Guide to Better Living

Music to make friends on the All American roadtrip

By: Evan Hill

Posted: 8/26/04

Here's the situation. You're set to go on a road trip or extended vehicle voyage with someone you've recently met. You might consider them a friend or an acquaintance, but the point is you don't know each other very well. While I love road trips, I hate uncomfortable silences, and if you're not careful, a 4-hour drive to Chicago can be chock-full of uncomfortable silences.

However, music being king and we are its serfs, a silent situation with nothing to talk about can be rectified with an appropriate music selection. This guide is written assuming you know nothing about your roadmate's music preference, and they decline to state a preference. Also, you don't have to take my advice on specific albums to play, but keep in mind what traits each album has.

-Nirvana - "Unplugged"

This is one of the few classics my post-MTV generation can truly be proud of. Say what you want about grunge and the cynical angst of the early 1990s; this album is a high-quality mix of obscure covers and Nirvana songs that all translate well into an acoustic setting, which is a feat for a band driven by an overabundance of distortion on the guitars and fierce live shows featuring classic "rock star" antics like cavorting around the stage and yelling and breaking things.

Masterpiece quality aside, what makes this album good for the road is (nearly) everyone knows Nirvana, and almost as many people have something to say about them.

-BLUR - self-titled

Next on my list is Blur's 1997 self-titled album. I've found this to be the definitive mellow mix of crunchy, spacy rock sprinkled with the eccentricities Blur is known for.

I this album is edgy and abrasive enough to keep you awake on the road and mellow enough to ignore if you get a good conversation going.

-Jimi Hendrix - "Electricladyland"

Jimi Hendrix is the only musician I've ever considered capable of pulling off what I call "mellow metal" successfully. While Electricladyland starts off with a rather dissociative spat of experimental 1960s psychedelia, it rapidly shifts into ear candy that can be as smooth as spun silk and hardcore enough to keep generations of rockers searching for the elusive edge Hendrix seemed to have at his beck and call.

Each of these albums have two elements in common: first they feature bands or artists that have made a lasting impact on the music industry, and their work has not yet been discarded. This should provide all the music geeks out there with plenty of nuances to discuss and geek out on (myself included).

Second, they are on the mellow end of the spectrum and don't have sounds the ear would find jarring or abrasive, yet they are not so mellow they would put you to sleep when you need to stay awake to avoid running over those orange cones. This makes listening to and talking over them easy and seamless with no need to adjust the volume.

Road trips are one of the greatest parts of early adulthood, and some of my most cherished memories came from them. When I was 17, Dr. Dre taught me that not all hip-hop sucks and my friends John, Paul, George and Ringo helped me cope with being cooped up with my dad and stepfamily for the 26 hours between Illinois and western Montana.

In all honesty, I love a great conversation; but sometimes, I have trouble talking well with people I've just met. Music has become the wonder-drug of our generation. It cures depression, angst, low sex drive, and it has cured my social anxiety.