03/28/05 -- "Driving Late at Night... Far Away" (Mix)

I spent the weekend with this great mix by Jim aka "Ninodamindboggler" (see track list below) Oh, all right... I wasn't driving late at night -- I was driving smack dab in the middle of the day, but I and my mind were certainly far away, and the drive was long enough to devour this mix and its companion track over more than once.

Taking a long drive is a great way to get some thinking done. (Or some talking, but this drive I did sans other.) You can think about everything, nothing, and interesting permutations inbetween. But I gotta tell you... something happened when I hit track 10. Every time I hit track 10. The first nine tracks let your mind wander wherever it might want to go. Fragments of thought are fine. Stop & mull over a concept, dwell in a memory or three... all those things are supported and carried along on the wave of sound. Listening to this mix, I can certainly put myself mentally into some anonymous vehicle eating up the miles between hither & yon, the night sky yawning endless above you and the road stretching endless before you -- miles of empty pavement cooling slowly from the heat of the day into the comfort of the night....

((track 10 - the flirt)) ... and then, no matter what nameless wandering your mental steps may have done, where they may have taken you.... this playfully insistent little beat lilts across your wandering and brings you full circle back to be right where you are. Your head cocks to one side & one eyebrow reaches for the sky as a smile plays with the corners of your mouth. Teasing little ideas pop enticingly into your head, and you go from miles away to being focused on the here & now. Maybe you have someone sleeping in the seat next to you... maybe they're driving... maybe you even had one of those magic encounters at a late night diner or a roadhouse bar along the way & on the spur of the moment brought them with you... but while for miles you've been miles away, now you've got ideas. Playful ideas. An impish grin does a little jig over your soul and you begin a lilting little dance of attraction with them as the miles speed away beneath the wheels of your car. Flirting.. teasing... playing... then track 11 comes along, and the game is truly afoot.

((track 11 - the dance)) The impish flirt segues into a more intimate dance. Still a game, still there's a bit of flirt to it, but the vibe has become a more serious one. From a quirky "hey, you over there... you're kinda cute", it's become a dance of "hey, ya wanna?" Picture/feel the intensity of two flamenco dancers, eyes locked intensely on one another... intricate steps of body and soul, passion building...

((track 12 -- engagement)) Yeah, ya wanna. Maybe by now you've pulled the car over into some private curve of trees, moonlight bathing the remote location... maybe neither of you notice the summer breeze or the smell of asphalt, but the beat provides a rhythm, and perhaps you do notice - albeit briefly - that the hood of the car is warm under your naked skin...

((track 13 -- denouement)) I can't quite decide whether this is the work of a cunning linguist, or whether it is simply that indefinable place your mind races to... retreats to... when sensation goes beyond words, when time itself slows, and material things around you become at once more poignant, more intimate, and yet utterly superflous -- an altered, slow mental and physical scream of passion...

((track 14 -- afterglow)) Reality. Two people apart, a little lazy, sweetly flushed. Now you do notice the warm summer's breath as it cools the sweat on your skin. You hear the engine clicking as it too cools under you. Comradarie... small touches, you help one another dress. Perhaps you smile at the moon as you take one last look around to lock the memory in your head. One more slow kiss with Luna's blessing. Get back in the car, start it up, and hit the road again. Holding hands now, silent but reconnected, relaxed... once again the road rolls away under rubber, mile after mile....

((track 15 -- back to the world)) I don't know.. maybe you dropped off your passenger? Say your goodbyes... maybe your "til later"s, but shake off the enoui. You're sharper, keener. Refreshed. Move on.

1. The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You
2. Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth
3. Sinead O'Conner - Jerusalem
4. South - Paint the Silence
5. Rolling Stones - Time Waits For No One
6. Talk Talk - Inheritance
7. Clan of Xymox - Medusa
8. Supremes - Reflections
9. Skylab - Seashell
10. Paul Simon - Can't Run But
11. Los Lobos - Kiko and the Lavender Moon
12. Amon Tobin - Down & To the Left
13. Radiohead - Like Spinning Plates
14. Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
15. Interpol - Untitled
16. Q. Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses
17. Les Paul & Mary Ford - How High the Moon