radio nowhere

I don’t know if anyone but me enjoyed this the last time I did it, but when you’re on a long road trip, a lot of the time is just driving and listening to music. And looking over this list, a lot of the memories of what I saw are still linked to what I was listening to at the time. So I wanted to put up the list of everything I listened to on my trip.

I listened to 95 albums, but eight of them were multi-volume sets, so I guess technically I broke a hundred. I guess if I were interested I could add up how long they all last and see how much time was actual driving time, and then I could compare it to how long Mapquest said the trip should last, and maybe that would help me determine how much time I spent driving around lost.

I will tell you that when you’re picking up your life and moving cross-country, every song that’s remotely about leaving is incredibly profound, but I got over that about halfway through the trip. Also I would like to say that normally I’m a big fan of trying to match up music with the area it’s from, or areas it mentions, such as trying to listen to songs about Georgia when I’m in Georgia. But I wasn’t very good at that on this trip.

Here is the list, broken down by state, with a few notes:

WASHINGTON
Patti Scialfa—Play It As It Lays
-->I like music, so I wanted a fitting, meaningful CD to kick off the trip, but I was too tired to find one, so I put in this CD just because I had just bought it, and I wanted to listen to it. But it turned out to be fitting, cause look at some lyrics from the first song:

I’m just looking for some inspiration
I’m looking for something to rock my soul
I’m looking for a brand new destination
I’m looking for Elvis down a Memphis road

That sums me up, I guess, except I could really give or take the Elvis part.

Steve Earle—Washington Square Serenade
-->I really love this CD and would happily burn a copy for anyone who’s interested, unless you are a copyright lawyer or something, in which case, a) I would never burn music like that, and b) why are you reading this?

Lyle Lovett—It’s Not Big, It’s Large
-->Sadly, this CD is only okay, and not as good as other ones.

Allison Moorer—Getting Somewhere

OREGON
Cat Power—The Greatest

Jeffrey Foucault—Ghost Repeater

Shawn Colvin—Polaroids

Laura Cantrell—Humming by the Flowered Vine

Patty Griffin—Flaming Red

Ryan Adams—Easy Tiger
-->This CD kicked off Day 2.

Paul McCartney—Memory Almost Full
-->I mean, this CD is okay, but the guy was a Beatle. I expect more. I spent some time pondering, though, that if these were Beatle songs, would we really revere the Beatles the way we do?

Pete Seeger—Songs of Hope and Struggle
-->I listened to this while I was driving along the Oregon coast, and all I can say is that by the time this CD was over, I was ready to join a union and work to end war.

Mary Chapin Carpenter—Essential Mary Chapin Carpenter

The Band—Greatest Hits

Rilo Kiley—Under the Blacklight
-->I should have probably waited til California to listen to this; it’s a very California CD.

Rosanne Cash—King’s Record Shop

Arlo Guthrie—Amigo
-->Track 3 on this CD is called “Massachusetts,” and man, does it make me want to move to Massachusetts.

Kim Richey—Chinese Boxes

Okkervil River—The Stage Names

Raul Malo—After Hours

Richard Shindell—South of Delia
-->This is what was playing during the great Crater Lake fiasco, as I drove into temperatures that were falling, and into fog that descended to hide the lake.

The Decemberists—The Crane Wife
-->I listened to this to cheer myself up after the Crater Lake fiasco.

Bruce Springsteen—Magic
-->I bought this to cheer myself up after the Crater Lake fiasco.

CALIFORNIA
Neko Case—Furnace Room Lullaby

Feist—The Reminder

Jesse Malin—Glitter in the Gutter

Wilco—Sky Blue Sky
-->Do you remember all those reviews of this CD? They all talked about how “California” it was, so I was trying to test that out. I have no official opinion on the matter.

Elvis Perkins—Ash Wednesday

New Pornographers—Challengers

Amy Lavere—Anchors and Anvils

Blue Scholars—Bayani
-->Whenever I think redwood forest, I’ll probably think “Blue Scholars,” and whenever I listen to the Blue Scholars, I’ll probably think about driving through the redwood forest.

Rufus Wainwright—Release the Stars

Tegan & Sara—The Con
-->There was bad traffic during this CD

The National—Boxer

Brandi Carlile—The Story

Jennifer O’Connor—Over the Mountain, Across the Valley, and Back to the Stars
-->I was listening to this when I crossed the Golden Gate bridge.

Lavender Diamond—Imagine Our Love
-->I was concentrating on San Francisco traffic and couldn’t really concentrate on this one.

The Trucks—The Trucks

Nick Cave—The Boatman’s Call

The Pogues—If I Should Fall From Grace with God

Tom Waits—Rain Dogs

John Hiatt—Perfectly Good Guitar

Robbie Fulks—Country Love Songs

Nanci Griffith—Other Voices, Other Rooms

Tom Russell—Rose of San Joaquin
-->Driving along Highway 1.

Tom Russell—Borderland
-->I didn’t mean to do duplicates, but it was a scary part of Highway 1 where I couldn’t change CD’s. Plus, Tom writes too many good songs about California to just listen to one cd.

Liz Phair—Whipsmart

Jimmy Buffett—Live in Hawaii
-->“Live in Hawaii” is honestly kind of a crappy throwaway live album, and I would have preferred to listen to a different Jimmy Buffett cd, but this was the only one I could reach. I just don’t like to be that close to the ocean for that long without listening to some Jimmy.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers—Greatest Hits
-->Driving into Malibu.

Aimee Mann—The Forgotten Arm

Dar Willams—My Better Self

Erin McKeown—We Will Become Like Birds

Fiona Apple—Extraordinary Machine

Martha Wainwright—Martha Wainwright
-->I think you can see from the last few cd's that I was trying to listen to a lot of girly music to counteract the stress brought on from the horrendous traffic that existed between Los Angeles and the Nixon library.

Warren Zevon—Warren Zevon
-->Listening to this CD in Los Angeles was a personal requirement for me.

Warren Zevon—Excitable Boy
-->I like Warren too much to stop with just one CD by him. This was while I was driving Mulholland.

The Avett Brothers—Emotionalism
-->Still on Mulholland when I switched over to this. Not the most natural choice for driving around Hollywood, but I like this CD.

Son Volt—The Search

Uncle Tupelo—Anodyne

R.E.M.—New Adventures in Hi-Fi
-->This is what was playing as I finally turned east. The last song on this one is “Electrolite,” which is a nice song about Hollywood, so that’s why I picked this particular R.E.M.

U2—All That You Can’t Leave Behind

The Beatles—Love

Mika—Life in Cartoon Motion

Peter, Bjorn and John—Writer’s Block

ARIZONA
Elvis Costello—Blood and Chocolate

Paul Simon—Graceland
-->I think this CD usually makes my top ten desert island CD list.

Leonard Cohen—the Essential Leonard Cohen
-->Two cd’s of Leonard Cohen might not have been the best listening choice for the Arizona desert. I don’t think he works in hot climates.

Richard Thompson—1000 Years of Popular Music

Josh Ritter—The Animal Years

NEW MEXICO
Kelley Stoltz—Below the Branches

Love—Forever Changes
-->I don’t even remember listening to this, I think because it had gotten very dark, and I was just trying to concentrate on finding a hotel.

Michael Penn—Mr. Hollywood, 1947
-->Probably should have listened to this in California.

Leona Naess—I Tried to Rock You but You Only Roll

Sarah Maclachlan—Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

The Who—Ultimate Collection
-->When “I Can See for Miles and Miles” came on, I really did feel like I could see for miles. And miles.

David Bowie—Best of Bowie

TEXAS
Lily Allen—Alright, Still
-->I wasn’t in Texas that long; I really shouldn’t have wasted time on non-Texas artists.

Scissor Sisters—Ta-Dah
-->See above.

Emmylou Harris—Wrecking Ball
-->I belatedly got my Texas act together.

Guy Clark—The Essential Guy Clark
-->See above.

OKLAHOMA
Billy Joel—Greatest Hits, Volumes 1, 2, and 3
-->Oklahoma was so boring that I needed some good pop songs to keep me peppy. Plus I couldn’t decide which volume to listen to.

The Flaming Lips—At War with the Mystics
-->Really? You’re from Oklahoma, and you still live there? That’s what I kept thinking while I listened to this.

ARKANSAS
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton—Knives Don’t Have Your Back

Stars—Set Yourself on Fire
-->This was the night I couldn’t find a hotel. I had to deal with a lot of rejection while I listened to this cd.

Bruce Springsteen—Magic
-->On this day, I just wanted to listen to the Boss.

Bruce Springsteen—Darkness on the Edge of Town
-->On this day, I just wanted to listen to the Boss.

Bruce Springsteen—The River
-->On this day, I just wanted to listen to the Boss.

TENNESSEE
Bruce Springsteen—Live in Dublin
-->On this day, I just wanted to listen to the Boss.

Bruce Springsteen—Ghost of Tom Joad
-->On this day, I just wanted to listen to the Boss.

Bruce Springsteen—Born in the USA
-->On this day, I just wanted to listen to the Boss.

Devotchka—How It Ends

Calexico & Iron and Wine—In the Reins

Various—Red, White and Rock
-->These were oldies to pep myself up.

Steve Earle—Washington Square Serenade
-->I can’t say it too many times, so even though I’ve already said it once, I’ll just tell you that this CD is awesome.

NORTH CAROLINA
Patti Scialfa—Play It As It Lays
-->I like to end where I begin, except I still had about 45 minutes of driving left, so I just listened to miscellaneous Jimmy Buffett mp3’s the rest of the way home.