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Music and the Road

By Tom Southam • 11th August 2011 03:30pm • Posted in Misc

I have been trying to expand my musical horizons lately; I have been listening to nothing but Tom Waits for two weeks. Funny thing is I always knew I would like Tom Waits, but it’s been one of those things that took me a long time to arrive at. The trouble with Tom though is that he isn’t really cycling music, and I have noticed that these days my best chance to really listen to music isn’t at home when I am always fiddling away with some writing or some other such distraction, it is in fact when I am in splendid isolation on my bicycle.

While I have a strong bent towards songs by men with deep voices and less than sunny dispositions, that kind of stuff just doesn’t work when you are trying to put one pedal in front of the other.

I have been trying for many years to work out the key ingredients to the type of stuff I can listen to while I train. I’ve spent so many days trying to get it right and too many days putting my faith in the ‘shuffle’ function of my iPod which, of course, doesn’t shuffle at all. It merely seems to find tracks that I don’t like and play them when I am climbing and can’t possibly get to my iPod to change tracks.

I read Brian Eno once saying that the hardest thing to create with music is joy. I would say that elusive element is exactly what makes the kind of music that you need in the saddle. Yet as my fruitless attempts at listening to reggae on the bike have proven, it has to be the right kind of joy.

I’m not really into any music in the "euphoric"-type genres, nor do I want the kind of thumping tunes I would sweat to in a club invading my earphones on the road. I know that many do, but that is just not me. I have this thing about listening to a voice, I don’t care what language it is in, I just need a voice; I need some direction from a human being.

While a voice is good and I enjoy the mental stimulation of some clever lyrics, I don’t need to listen to wordy folk songs about a civil war or some such challenge. Directness is key with words; I like them, like my riding, to be efficient, as opposed to rambling, which is something you do when you go walking.

So, for me, it can get quite precise: I want something uplifting and I want to hear someone singing with feeling, but without taking too many words to do it. The things that seem to fit the bill oddly are still quite diverse, and once I find something that works, I can tend to play it to death.

Cycling music is something you have to be able to play over and over without getting sick of. It reminds me of when I was young and would only have one or two cassettes to my name (things are a lot easier when you only have a cassette of ‘Born in the USA’ backed up by Dire Straits ‘Making Movies’ to your name). I remember talking to Jez Hunt about this late one night, and I wish I could remember the name of the cassette he said he had with him at the Junior Tour of Lorraine - he told me he loved it so much that he only took the one cassette with him and just played it over and over. He also won the Tour of Lorraine, just for the record. It was just what you did when you were a kid. Like life, though, it just gets more complicated.

Choices can also depend on my general mood (which, if I’m honest, doesn’t really change much - I ride happy, not angry) and what type of riding I might be doing. Contrary to many peoples idea, I don’t ever use music if I am doing an effort or a hard session. I find that I really have to concentrate if I’m training hard. On those days it’s just a quick loud burst of something with at least three guitars while I get changed and out the front door.

Most of my music listening is done either in the brief twenty minutes it takes me to get to the bunch in the mornings (for the record, anyone who continues to listen to music in one earphone on bunch rides – you should be ashamed of yourselves) or on the long sorties I make alone into the country on my endurance days.

Music will always be such a personal choice, but for me there is one track that I could loop ad infinitum to accompany me on any ride: Minstrel Boy by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros. It is just perfect for me: a few sparse barked vocals and an incredible piece of music that just seems to fit the sum of the conditions, my particular humour and the motion of bike riding.

While old Tom Waits might make me feel uneasy in the saddle, it’s good to know there are plenty of other tunes out there that can be the perfect compliment to bike riding, and that I know I will thoroughly enjoy the continuing search of those ideal cycling tunes.

Comments

Ian Winfield

11th August 2011 04:26pm

The splendid isolation of riding a bicycle, should only be interrupted by the song of a bird, the moo of a cow or the roar of a lorry.
Man and machine can only ever be in tune with their surroundings, without a set of headphones on.

Joe Hall

11th August 2011 05:46pm

Fair comment, Ian. But I think, like the helmet debate, it's up to the individual, isn't it?

Stephen Cooper

11th August 2011 05:49pm

Try Zonoscope by Cut Copy. Euphoric AND voices. Great!

Matthew Jensen

11th August 2011 06:10pm

No, Ian is right here. Rule 62.

Dan Lucas

11th August 2011 06:24pm

Don't forget Ted Leo's Parallel Or Together?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSkOsb-qcNI

Joe Hall

11th August 2011 06:26pm

For anyone who does not know what Matthew is referring to, see: http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/

Tom Southam

11th August 2011 07:25pm

Cut Copy, Ted Leo - Excellent stuff.. More of that!

As far as the headphones or not debate, as it does not directly cause harm to anyone but the individual I'm afraid I think it should be a personal choice. I feel very strongly against the idea that people have to be prohibited from doing things for their own sake. We should all take responsibility for ourselves. I personally and have trained for countless hours on the roads, and feel that I am confident enough that headphones will not cause me harm (no one, NO ONE actually wants to crash or to feel unsafe) and I feel I should be allowed to do so.. I take full responsibility for myself day in and day out, driving the car, crossing the road and so forth, as should everyone. Only a fool would say that they don't make riding more dangerous and I don't always have them in, but when I do, I do so taking into account the added risk that wearing them brings.

As for these here 'rules'… There is over sixty of them? Over SIXTY.. My word.

Corey Tracey

11th August 2011 07:57pm

Rules huh?

David Bayendor

11th August 2011 10:03pm

The so-called rules at http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/, are filled with both wisdom and dogmatic thinking. Those who subscribe to the so called rule holism (there are 85 of them for goodness sake), seem to be only a small fraction. They should be taken for what they are, sound advice combined with tongue in cheek humor.

That being said, if you are able to dish out some serious riding (the so called "V") then you can break almost any rule you like…

Christopher Dougherty

11th August 2011 11:23pm

If you like Tom Waits, you might also enjoy Mark Lanegan and the Screaming Trees (Lanegan's band before his solo work).

Robert Lew

12th August 2011 12:38am

"rules are for those lacking in confidence"
http://www.rapha.cc/rules-are-rules

Mike Owen

12th August 2011 02:00am

at the risk of showing my age: Felicity by the Orange Juice. Tom, I think you know where I stand.
Night riding with headphones on and a full moon is one of the great joys.

Tom Southam

12th August 2011 08:18am

Bang on Rob.. I've only really had one rule: Be wary of the racer who has a beard. That is because the pro cycling 'rules' are so very strict about riders not having facial hair that any rider that does so either a) doesn't give a damn because they are going so slowly they are likely to be fired at any minute, or b) doesn't give a fuck because they are going so damn fast they can do whatever they want.

Which goes some way to proving the only real rule that there is in bike riding - if you are going fast you can do whatever you want.

Now this band Orange Juice…….

John Heaton-Armstrong

12th August 2011 08:57am

There is only one album that you need for riding to

Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France_Soundtracks

PAUL WITTE

12th August 2011 12:19pm

I agree with Ian .

Lars Bo Hansen

12th August 2011 01:43pm

James Brown works - the old funky stuff. Going hard a dark winter morning in the cold with the music up load and no one else on the road. That is it ..

Brian Palmer

12th August 2011 01:53pm

jazz. but never on the bike.

b

robert dynowski

12th August 2011 03:12pm

Brian,

jazz but never on a bike? Have done 20 miles this morning on a local loop just to keep my legs spinning and enjoyed it all the more listening to Coltrane's version of "my favourite things" followed by Blue Train. Just fitted my mood…

robert dynowski

12th August 2011 03:25pm

Brian,

jazz but never on a bike? Have done 20 miles this morning on a local loop just to keep my legs spinning and enjoyed it all the more listening to Coltrane's version of "my favourite things" followed by Blue Train. Just fitted my mood…

Keith Snyder

12th August 2011 06:48pm

I don't usually get a feeling of joy from joyful music. I do sometimes get it when the music allows room for my own joy to come out. For me, that tends to be minimalist artsy noise (Alvo Nota, Oval). If it's a foggy sunrise on a county road in rural New Jersey, so much the better.

Since I'm safety-conscious, I don't wear headphones on brevets. Since I'm not monomaniacal, I will sometimes on a bike path.

Mike Owen

13th August 2011 01:19am

Brian,

'Bongo Jazz a speciality'

Tom,

Orange Juice. I'll send you a Postcard to explain, they're good - I like them.

philip deeker

13th August 2011 03:26pm

i usually prefer the birds too, but not sure they will be spinning their jukebox in the dark hours i will soon be dealing with at P-B-P. so i'm taking my pod for when the demons get too scary, hoping that "The Name of This Band is Talking Heads" will keep me….alive. Maybe a bit of Animal Collective when things get out of control…

philip deeker

13th August 2011 03:29pm

btw : thanks for a great read tom. listening to my favourite Tom Waits now. ta for reminding me how special he is.

steven nereo

13th August 2011 08:13pm

I make mixes of jamaican 45s so I can bike to them. Have some:

http://singleape.com/45s/

Tom Southam

13th August 2011 10:58pm

Steven, too kind.. I have picked a few and will get them straight on, they sound damn fine from an initial probe. Thanks so much, and in fact to anyone who has suggested music, I have been getting an education here. Really cool.

Mike Owen

14th August 2011 01:59am

The Name of this Band is..Talking Heads. That is a great album, I'm off to find my cassette of it.

Jonathan Woodroof

14th August 2011 09:51pm

hell yeah, thanks Steven!

Joe Hall

15th August 2011 10:39am

Steven! Thanks! You've made my Monday. Just listening to the BIg Youth 45s. BIG. I too find reggae-roots-dancehall-dub etc. gives me a good climbing skank!

Dan Shannon

15th August 2011 01:23pm

Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence

Not everyone's cup of tea, I will admit, but this Detroit-inspired Warp recording has been about the only thing on my iPod for riding for at least 2 years. It's beat is about perfect for going up big hills…

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