1. Out Of The Heat – Fluke
I've always wanted to make a short film of a crazy chase through a city with this as the soundtrack.
2. The Great London Traffic Warden Massacre – Morcheeba
I listen to a lot of Morcheeba, mostly for Skye Edwards' voice which I think is magical. Ironically, this is my favourite of their songs.
**FYI: I misnamed this on the cover of the CD. My bad. Please adjust accordingly.
3. In the Bath – Lemon Jelly
"What do you do in the bath?" What strange question to pose, huh? I've tried it a few times; some of the answers I received made me giggle. Others just scared me.
4. War (Rocky IV) – Vince DiCola
I listen to A LOT of movie soundtracks when I write. I got most of them from iTunes so I couldn't include them (also, a soundtrack disc has already been done). This particular ditty is the score for the Balboa-Drago fight on Christmas Eve in Moscow. Definitely the best bout of the Italian Stallion's career.
5. A Fifth of Beethoven – Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
This was my first foray into classical music (my parents were disco freaks). You can only imagine how disappointed I was when I started taking piano lessons and learned how the great pieces of yesteryear were supposed to sound.
6. Experiment – MC Kilo and Mr. Dan
In 2004, the office computer I was given came with Garage Band. One day, my friend Kieron and I started futzing around with it. This was the first of six songs we created with the loops that came with the program. As a point of interest, it was MC Kilo who named me Mr. Dan.
7. Pick Up The Pieces – Average White Band
There's a scene in Superman II (1980) when Clark Kent, having relinquished his super powers to be with Lois Lane, gets his ass whooped in a diner. For some reason, the song playing in the background always stuck with me, but I never knew its name. Years later, I heard it as part of a Best of the 1970s radio countdown, rushed to Napster and downloaded the first copy I could find (hence the skip at 2:18).
8. The Lonely Shepherd – Gheorghe Zamfir
Before Canadian advertisers figured out how to infiltrate commercial breaks on American channel feeds, we used to get all the great infomercials (and no matter what they were hocking, they all had the same number: 1-800-257-1257). One of the more heavily rotated products was Zamfir, Master of the Panflute – definitely not a moniker you'd want to have if you were in jail.
9. Layla (Pt 2) - Derek and the Dominoes
I never understood what this piece of music had to do with the lyrical, first part of the song. Either way, it mesmerized me the first time I heard it, and has been ever since. It seemed to have a similar effect on Martin Scorcese, who has used it in too many films to count.
10. In The Dawn - Robert Miles
This is off the "Dreamland" CD – a must have for anyone who's into trance music. Incidentally, Robert Miles is Italian. You wouldn't think that, would you? Kind of like no one thought John Cabot was Italian. That always blew my mind in middle school.
11. Variations 1-4 – Julian Lloyd Webber
It must've been tough growing up as Andrew's younger brother...
Mrs. LW: Welcome home, boys. How was your day at school?
Julian: I got an A on my history test.
Andrew: I penned a three-act musical during recess.
12. Toxygene (The Way Out West Begbe Mix) – The Orb
I love the freneticism of this track. Like the first song on the album, it would be great for a chase scene (especially with the car horn SFX throughout). If The Orb are still performing live, they're definitely worth seeing – kinda like a Pink Floyd show in triple time.
13. Duende – Delerium
Ending the CD with a little Canadian Content, Delerium is one of my favourite (as opposed to favorite) bands. Trancy and trippy yet mellow and mellifluous, it's perfect writing music. They have four or five albums now, and I strongly recommend them all. Go Canada Go.
