I don't get to listen to music as intently as I'd like to, as often as I'd like to. Between work and a lack of friends who want to come over just to sit in the floor and listen to obscure LPs, music has by and large become something that fades into the background for me while I'm doing other things. Rarely do I take the time to really sit down and do nothing but listen to a song or album. About the only time this happens any more is when I'm driving, and more specifically, when I'm driving late at night. With FM radio being a pointless wasteland (when did everyone get rid of their oldies channels? Or, I guess, when did oldies become music from the 80s and 90s?) and Coast to coast AM having pretty much run its course and become increasingly silly, the only partners I have to keep me up on an overnight drive are the Truckin' Bozo and my CDs, and since the Truckin' Bozo is sometimes hard to find, it's just the CDs. Thanks to a drive from New York to DC, then from Dc to Louisville, and then from Louisville back to New York, I logged plenty of time with excessively caffeinated beverages and the open road to have a good listen to some of the music I've only been half listening to lately.

Dance Like the Devil: British Northern Soul -- I am, by and large, stuck in previous decades when it come sot much of my taste, and Northern Soul is among my favorite styles, with one foot in the soul of Motown and the other firmly in rock and roll. As with many great things nowadays, Americans missed out on their own music and it was left to other countries -- in this case, England -- to keep the music alive. British Northern soul is a bit of a misnomer, as many of these are American artists whoa re recording in England. But whatever. All that matters to me is the music, and while Northern Soul may not deliver profound and ponderous songs about heavy subjects, it does deliver with the entertainment, class, style, and musicianship. Howling, crooning, harmonizing, snapping -- if ever a type of music was made to pep you up after you've been staring at the center line of the road for too many hours, this is it. It almost made me want to pull the car to the side of the road and dance.

Beat the Devil EP -- First heard this band thanks to my friend Ami who convinced me to check out a show of theirs in Queens. I almost never get out to watch live music these days, but I was glad I did because they blew me away. Somewhere between the vintage jazz vocals of Billie Holiday and the growling, down and dirty of blues, with some garage punk thrown in to keep things loud. Chick who sings for them has a tremendous voice that reminds me of Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland. Only five songs on this Ep, but I listened to it over and over for I don't know how long. Made me want to drink whiskey, punch people, drive faster, and have sex in the back seat.

Elvis, The Ronettes, and more -- A compilation I burned before leaving, comprised mostly of Elvis Presley and The Ronettes, but with plenty of Buddy Holly, Shangri-Las, Shirelles, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison thrown in, and heck, even some Ritchie Valens and Platters. I love old rock and rockabilly. Absolutely love it. And since oldies stations have either disappeared or updated to 80s formats (which I guess is fare -- 80s music is as old now as 50s and 60s music was in the 80s), I have to fashion my own channel. Sometimes, it's nice to listen to a mix where you know every single lyric to every single song, even if that means rolling down the window and belting out "Leader of the Pack."

Social Distortion -- After being one of the first punk bands I ever heard, then becoming a band I sort of made fun of, Social Distortion have evolved into one of my enduring favorites, and bleary-eyed songs about broken hearts and barroom brawls are perfect for long drives through small towns in the middle of the night. I threw all my favorite songs together onto a couple CDs and just let them go, spanning from "Another State of Mind" to "Through These Eyes," and even their cover of "Under My Thumb," which frankly, I like more than the Stones original.

Spanish Pop -- Some years ago, back when Clinton was President and people were throwing money at Internet companies no matter how daft their premise, I had disposable income enough to buy a lot of CDs, often at random and with no real idea what I was getting. For the most part, I spent my money on imports of Italian cocktail and lounge music from the 60s and 70s, but I also ended up picking up an EP by a Spanish pop band called Vacaciones. It was brilliant. Jangly, upbeat, catchy, very 60s in its execution -- exactly what I was looking for at a time when airwaves were dominated by fake-angry nu metal bands. Since then, I've done my best to further swim the waters of Spanish indy-pop, and thanks to LastFM's suggestions, came up with a lot of great bands -- La Caza Azul, Cola Jet Set, Los Fresones Rebeldes, Nosotrash, Niza, and a few more -- all with female or male-female vocals, because that's just what I dig. Driving across the rolling green hills of Kentucky on a sunny day with cheery Spanish indy pop blasting is almost as good as doing the same with bluegrass music.

Emma Bunton - Free Me -- I can't say as I was a big follower of the Spice Girls, even though "Spice Up Your Life" is on my iPod, but Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton's solo career has really knocked my socks off. Drawing heavily from 60s girl groups and jazz but with lush modern-pop sensibilities, Bunton makes a perfect connection between decades. Her other album, "Life in Mono" is pretty damn good, too. I burned it on a CD with a lot of Morcheeba and Goldfrapp stuff, but both of those artists do tend to throw in some dreamy numbers that make late-night driving dangerous.

Garagepunk.com Podcasts -- My main source for new (to me) music since I bought a car and got a lower paying job. This most recent trip was heavily loaded with Hot Slop, State of Mynd, Florida Rocks Again, Pop Goes..., and Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll. Burning these shows to disc is about the closest thing you can have to your own pre-fab oldies station, and the good part is that almost everything will be something you've never heard of before. Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll also adds a pinch of newer garage and punk to the parade of rock, soul, and garage goodies from yesteryear.

Weirdly, this trip was pretty well devoid of old rural and country music, though I love it dearly and listen to it frequently. It was just more of a rock and roll trip this time.