Happy Friday!
It really is. Last night Hillary Clinton became the first woman to accept the Democratic party’s nomination for US president—See Quartz’s DNC coverage here!—and today’s dispatch comes on my first morning on the road from the California redwoods to Portland, Oregon.
This week, I wrote about the pleasure of listening to full albums in the streaming age. As technology makes my media diet of shows, movies, reading, and music increasingly à la carte, the idea of pressing play, putting down my phone, and spending 45 minutes with a single artist’s work is increasingly attractive. Call it the Lemonade effect.
There may be no better conditions for listening to albums than in a moving car, with miles of highway stretched out ahead. Ethan Hein, a professor of music technology at NYU, added to my list of reasons for rocking out this way on a road trip: We can give an opus the attention it deserves, car speakers sound way better than earbuds, and let’s be real, who wants to make a playlist?
Paul Simon already made me a playlist. It’s called Graceland. Musicians have already sweated the sequencing on their albums, and they likely are better equipped to do it than we are. Simon’s 1986 masterpiece Graceland is a perennial road trip favorite not just because the songwriting is genius, but because it hangs seamlessly as a 50-minute piece of music. Ethan said it follows a pretty classic album structure: Hook the listener early with a hit (“Boy in the Bubble)—but not the hit of the album (“Call Me Al”)—put the heavier, more introspective songs in the middle (“Under African Skies,” “Homeless”), and leave them with something upbeat (“All Around the World”). Beyoncé’s Lemonade follows a similar structure.
If you’ve got a trip coming up—or just want to settle in with some albums this weekend while you garden, clean, or cook—I queued up a handful for the week ahead. There are more in my story, and of course, lists of classics at Rolling Stone and new releases at Pitchfork. Thanks to those of you who sent in suggestions! (Late addition love for Introducing Karl Blau, compliments of Quartz’s new photo editor, Johnny Simon!)
For singing along: Madonna, The Immaculate Collection
Turn your car into a karaoke machine, and before you know it, two hours will have passed. Ethan pointed out there’s a certain art to a well-executed greatest hits collection—the order, the finite selection—and this one is indeed immaculate.
For chilling out: Willie Nelson, Stardust
Willie (at top) croons the classics including “What a Wonderful World,” “Stormy Weather,” and “Georgia on My Mind.” The kids might fall asleep—but you shouldn’t.
For staying awake: Neu, Neu!
This one came from Quartz’s senior Europe correspondent, Jason Karaian, who opened my eyes to the weird, wonderful German world of Krautrock: “This is the musical manifestation of engines, assembly lines, and industry,” says Jason.”Make every trip one down the Autobahn.”
For bumping the bass: Chance the Rapper, Coloring Book
Hip-hop’s sound structure makes it sound particularly awesome on car stereos, Ethan explained: heaviest on the bass and the trebles, but light in the mid-range, where a lot of the engine noise is. So a road trip is perfect for falling in love with a new album like Coloring Book, which is too good to waste on your earbuds.
For nostalgia’s sake: Fleetwood Mac, Tango in the Night
“Familiarity breeds fondness,” Ethan said. When I was little, this was one of a few tapes my mom had in constant rotation. It has slightly deeper cuts than Rumors or the live hits on The Dance, but a forward momentum all its own. Sharing old favorites with your co-pilots is a great way to venture into each other’s pasts. Just make sure you’re not torturing them with your most obscure obsessions. It’s more fun when everyone can sing along.
We always have Graceland.
While I’m away next week, I’ll leave you in the able hands of Quartzy’s designer and my co-pilot, Elan Kiderman.
Have a great weekend, and keep your eyes on the road!
Exploring new places can make the summer feel longer. Marc Wittman, the author of Felt Time: The Psychology of How We Perceive Time, gave the LA Review of Books one more great reason for road-tripping, describing a phenomenon he called ”the classic holiday effect:”
The first few days at a new and exotic location stretch considerably. That is, because we experience so many novel and exciting and emotional events, memory load increases; time stretches. Then as the days of our vacation (staying at the same place) pass by, time passes more quickly. What was initially novel becomes an everyday experience; the same events experienced every day are no longer stored in memory with any particularity (the same beach, the same bars, the same streets …) and looking back, time passes more quickly again.
Here’s to uncharted territory!