"Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes"

Presently the highlight of my work day is the ten mile commute, which depending on traffic takes anywhere from fifteen to forty five minutes (yesterday an accident on the bridge into Newington stretched the ride home to almost ninety minutes). I've learned to pack an extra snack for the drive and I've been using the time to rediscover some old favorite albums.

This week's soundtrack:


Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid: Bob Dylan Soundtrack - If I could only take five Bob Dylan albums with me to a deserted island, PG&BtK wouldn't make the cut. Give me six and this shambling, ambient afterthought would be a lock. Three chord instrumentals bleed into three chord western fairy tales ad nauseam - multiple songs named "Billy" with only the slightest of variations - but the effect as a whole is oddly moving. Having seen the movie definitely improves the experience; every time I hear the opening of "Knocking on Heaven's Door," I see Slim Pickens, gut-shot and brokenhearted, staggering down to the river to die in his baby's arms and I get all choked up.

Key track: "Final Theme," woodwinds carry the melody and Dylan harmonizes a wordless, moaning eulogy for the dying West.




Illmatic - Nas - "Stop fucking around and be a man" advises the intro sample (from the graffiti film Wild Style) and stuck in traffic, pondering the wrinkles in my business casual attire, the grim existentialism of Illmatic resonates in a far different way than it was probably intended to. Illmatic stands head and shoulders over other hip hop classics in both lyrical and production consistency; the beats are uniformly forceful and Nas transitions seamlessly from documentary style street narratives to metaphysical musings. No skits, no bullshit dance tracks for MTV, just line after line of tough, thoughtful hip-hop.

Key Track: "Life's a Bitch," AZ and Nas trade verses about a world where "fuck who's the baddest/a person's status depends on salary."



What's in your car or on your headphones on the way to and from work?

This American Life: Prom

This American Life is my favorite program on NPR. It's amazing for many reasons, it doesn't tackle political issues like many NPR programs. There are no bi-partisanship arguments, it's an easy going, nearly relaxing hour of radio. Creator Ira Glass has developed one of the most interesting and captivating radio programs on the air waves. A long time correspondent for many public radio shows, Ira Glass finally and deservedly got his own program syndicated in 1996 broadcasting from WEBZ in Chicago and it's been entertaing listeners ever since. Every Sunday I set my radio dial in my car to 89.1 at 3:00 just to listen to stories of average American people who run into interesting events. It relates to everyone and it can either make you laugh, smile or cry. There are many episodes that stick out in my mind but a couple of weeks ago This American Life reran (sp?) a four act show about proms. Personally my prom was less than average, I really didn't even want to go--I remember I had to awkwardly and nervously drive my date in her Father's massive pick-up truck. These stories were particularly interesting to me for not only their somewhat intense subject matter but also for nostalgic reasons, memories of high school,why prom sucks, why after prom is awesome because you are 17 or 18 and get to drink massive amounts of alcohol and make terrible mistakes, etc. Here is a link to the show Episode 186: Prom. You can listen to it there, I hope you enjoy it and perhaps you can recall how awful or awesome YOUR prom was.

This American Life airs on NHPR every sunday at 3.