Back on the road, at last. This time it’s off to South Waziristan with Imran Khan. So it’s time for another safari soundtrack.
Blitzkrieg Bop, The Ramones – the best opening track to an album ever, not to mention the best opening song of an entire new musical movement ever, so that’s good enough for me
The Mercy Seat, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – the measuring of truth, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, suggests a form of justice (though brutal) and due process denied to victims of drone strikes
Dance Me to the End of Love, Madeleine Peyroux – one of those covers that, dare I say, improves on the original. And its macabre content works
Rainy Night in Soho, The Pogues – you want an epic song filled with self-aware melancholy? check
Hold My Hand, UNKLE – this sounds like great road trip music
Rocket USA, Suicide – you get the picture
Ten Thousand Miles, Eliza Carthy – by the time I listen to this I expect we will still be stuck on the outskirts of Islamabad and already a good couple of hours behind schedule
Frozen GTR, Thurston Moore – I once wrote something pretentious about listening to Sonic Youth in war zones
Escalator Over the Hill, Talulah Gosh – not very twee but just the thing for mountainous vistas
Blowback, Asian Dub Foundation – not sure they’ve ever quite matched the anger of Rafi’s Revenge, but I do like this. And it’s pretty furious. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with the message
Bad Blood, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – and let’s take it up a notch
Just Like Zeus, Jenny and Johnny – you want a crescendo? Well let’s take it down again and leave you all wanting more. And goodnight. No encores.
