After recently buying a converted van, I decided to ask those gracious souls on the mailing list to suggest some music to accompany my camping excursions this summer.

There's music to accompany morning camping coffee, evening champagne guzzling, some motorway driving in between and a spot of lawbreaking along the way.

There’s even a couple of potential campfire sing-a-longs: one about freeing your mind, the other about leading a futile life and being close to death – Happy Holidays!

- August 2021 -

* A Van Trip Special *

Join me, Kate and our dog Basil on our summer holiday road trip to Wales via Devon!

This one’s a little different from the usual format. Rather than my standard in-between song waffle, you’ve got various sound recordings and conversations from the trip instead. Also, because I had such a vast number of suggestions to choose from it’s a lot longer and more meandering than previous shows, which hopefully reflects something of the relaxing, meandering nature of the holiday.

Here’s the tracklist:

Paul Robeson - Land of Our Fathers
The Skatalites - Exodus
Dent May – Meet Me in the Garden
Les Denis – Tablesalt
Armando - Land of Confusion
Cate Le Bon - Puts Me to Work
(Les Denis – Whoa There)
Colorama - Pan Ddaw'r Nos
The Undertones – Here Comes the Summer
The Strokes – I'll Try This Only Once
Fred Neil – Dolphins
Asmaa Hamzaoui, Briat Timbouktou - Lando
Kikagu Moyo – Green Sugar
Jamie - Misty
Charlie Chaplin – Smile
Hak Baker – Venezuela Riddim
(Grant Green – Idol Moments)
Dolly Parton – Love is Like a Butterfly
Violetta Villas - Do Ciebie Mamo
Gwenno - Daromres Y'n Howl
The Strokes – Call it Fate, Call it Karma
Elliott Smith – Waltz #2 (XO)
The KLF - Dream Time in Lake Jackson
Молчат Дома - Танцевать
Pau Vallvé - Protagonistes
Paul Simon – I know What I Know
Rozi Plain – Inner Circle
Nalyssa Green - Κοκτέϊλ ΙΙ
Henry Thomas – Going Up The Country
Tom Waits – In The Neighbourhood
Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Public Service Broadcasting - Take Me Home

* Official Thanks & Official Apologies *

As ever, thanks to all for contributing your song suggestions and letting me use the recordings of our chats (except you Hannah, but Jona gave me official permission to use yours so if you’re not happy I suggest you have a few stern words with him). Even though I couldn’t put every song suggested into the show they did still soundtrack our trip as we had everything on the playlist during our travels, so thanks, and apologies if something of yours didn’t get included in the show.

Apologies also to the bands PATE, Scrotum Clamp and The Prints of Wales for not including any of your live sets at the Devon weekend. Apart from a brief snippet of the evening DJs, I didn’t record anything on the Saturday. That does mean there’s no record of my banjo playing efforts with The Prints of Wales though so perhaps it was all for the best.

- October 2023 -