Music To Jetset By

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I’m going to the San Diego Comic-Con for the weekend (I’ll most likely be hanging out somewhere with my chums around the Keenspot/Keenspace booth *shameless plug*), and for the lack of posting while I’m away I’ve created the first radioKRUD Virtual Mix CDâ„¢! It’s a zip file (84 MB! set some time aside for the download!) of a mix of several different songs that would be perfect for a mix on its own. This one in particular is titled “Music to Jetset By”… the overall tone of the album is generally loungeish / jazzy music that make me think of travelling (especially in airplanes). While I’ve got several dozen more songs that make me feel the same way, I tried to go for a relaxing tone on this mix, and arranged a few in the order of the things they remind me corresponding to an actual trip.

Track Listing (click the album covers to buy each cd – with a large mix like this I strongly urge you to buy the albums these songs are from, or at least try to get the individual songs off of Apple’s iTunes store):

1. “The Girl Next Green Door”, LUXURY, Fantastic Plastic Machine
Yeah, yeah, I know I covered FPM just a post or two ago. Hearing this song at the beginning makes me think of elevator / lobby music from the 60s: stale air smelling of cigarettes… plaid suits… fiberglass seats with vinyl cushions… molded plastic furniture… public address systems from which you can’t understand what’s being said… white courtesy phones… and from there the song becomes more sophisticated yet still retains that underlying tone of canned music.

2. “Incident at Gate 7”, Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi, Thievery Corporation
Thievery Corporation is one of those bands who tend to make me want to take a nap. This particular song makes me think of just hanging out in the airport, waiting for my flight, staying cool, calm, and collected while people bustle about. If I could only find someone to follow me around all day every day I’d have so much fun picking out songs for my own soundtrack.

3. “Everybody Ready”, Action Figure Party, Action Figure Party
I always think of the airplane tugs when I hear this song, or I think of taxiing to the runway. I could see this song being used in a commercial for Southwest Airlines, but why Southwest I couldn’t tell you, they just seem like they’d work together. Of all the songs on this mix, this one is probably the odd man out. Compared to the others, this one is more of a jazz than a lounge sound.

4. “Airplane”, The Sound of Music, Pizzicato Five
As the song picks up tempo in the beginning I can think of the plane doing its takeoff roll and rotating at the end of the runway. This one’s catchy, and I had to include this song in the mix even it if wasn’t – the song ends with the sound of jets flying by, making this one completely apropos.

5. “So Nice (Summer Samba)”, Six Degrees 100, Bebel Gilberto
A nice calm song as the plane reaches crusing altitude, dipping over, under, and through the clouds on a nice summer day, the sun illuminating the landscape below.

6. “Toh-Sui”, Ki-Oku, DJ Krush
I really like this album even if most of the songs all run together. This song in particular appeals to me with the brass tones being interspersed. I’ve heard a little bit of other DJ Krush albums and they don’t really sound anything like this particular one, so if you like jazzy/lounge sort of music then this one is a good one to get, but don’t expect all his work to sound like this.

7. “Missione a Bombay”, Jet Sounds Revisted, Nicola Conte / Eddy & Dus Vs. Jazzalektro
I used to work at Tower Records back in the day and one day on the store playlist we had “Bossa Per Due” playing – I liked the music (it kind of reminded me of the in-game music if you’ve ever played The Sims, but the signature track “Jet Sounds” recently became popular due to being used in a certain Joe Boxer commercial), and bought the album. “Jet Sounds Revisted” is a collection of remixes of the different songs on “Bossa Per Due”, so if you enjoy this then I’d recommend checking that album out as well.

8. “Dolphin Dance”, Maiden Voyage, Herbie Hancock
More cruising in-flight music, but this one is more jazz than loungey.

9. “Bright Nights (feat. Yukimi Nagano)”, Waltz for Koop, Koop
I discovered Koop via the “Jet Sounds Revisited” album… nice and soft…

10. “Shadows of Ourselves”
11. “Lebanese Blonde”
12. “Le Monde”
The Mirror Conspiracy, Thievery Corporation
The style of Thievery Corporation gives me more of a feeling of being an international traveler. If I were filthy rich and could afford to travel internationally at the drop of a hat, I’d hire someone to follow me around with a pair of speakers hooked up to this particular album, just so I could have music to set the scene, hahaha…

13. “Il Cerchio Rosso”
14. “Bossa Per Due”
Bossa Per Due, Nicola Conte
See my notes a few paragraphs back about “Bossa Per Due” – the song “Il Cerchio Rosso” really does sound like in game music from The Sims!

15. “Room Service”, The Fifth Release From Matador, Pizzicato Five
Just the thing to relax to when you finally arrive at your hotel, stretched out on the bed with your shoes kicked off!

So that’s the mix – I had to take the other songs I’ve posted off to fit this up, but I think that the mix in this one makes up for it. Like I said, most of the songs are of a jazzy/loungey type, so if that’s not your sort of thing then you might want to steer clear and check out Megs’ post about The Rutles instead.

See you when I get back!