I recently moved across the country, from Raleigh, NC, to Phoenix, AZ. My friend-for-life Kevin took time off work to drive the 32+ hours with me. He and I kept track of (almost) everything we listened to during the week-long road trip. As a testament to our friendship, good music, the joy of road tripping, and the fact that I run a music blog, I’m going to post that whole log over the next week.
Day 1: Raleigh to Asheville, NC
We wanted to take it easy the first day, and so our first leg was short. After the four hours to Asheville, we took a short jog up the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the sights from the road and from the trail.
1. Heretic Pride – The Mountain Goats. I started off with what I think is the most unabashedly fun album of the Mountain Goats’ discography. John Darnielle’s desperate cry of “I am coming home to you” had great significance as we started our week-long journey.
2. The Complete Travel Series – Future of Forestry. Kevin and I started out swapping albums back and forth, although that would deteriorate by the middle of the trip. Kevin picked this one, I’m assuming because of the “travel” bit.
3. Kaleidoscope Superior – Earthsuit. Future of Forestry reminded me some of MuteMath, and this band was the direct predecessor to MuteMath. If you haven’t heard this album, you’re missing out on a electro-reggae-rap-space-alt-Christian-rock oddity the likes of which the world had never seen and will never see again. It is boss.
4. Comfort Eagle – CAKE. This is just good driving music.
5. Slavic Soul Party Plays Duke Ellington – Slavic Soul Party. These slavs were pretty great at standards but not so great at ballads.
6. No One Is Lost – Stars. Hadn’t listened to them much since Set Yourself on Fire, but I must say this was enjoyable listen from Kevin.
7. Furthest From the Tree – Ty Maxon. As we drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway, we needed something woodsy. I didn’t have Fleet Foxes at hand or we would have gone there.
8. Sigh No More – Mumford and Sons. Kevin and I both still love this record.