What's the Best Road Trip Soundtrack?

Photo: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)

Two hands on the steering wheel. One determined gaze, over the gauge cluster and out towards the horizon. You’re ready for a road trip, both emotionally and physically, but there’s something missing that would tie the whole experience together: A soundtrack. With the wide-open road at your disposal and miles to go before you sleep, what are you listening to?

Today, we’re talking about the best things to listen to while out on long-distance drives. What’s your favorite playlist, album (a word I’m told “no one has said … since the ‘70s”), mixtape, or streaming radio station for cranking up the volume and watching the miles go by.

The Prodigy – Nasty (Spor Remix)

For me, there’s a certain flow between playlists and albums that works best. Long drives always start with music, something like 100 gecs’ 1000 gecs, Metric’s Synthetica, or Giorgio Moroder’s Déjà vu. Depending on the mood, maybe I’ll go for an artists’ streaming Top Tracks playlist, for someone like Sofi Tukker or Duran Duran.

For the middle part of a long drive, it becomes the Podcast Period. Something entertaining and informative, and something to keep my attention and keep me awake for those long stretches. But as the trip nears completion, and I start wanting to just get there already, there’s only one sonic solution: Drum and bass.

That playlist, of high-BPM electronic music seemingly designed to make you drive ever faster, is my pick for the best road trip soundtrack. But what’s yours? Do you have a specific album or playlist you think beats mine? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll collect the best answers on Monday. That’s right, you’ve got the whole weekend to come up with your perfect playlist.