Free Comp: Meditations on a 1:45 Commute

[noddin0ff]

I’m offering up a comp again. You can download [1] lossless flac files, [2] a bandwidth friendly .zip file of 256kbps VBR MP3 (still very good quality), or [3] you can PM me and a disk will arrive eventually. I’ve been wanting to try to make this for a while and it turned out to be rather difficult for me. I had several themes in mind and they ended up competing with each other.

Sometimes I get up in the morning and I just wonder what kind of day it’s going to be. And, sometimes the whole day goes by and I’m still not sure. This comp more or less riffs on that theme. It started with the Song de Jour thread and thinking about the first track of this comp (a song that frequently enters my head when I start my working week). I have a long commute 15min by car, 1 hour by train, 20 min by subway. Each way. I usually start moving before 6am, and I’m not a morning person. I get a long time to stare out the window and at my fellow commuters, and to think about work. I put my work related comments in { } in the file titles. I'm sure I screwed up the file tags somehow, so if you need to know what the song is and who did it, you should confirm below.

I wondered if I could make a comp that was inspired by funk, related to work and commuting, and generally had songs that either motivated me or picked at my lack of motivation. So there you go. Ironic funk, transportation work tunes. I do like my job; I just have a warped sense of introspection.

Comments appreciated!

Total time is about 69mins.

For the low bandwidth, portable music crowd theres a single 71.8Mb download

Meditations MP3.zip (256 VBR mp3) (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4rnxy7nvpau)



For the lossless crowd, you can get the individual files in flac format

01 {5AM} Go To Work (Alternate Version) : Revolution Compared to What? (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jtg1hz8ebqa)

02 {Why do people talk so loud} Ya Ya : Bullfrog (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lzczyyzxnyo)

03 {First work thoughts of the day} Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb On Me : Charles Mingus (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?bn5m8x15xig)

04 {stare out the window} Multi-Family Garage Sale (Bargain-Bin Mix) : Land of the Loops (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aibywyb3alf)

05 {wake up and smell the coffee} The Revolution Will Not Be Televised : Gil Scott-Heron (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yixwcsnu1j4)

06 {Does the smile precede happiness} Beautiful Day : Spider Harrison (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?narxqbicgfn)

07 {The upside of a paycheck} Chevrolet : Taj Mahal (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?hlgmjzoknoa)

08 {a lot of people just got on the train} Denny's Village Rundown : Galactic (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ybyxmuggha5)

09 {chill} Brown Funk (For Ray) : Christian McBride (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gzypjtqgxkc)

10 {job transitions. contemplate} The Things That I Used To Do : G. Love and Special Sauce (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?f6eikur4yrn)

11 {the downside of a paycheck, or lack of} Cheap Thrills (Underdog Remix) : New Kingdom (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?hynxi0trxkg)

12 {somethings are just out of my control. accept} That's The Way : Tom Waits (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ort9dff0m4d)

13 {focus} Ca-Ba-Dab : Soul Swingers (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5vwhrwprm0d)

14 {challenge self, make difference} Where Y'all At : Wynton Marsalis (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?cdeujrngn1g)

15 {challenge self, don't be lazy} What About You (In The World Today) : Go-Real Artists (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?9hsnxdwwscr)

16 {lol, stick it to the man} Understanding Marx : Red Shadow (The Economics Rock & Roll Band (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?svr4tkj62kf)

17 {be kind to people you work with, even idiots} Tenderness : Galactic (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wi0wcmzak9t)

18 {sick day} Where Were You : The Lounge Lizards (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dbgnpmwcs2q)

[noddin0ff]

Don't be afraid. It won't bite.

[bobsticks]

Good comp. Manages to be fun and still convey a certain ennui. You sure you're not goin' through a midlife crisis? Mebbe a hobby would help. You should shoot things.

I did the rip and burn last night and checked it out during a long day at the office. Very appropriate. Around the time G. Love started jammin' one of my office assistants poked her head in through the door to ask if it was alright to drop off some papers. When I raised my eyebrow to her inquiry she added that over the last several minutes---during the "Brown Funk"---she was sure I was watching a porno.


---sticks

[noddin0ff]

Apparently, a 6 chicklet endorsement pulls some weight around here! Views and downloads doubled within 24 hours of the might bobsticks blessing. Cracks me up.

Man, I keep wanting to get a pellet gun so as to target practice on the large chipmunk population in my back yard but negative WAF on that. Would be good though. Can't vent through road rage on a train either, dammit. Did transit through a spell of midlife recently, triggered by lack of professional direction,and I'm sure some of this is an echo of that. Nowadays life is good. Love my job despite the additional 1:30 it added to my commute. an hour and forty-five minutes one way is a mind bender though. Never thought it would be me. I read a lot of books now. My little corner of my literary life is at pagesonmymind.blogspot.com . Nothin' fancy. it is what it is.

Glad you enjoy it. I don't think ennui is accurate though. Some songs have a bit of a detached outside looking in at the inside perspective; but many of the songs I interpret as direct calls to get my ass in gear and make a positive difference in the world. I like my introspection with more irony than ennui.

You didn't ask her if she had any video recs?

[bobsticks]

Apparently, a 6 chicklet endorsement pulls some weight around here! Views and downloads doubled within 24 hours of the might bobsticks blessing. Cracks me up.

Mebbe not. I purposely referenced G. Love who has gotten a little chatter recently and, c'mon, just the word "porno" is golden for clicks. It's marketing 101. Besides it deserves it, it's a good comp. We don't get enough bluesy, poppy, funk 'round here.


Man, I keep wanting to get a pellet gun so as to target practice on the large chipmunk population in my back yard but negative WAF on that. Would be good though. Can't vent through road rage on a train either, dammit. Did transit through a spell of midlife recently, triggered by lack of professional direction,and I'm sure some of this is an echo of that. Nowadays life is good. Love my job despite the additional 1:30 it added to my commute. an hour and forty-five minutes one way is a mind bender though. Never thought it would be me. I read a lot of books now. My little corner of my literary life is at pagesonmymind.blogspot.com . Nothin' fancy. it is what it is.

I'm readin' yer mail. Down here you don't brandish anything unless it's go time...better bust dat if you gon pull dat...and I'd kill for a train. Okay, maybe not. I'm doing forty-five each, I can't imagine tacking another hour onto that. It all leads to thoughts divergent from convention.



Glad you enjoy it. I don't think ennui is accurate though. Some songs have a bit of a detached outside looking in at the inside perspective; but many of the songs I interpret as direct calls to get my ass in gear and make a positive difference in the world. I like my introspection with more irony than ennui.

You didn't ask her if she had any video recs?

Ennui or detachment, it's your comp brotha-man, interpret as you will. For me it hit like a P-Funk album mixed with Robotussin and some K-Tel "Commercial Hits of the Seventies"...and that's cool. I burned the MP3 version for heavy rotation in the car.

You wanna make a difference? Help somebody...anybody. Pick the most overlooked, undervalued person around and make their life better, although recognizing that my work is more social than yours maybe you'll have to go a different way with it.

Something substantive to be sure, perhaps curing cancer. Those sphingosine kinase inhibitors need some love...

...and, no, I didn't ask her. I suspect she got rid of her tapes fifteen years and three kids ago. I don't need to be in therapy.

[noddin0ff]

Yeah, 1:45 by train vs 1:10 by car. Train still wins.

Actually, though, I'd love to get some better funk exposure. Consider this a plea to anyone listening to put one together. And preferably one with balls. I've got some best of albums (Parliment, George Clinton, The Meters. I like the Meters best) but they just don't do it for me, too tidy. I hail from Country music land and missed Funk altogether in my formative years. School me, please.

Anyone up to the challenge of upping a funk comp?

[jasn]

Much obliged for the tunes nodd. Many will be new to my ears.

[noddin0ff]

Much obliged for the tunes nodd. Many will be new to my ears.
You're more than welcome. Hope you enjoy!