Life Ain't Nothing But A Good Groove/A Good Mix Tape To Put Me In The Right Mood

Sometimes, the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. I found this out on a road trip to New York with my best friend this past weekend.

The deal was that Nikki would drive, but I would be in charge of the music. For me, it gets no better than that. I've said before, I'm a big believer in the art of the mix. If that were an actual job, it's the only one I'd ever want. I don't have occasion to make them much these days, but when I do I like to spend a lot of time deciding what to open with, striking a good balance between up tempo songs with slow songs and including songs from different periods. It's all very High Fidelity.

But on Thursday night, I found myself short on time and needed to hastily throw together a few mixes for the car. I made an 80s mix of shameless feel good tunes like Don't Stop Believin', Faith and Shelia E's Glamorous Life. That's right. You heard me. Fucking Shelia E.

We were also armed with Hot Rod's best of 2000, 2003 and 2005 mixes, which translated nicely through Baltimore and Philadelphia. And then there was this mix, which I unimaginatively titled "Road" on my iTunes library. There's not much of a theme to it, other than music I've had in heavy rotation that would bridge our musical tastes and would power us through the Garden State Parkway and beyond. It's not particularly cool. Robert Christgau, Sasha Frere-Jones or whatever would not approve. But somehow, the songs worked together on a long drive. They are: