - Kate Bush
Oddest/most unlikely sounds regularly played in the Avensis - Samba Enredo, Samba School songs from the Rio Carnival, rhythms like no other.
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"It has to be radio for me - it's the not knowing what you're going to get next that I like."
Agree entirely. As a church organist, in theory I ought to disapprove of Classic FM playing single movements from symphonies or concertos, but in the car it's good to have the variety, and it helps alertness too.
I don't have an iPod - with the Golf you'd have to have the inbuilt satnav to get iPod preparation - but as a change from Classic FM I get on fine with CDs burnt from iTunes. I've usually forgotten what's on them so there is a certain element of surprise if I don't look at the sleeve.
Edited by Avant on 17/03/2008 at 21:07
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PU - Duffy is top of the charts. And she's a young Welsh singer.. So Wales are top of the Rugby Union 6 Nations and music charts :-)
to OP.... you don't say which Mondeo you've got. If it reasonably recent it might have an aux-in socket in the back of the glove box so possiblility of an MP3 player. Failing that if a multi changer for CD then how about trying some CDRWs. You could have lost of music to swap over and then rewrite the CDRWs when home?
Where do you travel from and to exactly. I'd pay to hitch a lift to Italy every now and again ;-)
Edited by rtj70 on 17/03/2008 at 21:29
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White Zombie :) Pardon what was that you said officer?!
Good old thrash heavy metal, can't beat it on a long haul, keeps you alert!
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For driving at night time, it has to be Brian Eno
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Chuck Brodsky. 'Blow 'em away'.
Makes me smile
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Fleetwood Mac - The Chain. Great driving music.
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"It has to be radio for me - it's the not knowing what you're going to get next that I like."
Why not set the mp3 to random play? Its what I do, and means I hear album tracks I havn't heard for years or had forgotten I owned. drive my boys mad, mind you!
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Sorry. I can only recommend looking out of the window, and thinking about what's happening on the road (perhaps off it - views, etc., the lie of the land - that sort of thing). I find listening to music "on the move" extremely distracting from the job in hand. I realise this is a personal point of view, and may not coincide with yours.
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Interesting. Out of the 39 artists listed there I've heard of ten of them, which isn't bad for me!
I'm with FT on this one - but I almost never listen to music anywhere, much less in the car. I find it really distracting and usually it makes me feel stressed and annoyed. I guess everyone's brains are wired differently.
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I have to have music on and I like it to be loud although I'm careful not to annoy pedestrians and other folk.
For long Trans-European drives I have a particular playlist on my ipod which I can only describe as guilty pleasures. It's full of sing-a-long tat and tunes I would never admit to ever listening to but perfect for keeping me awake and alert. Think along the lines of "It's the Final Countdown..." etc. etc. It's about 20 hours long and is mainly composed of the cd collection I inherited from my sister - I didn't really want it but I couldn't stand to see it broken up and for driving Warsaw to London it's ideal.
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I was quite bemused to see that Top Gear had started to use the kind of music I like to listen to when driving to soundtrack occasional pieces on their show. I recall Clarkson driving either the McLaren Mercedes or the Bugatti and it being soundtracked by M83. Also when they compared the new Jaguar and Aston Martin they used a bit of Mogwai over the top.
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I drive to an eclectic mix of music, although rarely classical. I find I have to concentrate on classical music to enjoy it, and that can't happen when I'm driving. Classical is for the sofa, an empty room, and the lack of distractions and background noise to do it justice.
In my CD changer you'll find everything from Don Henley to the Prodigy, Metallica to The Orb, and Lucie Silvas to Tiesto.
Depends on my mood, but Metallica's black album is probably my favourite ever. It's bad for license retention and fuel economy though. ;-)
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 18/03/2008 at 09:08
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Quote ... "It's bad for license retention "
And Justice for All ;-)
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I'm with PU, the iPod has changed the way I listen to music in the car - podcasts are especially good, Friday night comedy, From our own correspondent, 606 (Lovejoy only), Guardian techcasts, President's weekly address (always a laugh) - even Arnie does one as governor of California, well worth a listen.
The other interesting thing is iTunes remembers how many times you listen to stuff - I was surprised to find I listen mainly to Moby & Jamiroquai and a lot of Antony and the Johnsons. Some Fall, Portishead, Dean Martin and other stuff.
Shuffle feature is good but I find I shuffle songs within an artist now rather than the whole device, gives a little more control over the mood.
(oh and that iPlayer on the BBC now works (Wifi) on my iPod touch is just fantastic!)
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"the other interesting thing is iTunes remembers how many times you listen to stuff"
Great feature, I haven't checked mine for a few months. In first place on mine with 235 plays and beating the second place by more than 100 is The Who's Behind Blue Eyes (my 5-year old girl loves it so it gets played to death on the school run). The other positions are just what I'd expect, Abbey Road pops up various times in the top 30, so does Ian Brown but I was surprised by number 5 with 145 plays - Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman. Don't remember playing it so much.
Does a song have to finish to register as "one play" cos I often restart a tune a few seconds before it finishes.
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Agree to the other posts having some decent music for a long journey.
However for a short journey, if I'm driving say a V6 or V8, I just enjoy the sound of the engine above all else.
Who else thinks that's a kind of mechanical music??
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if I'm driving say a V6 or V8 I just enjoy the sound of the engine above all else.
I agree. It doesn't have to be a 6 or 8, either, IMO. Many things in a hurry sound great - even my old banger sounds great when it gets up to about 115!
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OK, I know it's not strictly speaking music, but on a long lonely trip I generally listen to my MP3'd Sound Stories. For the uninitiated (or under 50s) these are motorcycle racing soundtracks mainly from the IoM TTs in the 50s & 60s. Some of then even have Murray's dad commentating. I also have a few LeMans soundtracks. I think they're best on hot sunny days for some reason. Otherwise I like listening to sophisticated comedy a la Les Dawson & Frankie Howerd et al. And for when I've got company in the car it's a mixture of Queen, Deep Purple, even Meat Loaf. A little opera now and again too is nice.
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