THE COLLECTOR’S GUIDE - Transportive Tracks

CHROMATICS: RUNNING UP THAT HILL (Night Drive, 2007)
Many would be intimidated by the excellence of Kate Bush, but not Chromatics from Italians Do It Better label, whose cover of ‘Running up that Hill’ achieves its own heights inversely by way of their very individual emotional restraint. The album is Night Drive and its narcotic, distant, pop-synth melancholia is the very essence of a night ride’s lulling exhaustion.

BRIAN ENO: AMBIENT 1 (Music for Airports, 1978)
In a perfect world, streets are free from dog shit, your real-estate agent cares about your water heater, and airports are these queueless centres where transportation blends with relaxation and we all float along picturesque walkways to the ambient sounds of Brian Eno.

B-52s: PLANET CLAIRE (The B-52s’, 1979)
This debut album is a must-have for long car journeys. Whenever the enthusiasm levels drop below satisfactory, just insert and play. Caution: may cause speeding, erratic steering or inadvertent dancing by the side of the road.

TELEX: EN ROUTE VERS DE NOUVELLES AVENTURES (Neurovision, 1980)
Few acts can boast a musical journey incorporating both Eurovision (they finished last in 1980) to being remixed by Detroit greats like Carl Craig. Many of their tracks (think Belgian Kraftwerk with more vocoders and humour) are also about trips and transport (Tour de France, Moscow Discow, Twist à Saint Tropez), and the quirkily optimistic ‘En route vers de nouvelles aventures’ will ensure a happy voyage wherever you may be going.

MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE: RAW CUTS, 12” (MCDE, 2008)
The artist name and the soulful sounds will lead your mind straight to Detroit, but Motor City Drum Ensemble is the moniker of Danilo Plessow from Germany’s own motor city, Stuttgart. Also responsible for the jazzy house tracks of Inverse Cinematics, this musically precocious 22-year old was producing his own music at age 12. Look out for releases on Four Roses recordings and the debut album Passin’ Through out soon on Pulver Records..

KRAFTWERK: AUTOBAHN (Autobahn, 1974)
Nothing better captures the monotony of a long trip than Kraftwerk’s conceptual classic. The 22-minute title track (reduced to around three minutes for single release) perfectly transmits, in their inimitable style, the exhilaration of the fast lane, tuning of the car radio and repetitiveness of white stripes and green borders streaking past the windows.

BRONSKI BEAT: SMALLTOWN BOY (The Age of Consent, 1984)
Suffering the persecution of a young gay man in a small town is maybe something we can’t all relate to, but this timeless song about realising your individuality and following your own path nonetheless belongs on the soundtrack to practically all our lives.

FLYING LOTUS: ROBERTA FLACK FEAT. DOLLY (Los Angeles, 2008)
For journeys of the introspective sort present your ears to Flying Lotus and soar along the dreamy soundscapes of electronic experimentation. Debut album Los Angeles out now on Warp records.

THE CRUEL SEA: BETTER GET A LAYER (Three Legged Dog, 1995)
Providing the ultimate backdrop for roadtrips, it’s fitting that Australia should also supply the appropriate sounds. The Cruel Sea’s unique droning surf sound and the rough and raw vocals of Tex Perkins will give you this wonderfully lawless and liberated feeling you want on the road; y’know, like a fugitive on the run from the troubles of life, love, the law.

A GUY CALLED GERALD: PROTO ACID – THE BERLIN SESSIONS (Laboratory Instinct, 2006)
A tenuous link to transport but stay with me: A quality trip requires quality acid, right? So, you want to pick your producer with care. Gerald Simpson has been breaking ground and influencing the industry for 20 years. His sound is at once psychedelic, soulful and – like himself – exudes effortless rhythm and pleasurable vibes. Just open wide and trust in the man.

TEXT BY VIKTORIA PELLES | ILLUSTRATIONS BY LEONA LIST