Comfort

[swoof]

What CDs, records or tapes do you listen to when you just need to reframe yourself? My top 3 are like this:

London Calling always kicks my ass in some way I need my ass kicked even when I don't know it.

Icky Mettle and Bee Thousand both set me free when I feel stagnant.

Let It Bleed and Hunky Dory always make me feel human when I need to be.

Comments

[mizchriz]

This is an interesting post. I don't really have one thing I listen to in times of dot dot dot. The only thing that would come close is the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack when things are so absurdly awful I just need to laugh for a minute. I usually only get through a song or two, and then I'm fixed

[swoof]

Great responses from both of you. I understand the time & place specificity of music and if I wanted to I could write a year's worth of posts on mood music. For example, when I'm on an airplane about to take off I need to hear "Here's Your Future" by the Thermals and if the flight attendant busts me for operating an electronic device during take-off that song still plays in my head. When I need to forget about the last 12 years of my life for awhile there is a whole battery of songs that help me do that. These are just really big picture soundtracks that I've had with me for about 15 years or more.

[annieokie]

i listen to In The Aeroplane Over the Sea to remember the first "indie" record that i fell in love with. it has every element of music that i adore. similarly, beirut seems to be doing that for me nowadays, too.

Elliott Smith (Either/Or) also takes me back, and it happens to be great music to listen to at this time of year in portland. you can really feel his melancholy.

Belle & Sebastian (If You're Feeling Sinister/Fold Your Hands.../Tigermilk)has a calming effect on me.

But if i reallly want to feel grounded in this world and surround myself with music that is like a security blanket, i put on Simon & Garfunkel. the Bridge Over Troubled Water album is so comforting, as is Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme (the album, not just the song). i know all the words and they make me feel at home wherever i hear them.

this is a really hard question, though, because for me there is a soundtrack for every moment in my life. it really just depends where i want to go.