Are you headed out on a road trip? While I often like to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, there is something special about having the right music for the right drive. It enhances the experience instead of distracting you from it. Want some recommendations? I asked some of my favorite musicians and music aficionados what their favorite road trip albums are.
For mountain driving, anything Zepplin works for me. "Kashmir" + Snoqualmie Pass = pure awesomeness!
When driving to the Oregon Coast, I like to play some classic YES. "Close to the Edge" or "Going for the One" just works for me!
For daytime desert driving, gimme some Savage Republic! Epic sounds for epic vistas...
And if you ever find yourself driving through the Baja, along the Sea of Cortez, any of the first three Doors albums work as a wonderful soundtrack.
For nighttime desert driving, these magical sounds just add to the experience.
Nothing like coming over the crest of a hill or around a corner in the evening to the sparkle of skyscrapers in the dark. Let's all yell together, simultaneously expectant and triumphant: city at night!
A couple of summers ago, my buddy Justin and I spent a month in Peru. He'd been once before, and fallen in love with the music. For months before our trip, he'd send me songs to get me excited too, and when we were down there our cab drivers were happy to oblige his requests for something in the genre. My favorites are Juaneco Y Su Combo and Los Hijos Del Sol, but these comps are a great introduction, impossible to not bob your head to. Like tropical South American surf music with a welcome rhythmic caterwaul of a Farfisa and more percussionists than you can shake a stick at! (ugh I did that)
This whole album is sick as shit, but I could listen to "Zig Zag Wanderer" alone on repeat for hours. Dat bass!
What a bunch of freaks. This is nighttime music; the weird, long songs narrate the highway perfectly and the dissonance will leave you just enough on edge to stay awake.
This one should require no explanation...
Every Built to Spill album on my iPod in order of release. Start with "Ultimate Alternative Wavers" and try in vain to worm yourself out of this infinite blanket fort of guitars. From the crazy swirling psychedelics to the simple yet perfect poignant love songs ("Twin Falls", anyone?) Doug Martsch and co. have a song suitable for any landscape.
This too should be played after the sun has set. It sounds like a bunch of Atari games having a seance/orgy in the woods. Perfectly sequenced, and the resolution at the end pulls you right back to the sanity you were beginning to question.
When on tour, we typically start off listening to new music and bands that we are playing with, but on long trips we inevitably fall back into old favorites like...
...and of course a bunch of 90s pop punk.
After hearing all of these recommendations, I have GOT to add in my personal choice:
I bet you won't be able to stop yourself from singing along at the top of your lungs to "Chicago" when cruising down the highway!