the right tune the right room

There is much to be said about having a soundtrack to your life. It is one of those things that make movies seem so cool. You have the characters' movements being set to a cool tune and so it makes it seem somehow so much more resonant.

Wouldn't it be cool if we could all do this? Choose the music we would like to set to different parts of our daily activity. This is why Ipods and personal music devices are so popular. It is far more enjoyable to walk across a bridge with a cool tune blaring in our ears than it is to listen to traffic noise. Look at this, this a view of the river Thames in London at dawn a few months back.

Nice picture, but now look at the picture and listen to this by Aphex Twin

How much cooler and more atmospheric is that?

I like to listen to music as much as I can, this may have been a little obvious by my posts and the like. Honestly if you didn't pick that up then I suggest standing outside by some plants and hope that someone waters you. Don't mean to be hostile, but really. The point being that when I am allowed to get away with it, I have music on. I know some people like to have a TV on in the background. Never really understood this. I have music on, in every room I spend more than a couple of minutes in when I control it. I walk mostly with headphones when I am by myself. It is not that I do not like silence, but I don't get a whole lot of that. Live in the big city, work in an office of thousands of people, travel on public transport or in my car. Not a whole lot of silence going on in my daily life

None in fact.

I do find though that it is not always a great idea to have shuffle on. Sure I love it when Pantera comes on, but sometimes when I am engrossed in my book on the tube hearing the strains of Mouth For War are not always what I want. There are always going to be some songs that catch you by surprise and put you in a good mood, just because they are good mood songs. Like this,

I like Smashmouth, they are a little bit under rated I think. They seem to have produced a couple of good albums and vanished a bit. Their best album is definitely Astro Lounge. Well worth a listen.

So that is a song that is always pretty appreciated. However I usually find that there is a particular type of music that sits well in a given situation. For example, I like listening to Classic rock whilst I am in the kitchen , cooking or otherwise. It doesn't need to be a soaring Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar solo either. For example I am always pretty happy when this song comes on and I am cooking.

That is a great song. Always a nice one to sing along to. Although it has to be said that I may destroy most of the songs that I sing, I enjoy it anyway. 6 years of constant karaoke did not much to improve what sounds like an out of tune piano being burnt by throwing petrol over it. .

Regardless, I then like to listen to Metal when at the gym. I think this is pretty self explanatory. But when a song such as this next one comes on, you do feel that much more empowered.

You didn't think I could mention it and not put it in a post did you? . . please, you know me better than that by now . .

I love listening to Electronica when travelling on the train in particular. But general travelling, electronica, especially trance is still my favourite.

I love that video, that is a fantastic video. I want to crawl inside that video and have it drench me in the excess and riot of colours. While we are here. Listen to some Hallucinogen. Listen to as much of it as you can stand. It is simply brilliant and if ever there was a DJ that has transcended the electronica scene to create some true masterpieces of music then it is he. I think that the DJs get a lot of unfair criticism. I agree with those that claim the scratch artists and the samplers aren't really making music. I do. However, when you are creating the sort of music that comes across by placing it all together and arranging the sounds then you are a musician. you just have a different instrument. Listen to Deranger, especially 5 mins in plus, it is awesome.

Lastly, you need to relax at times. It was the modern genius of our time, a Mr Tommy Lee (Motley Crue for the philistines out there) that said, 'You can't be Phoaar the whole time, No one is Phoaar the whole time and so if you pretend that you are always Phoaar, then you are false. ' I know I didn't know that level of articulation existed in Motley Crue either. One wonders then why Vince Neil wrote the lyrics. Still Tommy is right. Sometimes you need to decompress,. This guy is still the master . .

I listen to this now in the airports. I am a happier and calmer person because of this.

What do you listen to and where? Why does it make you feel better about being there?