Music Features

Top Ten Records For Every Mood Of Your Morning Commute (NR10)

For the better part of five days, every week, we are tied to a clock, forced to scrape out a living when we’d all much rather be having fun.  At times, some mental preparation is necessary as the typically mundane workday is also preceded by the stressful work commute.  As people tend to drive each other insane on the road, releasing aggression is a must, as is calming one’s nerves.  Here are my top 10 records for relieving morning commute madness...

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10. Motörhead: Ace of Spades

Gravel roads and blacktop seem a natural environment for the leather boozehound fumes that rise to the surface once Ace Of Spades is cranked.  I know you want to bend those imaginary strings like the rockstar you aren’t, but keep your hands on the wheel.


9. Beatles:
Revolver

Other than Revolver just being an all around excellent album, Good Day Sunshine has become a travel pacifier for my daughter who will consistently cease any and all tear production once McCartney begins to gleefully blurt the song's title.  Otherwise, no matter how you feel about it, you will always involuntarily sing-a-long to Yellow Submarine, and so will your passengers.   


8. Black Sabbath:
Black Sabbath

As doom and gloom set off their self-titled debut, Sabbath wind up a perfect accompaniment to a rainy commute.  Slow and evil mutations and meditations, performed with a sinister, bluesy edge as if the devil that had taken Robert Johnson's soul wanted to start his own band.


7. Beastie Boys:
Check Your Head

Summertime and city streets are all I hear once that Jimmy James bass line kicks in.  When it’s time for green grass and open windows, I bring Check Your Head out of hibernation, wipe the winter season dust off and hit PLAY:  “Life ain’t nothin’ but a good groove/A good mixtape that puts you in the right mood...”  Inspiring words for the 9-to-5.


6. A Tribe Called Quest:
The Low End Theory

Despite its momentary lapses into party instigation, (Scenario, anyone?), The Low End Theory is a perfect album for a mellow morning drive.  Q-Tip’s distinctive inflections come off solid without slapping you in the face, the backdrop a minimal but flawless combination of rock beats, funk rhythms and jazz licks.  Hip-hop with soul.


5. Slayer:
Reign In Blood

No matter which side you woke up on the bed that morning, frustration is sometimes unavoidable.  If you want to feel like the most threatening being on the road, I suggest taking Reign In Blood, twisting your volume to the right, rolling down the windows and making twisted, mangled faces at the other commuters sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic.  There must be some reward to being the “Hail Satan” commuter.


4. Various:
Easy Rider Soundtrack

Though intended as the freedom cry of the open road, crotch rockets at high speed amidst a marijuana haze and desert sun, the suburban version of the American dream is earning a steady paycheck.  Not necessarily “born to be wild,” but it’s still a great compilation.


3. DJ Shadow:
Endtroducing...

Though it’s not necessarily advisable to drift off momentarily into a sea of blissful “anywhere but here” while sitting behind the wheel, Entroducing... is the sort of mixture of sounds that you can’t help but sink into.


2. Miles Davis:
Kind Of Blue

Yes, I realize that this is a cop out of a choice, being that Kind Of Blue is the jazz record everyone agrees upon, but sometimes the public gets it right.  Kind Of Blue is the sort of blue-tinged material that generally reflects the chilled aroma of morning dew, the visible air that wisps past your cheeks as you inhale 7AM.  You can almost appreciate and embrace that time you have before the workday, so long as Miles is there to enhance it.


1. Link Wray:
Rumble! The Best Of Link Wray

Though tires rarely screech and engines barely ever rev up in rush hour traffic, the rebellious tread that wears heavy with Link Wray is nonetheless pure rock perfection and this compilation just says “road.”  For a little while, as Wray strums along, travelling through American roadways seems like more of an adventure than an obligation.

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