Road Music

There are few things that say "summer" quite like a road trip (especially when one is driving a relatively guilt-free hybrid). The wide blue sky, endless ribbon of road - and most of all, the music. Every road trip has to have it's own soundtrack, and below is the track listing of the mix we listened to as we drove to Salt Lake City and back for the 2009 General Assembly of the UUA.

Some of these are nostalgic choices, some funny, some thoughtful, some beautiful - and some just plain rock. See if you can guess which are which.

A note: you will see more songs by Fountains of Wayne than by any other band on this list. This is not an accident. FoW has everything a good road trip sing requires: driving rhythms, great hooks, melodies and lyrics that are alternately (and sometimes simultaneously) clever, sincere, playful and thoughtful. They are one of my favorite bands ever, and if you haven't heard them yet - check them out immediately (I mean it)- along with other current favorites (some of whom do not appear on this list) like The Jayhawks, The National, New Pornographers, the Mountain Goats and Deathcab for Cutie. Of course I could list a bunch more, but these are the sounds coming out of my ipod this summer.

1. Teenage Riot - Sonic Youth
2. I Want an Alien for Christmas - Fountains of Wayne
3. News at Ten - The Vapors
4. Run - Snow Patrol
5. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - Arcade Fire
6. San Bernardino - The Mountain Goats
7. Nothing Compares to U - Sinead O'Connor
8. Inside Out - The Mightly Lemon Drops
9. Fake Empire - The National
10. Dog on Wheels - Belle and Sebastian
11. Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol
12. Dissolve Girl - Massive Attack
13. I'll Be Your Shelter - The Beautiful South
14. I'm Falling - Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3
15. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
16. Do You Realize? - The Flaming Lips
17. Jonathan David - Belle and Sebastian
18. Mexican Wine - Fountains of Wayne
19. My Favorite Angel - John Wesley Harding
20. Lucky Me - Drive
21. Myriad Harbour - The New Pornographers
22. Maureen - Fountains of Wayne
23. The National Anthem - Radiohead
24. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
25. Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel
26. Someday You Will Be Loved - Deathcab for Cutie
27. Kiss Me, Miss Liberty - John Wesley Harding
28. She's an Angel - They Might Be Giants
29. The Crystal Lake - Grandaddy
30. Prize - Kitchens of Distinction
31. You're All I Have - Snow Patrol
32. No Sunlight - Deathcab for Cutie
33. Then She Appeared - XTC
34. Hey Julie - Fountains of Wayne
35. Raymond Chandler Evening - Robyn Hitchcock

More on the trip itself in my next post...