Songs For When The City Lights Fade
July 1, 2008 from WNYC - Driving here in New York City can be a frustrating experience — all traffic and lights and horns. Nothing sounds good. But get out on the highway, and you can shut off the damn traffic reports and listen to a different kind of horn. From John Adams' "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" to Deep Purple's "Highway Star," these five songs are brimming with the kind of energy that frees the mind. Even if you're held hostage at home by the crushing cost of gas, this music is enough to propel your imagination down the road on virtual wheels.
For more entries in this summer's weekly Road Trip: Songs to Drive By series, click here.
Songs For When The City Lights Fade
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Artist: John AdamsThe title says it all. Big and bold and brassy, Adams' short orchestral piece moves along at a good clip -- just the thing for when you finally clear city traffic and hit the open road.
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- "Short Ride in a Fast Machine, fanfare for orchestra"
- CD: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
- Artist: John Adams
- Label: Nonesuch
- Released: 0
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Moanin'
Artist: Either/OrchestraMore horns, this time from the great jazz bassist/composer Charles Mingus. Inspired by the wordless praying of Southern Baptist churches, this is a spirited romp with more than a hint of funk. You could go for Mingus' own version from The Complete Atlantic Recordings 1956-1961, but the Either/Orchestra's performance from the album Radium might be slightly more road-friendly.
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- "Moanin'"
- CD: Radium
- Artist: Either/Orchestra
- Label: Accurate Jazz
- Released: 1987
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Abbay Mado
Artist: Mahmoud AhmedThe parade of horns continues with one of the all-time great singers from Ethiopia's remarkable jazz/pop scene in the early '70s. Mahmoud Ahmed and his band clearly knew their James Brown, but the slightly exotic scales, like a cool breeze off the coast of the Indian Ocean, keep things from overheating. At least on your side of the dashboard.
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- "Abbay Mado"
- CD: Ethiopiques, Vol. 7: Ere Mela Mela
- Artist: Mahmoud Ahmed
- Label: Buda Musique
- Released: 1999
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Rocks Off
Artist: The Rolling StonesFrom Exile on Main Street, the Stones head south to New Orleans, Muscle Shoals, and all that open road in between.
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- "Rocks Off"
- CD: Exile on Main St.
- Artist: The Rolling Stones
- Label: Virgin
- Released: 1972
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Highway Star
Artist: Deep PurpleForget "Smoke On The Water" (if you can) -- this is the real classic on Deep Purple's Machine Head album. With its (ahem) driving rhythm and musical screams, this paean to "my woman/my car" (sometimes hard to know which one he's singing about) just might take you back to a time when heavy metal, long hair, and raving about your car were all cool. But that's okay: This is still the ultimate open-road song.
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Purchase Featured Music
- "Highway Star"
- CD: Very Best of Deep Purple [EMI Single Disc]
- Artist: Deep Purple
- Label: EMD Int'l
- Released: 1998
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John Schaefer is the executive producer of music programming at WNYC, and the host of Soundcheck, and New Sounds. He has written extensively about music, including the book New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music and the Cambridge Companion to Singing: World Music.
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