This Week's Commute Playlist - 9/29 Edition

When I'm in town, I have about a 30 minute commute from the sticks where I live into the city where I work.  While driving to work, I pretty much never listen to the radio.  If there's anything that I'm a bigger fan of than videogames, it's music.  My office at home has frighteningly high stacks of CDs, records, and tapes that I've aquired over the years.  In addition to the easily couple thousand CDs I own, I have a couple 120GB hard drives filled with digital music that I've aquired over the years from eMusic, Audiolunchbox, AllofMp3, and other various other sources.  So, I have plenty to choose from and keep me occupied on my trek to work and back - I can usually play through about 7-8 albums a week in the car, depending on length.  Here's what's been on my playlist this week:

REM - AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE - I pull this one out at the beginning of every Fall.  For some reason I've always associated this album with Fall.  The two closing tracks, "Nightswimming" and "Find the River" rank up there with just about any other classic pop songs you can think of.

THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING (LEGACY EDITION) - I listen to this one at least once every couple months.  They've often been called "Punk", but there are so many styles of music on this one album.  Quite possibly the BEST.ALBUM.EVER.

THE DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS - DECORATION DAY - One of my favorites from this great band.  If you like 70's Skynyrd, check them out.

MASTODON - BLOOD MOUNTAIN - I picked this up a couple weeks ago.  It's a beast of an album, and probably the best Metal album I've heard this year.

HANK WILLIAMS III - STRAIGHT TO HELL - Old school outlaw country that sticks it's middle finger up at Nashville.

OPETH - BLACKWATER PARK - I keep coming back to this Swedish Death/Progressive Metal album time and time again.  I'm intrigued by how one album can be both beautiful and evil at the same time - it contains both lovely sounding acoustic passages followed by some of the most monsterous riffs you'll ever hear.

TEENAGE FANCLUB - A SHORT CUT TO TEENAGE FANCLUB - Essentially a greatest hits album, it's got most of their best stuff all in one place.  If you're a fan of "Power Pop" music, thought the Beatles could have used a little more feedback, or felt like Cheap Trick's "Surrender" was the best thing to come out of the 70's you have to check these guys out.

DRAGONFORCE - INHUMAN RAMPAGE - This album is hilarious!  It's so over the top you can't help but love it.  On the surface it's amped up Power Metal about dragons, elves, and shit.  But the guitar playing on this record is a technical marvel.  I had no idea human beings could play a guitar as fast as these guys do.  If you like (a lot) of cheese in your metal, admire insane guitar work, don't mind lyrics about wizards and gnomes, and get a chuckle out of song titles like "Operation Ground and Pound", than these guys are right up your alley.