VF's Top Ten

I haven't even begun to think about what clothes to bring. The car needs to be cleaned out. I don't even have a To-Do list yet. But I have got my CDs all picked out. Most important things first, ya know.

My CD case will hold about 35, but to simplify matters I thought I would post just my absolute favourites so you know what I'm singin' and hummin' on down the road.

The list, in no order of preference:

1. Watershed - Grievous Angels - great songs about people heading off across the country, mostly in search of work "I'm startin' over at 30 like I did at 25". "And you just don't know, you just don't know, you just don't know how bad I want to go home". One of my favourite bands, the Grievous Angels' driving force is Charlie Angus, now a MP for somewhere up north (way north of the tourist line) and a strong advocate for environmental and human rights. Looks real unnatural in a tie though.

2. Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces - 'cause the name says it all.

3. Joan Osborne - Righteous Love - I don't know a lot about Joan Osborne but she had a major role in the wonderful documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Having grown up across the river from Motor/Murder City, a good fix of the motown sound is always a great idea.

4. Glenn Gould - The Goldberg Variations - an avowed atheist friend of mine once said that the music of Bach is the only convincing argument he's heard for the existence of God. If you play this while looking at a snowy mountain peak or the ocean as the tide is coming in, you'll find a few more arguments. Truly sublime.

5. Rick Reimer - The Killaloe Rastaman - this CD is about finding heaven another way. Before I got this CD, I'd only heard Rick sing around the campfire late at the end of a long night of partying. So when I heard he put out a CD, I was skeptical. It's great, lots of fun and you just can't be sad when you listen to it. Good music and very political -- Rick is a lawyer who is a leader in the fight for the decriminalization of the venerable weed who lives in a place that is like nowhere else on earth.

6. Leonard Cohen - The Future - because his lyrics are divine. And his voice so unique. You don't get much better than "Closing Time" and "Democracy" in terms of evocative poetry.

7. Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room - Beautiful, sensitive, silky, poignant, lyrical and she's from Nanaimo. For quiet nights watching the tide go out and looking at the sun going down (and a bottle of wine if you're stopped for the night).

8. Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women - Live and Uppity - raunchy, insensitive and brutally honest. And did I mention a hell of a lot of fun. The UPW are a group of women in their forties, fifties and sixties who can really growl out a tune. With titles like "Bitch with a Bad Attitude", "Silver Beaver" (yes, it is about what you think it's about ..) and a little number where the chorus goes "I need a young, young man to chase away my middle aged blues.

9. The Best of Emerson Lake and Palmer - Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. I used to love those '70's art rock bands. Then I grew up and realized Rick Wakeman was kinda tacky. But Jethro Tull still rocks (Aqualung should be on this list too but I'm running out of top ten spots). And ELP still really holds up. Even if they forgot to put Benny the Bouncer on the collection. Karn Evil 9 is there, so that almost makes up for it.

10. Parliament's Greatest Hits - heavy funk, wonderful for rush hour traffic where you're not going very far very fast -- you can put the car in neutral and groove with every part of the body that isn't needed to keep the car inching ahead. Or just dancing on the beach with headphones on. And political "They call it the White House, but that's just a temporary condition .."

So guess I'd better go think about packing all the other necessities of life. Airing out the tent. Figuring out what I need for food. And books. Got any recommendations before I hit the road?