Music Blogs

If I'm outside my apartment, there's a good chance I'm listening to music on my headphones. But what music is a decision that requires serious thought. I've never been a fan of shuffle. Rather than open myself up to the possibility of jarring Metallica-at-the-supermarket emotional juxtapositions, I'll try and program perfect musical mood matches. Case in point: I spent ten minutes last Sunday morning scrolling through my iPod library before deciding that the Delfonics' 1970 symphonic soul hit "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" offered the exact right combination of optimism and unobtrusively pretty sounds to accompany me on the way to the coffee shop for a chocolate croissant. I go through a similar process multiple times a day. I bet some of you do too. I hope some of you do too.

Lately though, there's been a daily activity that's proven consistently difficult to soundtrack. Maybe you can help. I need suggestions for music to listen to on my morning subway ride to work. Let's lay out the facts: I am grumpy in the morning. The subway is crowded and loud. From my front door to my desk at work, the trip takes about 30 minutes.

For a long time, I thought I'd try to match my foul a.m. mood with angry, aggressive music. Two negatives equal a positive, right? Not in this case. Playing Mastodon or Lamb Of God at 8:30 in the morning while people jostle for space and open-mouth sneeze all around me turned an unpleasant situation into a borderline murderous one. I'd spend the whole commute with my fists clenched.

I've tried the opposite approach too. A coworker told me that she found listening to Brahms a soothing balm to the subway's screeching aural assault. Maybe she's got noise-canceling headphones, because between the train's loud rumble and the piercing wail when we'd hit the brakes and pull into a station, the detail and delicacy of classical music was completely lost on me. I felt like I was constantly brain squinting in order to hear the music. Instead of a reprieve, I got a headache.

What's the solution? Conor Oberst's self-titled album from last year was working for a while. Its acoustic-based folk-rock is rhythmically sturdy while retaining some softness, and the melodies are upbeat and buoyant. Unfortunately, a preponderance of lyrics like, "I don't want to die / In the hospital" and "But even Western medicine / It couldn't save Danny Callahan / Bad bone marrow / a bald little boy" (Yes, those lines are from two different songs) was eventually too much to take with my morning coffee. 

U.K. cult hero Robyn Hitchcock's Goodnight Oslo (due out February 17 on Yep Roc and featuring R.E.M.'s Peter Buck) has shown some promise over the last few weeks. The album's lovely, chiming guitar, bright melodies, and soft rhythms, are nicely suited for zoning out (in a good way!). Similarly Hitchcock's surreal lyrics are interesting without being obtrusive. And if that sounds like backhanded praise, I'll say this: Goodnight Oslo has helped keep me sane in the morning. What's your trick?

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