With music in my ears

Walking around London at lunch today I started thinking about what music I listen to while I walk. The iPod has revolutionised the way we now ‘consume’ music. With thousands of albums at our fingertips, we can with a few touches of the wheel select whatever music we have to fit our mood. Here are some of my favourite records to listen to depending on my mood.

If I’m going to be in some sort of delicate social situation or if I’ve got an important meeting or presentation at work I always find that a blast of Exile on Main Street does the trick. Their music just pumps you up and makes you want to dance along the pavement. You cannot help but pound the floor with a spring in your step. From the opening riff of ‘Rocks’ and Jagger’s amazing ‘Ohh Yeahhhh’ to the last track, ‘Soul Survivor’, it’s the Stones at their very best. This also works with Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed by the way. It just psyches me up for the day and never fails me in this respect.

Whenever I listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I immediately become introverted and more aware of the sights around me. There is nothing better than sticking YHF on your iPod and melting away to become just another an anonymous office worker. It feels as if I’ve become invisible and that I am watching the madness unfolding around me with a critical eye. It works especially well on foggy and cold mornings. It's a great album to listen to when one's in that particular mood.

Finally, I like to listen to Tom Waits’ recent collection Orphans (expect a review of it on Rockbeatstone soon). An amazing album, it also has the YHF effect of making you feel that you’re watching the world and that no one can see you, however the sheer insanity of what Waits is wailing into your headphones makes you feel like you’re on some bizarre Hunter S Thompson inspired journey. The pavement becomes a circus or a weird carnival. It makes you stop and think about how truly mad the world really is and notice all those little bizarre things that seem to happen for no real reason. I must be walking around with a twisted grin on my face when I listen to this on my iPod.

But what do other people listen to on their iPods? I wish someone would invent some kind of bluetooth thing that could attach itself to my iPod and would let me know what the other commuters are listening to. It might make for some interesting musical choices and it would also act as a ‘cool filtre’, allowing me to immediately assess whether someone is cool or not. I always try and catch a glimpse of whatever track it is people are playing when they bring their iPods out to change songs. I've noticed that it's almost always Coldplay, Kylie or Madonna if they're a young woman.

Do you have any favourite albums or tracks that you listen to more than most on your iPod?

Went to See the Gypsy