There is a theory that there is a certain kind of music soundtrack which is perfectly suited for being in an aeroplane. I concur - when you’re at 40,000ft, you need something to keep you relatively soothed and yet also stimulated, to stop you going out of your mind from boredom. Plus whatever you listen to needs to have a particular kind of tonality to compensate for the low bass rumble of the engines.
So on planes, I have an playlist which includes some Philip Glass, Faure’s Requiem, DJ Shadow, The Postal Service, The Necks and a bit of Brian Eno (and/or Gavin Bryars) for good measure. There are a few other tracks which I’ve found work particularly well in the dreamlike lucid exhaustion state of the redeye.
On a train, however, a different kind of music is needed. See, train travel is rhythmic, even in these days when engines don’t go psssscht-uh-cfff psssscht-uh-cfff. Something about the tangible speed, of things whizzing past the window, requires a sort of music which is much more driven, urgent, even.
I’ve spent a lot of time on trains recently. Yes, there’s the twice daily commute route, which whizzes (well, crawls) me through some of south west London’s most desireable(?) areas, but what I’m talking about here are trains. Real trains, not buses on rails, which go long distances, and allow you to stare out of the window while the landscape slips by and get a bit lost in your own head. That’s what I’m talking about.
In the last few months, I’ve visited family, friends or attended events in the western isles (9-10 hours by train), the Welsh marches (3-4 hours), the Cotswolds (2 hours) Swindon and Oxfordshire (about the same), the Northeast (3 hours), Yorkshire (2.5 hours), Leicester (2 hours), and Brighton (1.5 hours). Some of these journeys, I’ve done a number of times.
Over the course of these several journeys, I’ve built up quite the playlist of songs which are good to listen to in headphones while staring out the window of a train, which I’d be pleased to share audibly if only Muxtape hadn’t been taken down. In the meantime, a list will, as ever, have to suffice (with links where I can find them).
- Dark & Long - Underworld
- Dirty Epic - Underworld (actually, much of dubnobasswithmyheadman works very well in this context)
- Pollution of the Mind - Miss Kittin
- The One - Trabant
- Thou Shalt Always Kill - Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
- Triptico - Gotan Project
- Train - Goldfrapp (and not just because of the title)
- Strict Machine - Goldfrapp
- Pulse - Ani DiFranco
- Waiting for the Train - Flash & the Pan(ditto)
- Running Up That Hill - Chromatics
- Together in Electric Dreams - Lali Puna
- Stepping Out - Joe Jackson
- Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
- Station Approach - Elbow
- Blue Monday - New Order
Each of these has something in common, regardless of genre. There’s a driving rhythm - an urgency - which presses them on, and the layers or stereo when heard in headphones makes them come alive and really work when staring out of the window, on the move, going towards somewhere. Yes, some are cheesy (and some are tracks I really don’t listen to much outside of the train carriage), but they just sort of work.
NB, I’ve previously had recommended to me (thanks, V!) Michael Nyman’s MGV (Musique a Grande Vitesse) (obviously written for the TGV) but haven’t yet heard it. Any other train-listening recommendations?
Sonya Kitchell - Train
is most pleasurable to listen to on a train journey.
I haven’t tried it on a train, but Lindstrom’s new album Where You Go I Go Too is perfect long-distance travelling music. Just three long instrumental tracks, which take their time to build and fall and build again - there’s an epic, sweeping, cinematic quality to them.
That’s really weird. I haven’t even thought of underworld and dubnobasswithmyheadman in about a decade, until a couple of days ago. I wonder if I still have it somewhere?
I’ve got six hours on a train in a couple of weekends. Will try some of these out.
Trans Europe Express (of course!) - Kraftwerk
Ankle Injuries - Fujiya & Miyagi
Star Guitar - Chemical Brothers.
Perfect for the train, and proven in Michel Gondrey’s video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBgf2ZxIDZk
Two New Order songs really worked for me on the way back down to Plymouth last summer after having to break a holiday for work, Waiting For The
Sirens Call and Krafty. Damn these bloody sausage fingers!
Perhaps I should have realised, when I recommending that Michael Nyman piece back in 2006, how comparatively rare and difficult to find that CD is (though I did discover today that it is on iTunes). So if you should want an entirely above board copy, purely for reference and not to be more widely distributed, do let me know. I would have sent it automatically, but was worried that I might not get the correct email address.
There’s a Steve Reich piece Different Trains, which may not be such a great idea because it’s about the Holocaust. But Steve Reich in general might do the trick.
I have to say though, when travelling, I just put the mp3 player on shuffle and if I’m not in the mood for the track that comes on I just fast forward.
An aged track by electronic music standards, but Sasha’s Xpander (extended mix)has been my preferred train soundtrack for years. Once, I had a beautiful ride on the train into Paris from CDG at 7 am set to it, just as the sun was coming up. Give it a try sometime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLmOHfjLVWM
I’ve always loved the KLF Chill Out album for travelling ( inc trains, planes and just chilling out in foreign hotel rooms). It’s supposed to mimic the sounds of an imagined journey up the Gulf Coast in the USA and is just amazing.
Just discovered your blog after much bored browsing… some lovely stuff - brightened up my day.
Plane travel on holiday this year was greatly enhanced for me this year with the music of Felt. I’d never heard them before but for some reason it all fitted into place. Jangly guitars, a singer trying too hard to be cool. I’ll remember the sensation for a long time, I think.
I don’t travel by train nearly as much these days, and I must confess I miss it a bit. Despite the stress, fuss and hurry, the opportunity to sink into your own head with some music for company never ceases to be an appealing prospect.
My favourite tunes were by James Hurst’s album “Spread the News, All is Well, Be Afraid.” Only four tracks, but all so utterly beautiful and simple and breathtaking. Perfect for watching golden light and green fields sail past your window.
Carole King’s Tapestry. The whole album. Especially if it’s night train home and you’re looking for something which isn’t so restful you’ll fall asleep and miss your stop but not so loud that your head will be pounding when you reach your destination. Though its difficult to get all of the way through all 2:29 of ‘Home Again’ without a sniffle.
I recommend Pink Floyd!
To me listening to Pink Floyd on a train that goes psssscht-uh-cfff psssscht-uh-cfff brings back this very good memory; I went on my first InterRail when I was 15. I stopped in Hamburg and bought a yellow sports walkman and some compact cassettes with Pink Floyd. Listening to for instance “Money” while gazing out of the window in the Alps… mmmmmm :-)