The Fusion Reactor #135 - Ground Transportation

Where would we be without ground transportation? Walking around, I guess. Here's a tribute to some of the things that help us get from here to there more quickly, without leaving the ground.

Phish - Cars Trucks Buses
Our theme song of sorts for the night, and also a very fusiony feel from those Phishy dudes.

David Bowie - Always Crashing In The Same Car
Ever feel like that? Yeah me too. Love the whole Low album as well.

A Minor Forest - Look At That Car, It's Full Of Balloons!
Always interesting to hear from A Minor Forest. Nothing too crazy in this tune, but it still stretches the ears a little.

Schleigho - Keep It In The Car
No other band I know of can take a tune like this that starts off in a smooth 7/8 groove and transform it so seamlessly into the intense soloing vehicle it becomes - and back. Love it. This also features a lesson from Erik Egol on "Drum Solos Done Right."

Yes - White Car
The show wouldn't have been complete without this odd little song from the Drama album.

Abdominal Snowmen - Another Song About Cars
It occurs to me that I don't usually play free-jam spoken word songs on my show. There's probably a reason for that.

Brighteye Brison - A Car
OK that's admittedly a weird one. I really have very little to say about the vocal portions of the song, but the instrumental parts are pretty cool.

Volta Do Mar - Fall Out of Moving Cars Fall Out of Night
One of those rare VDM songs that have words. Even more rare, the vocals seem to be almost audible. I'd just treat the vocal parts as more instruments rather than expect coherent lyrics. You'll probably like it better that way.

Deep Purple - Space Truckin'
Wow, I haven't heard this song in ages. Too much fun, indeed.

Nektar - On the Run (The Trucker)
I must admit that Nektar is a band I never got into very much. No idea why, because this sounds as much "up my alley" as Eloy, who I like a lot.

Lo Faber - Riding North In a VW Bus
Does anyone else catch a Genesis feel to this? Jazzier, to be sure, and not in the drum department, but this sort of melody might fit in on some of those early Genesis songs. Or maybe it's just the synth tone, or the way the synth and guitar play together so much.

Assembly of Dust - Bus Driver
You probably never expected to hear this sort of stuff on The Fusion Reactor, did you? Well take note, you might never hear it again.

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones - Bicyclops
Quirky and fun and amazing, just like you'd expect from these guys.

Pink Floyd - Bike
Famously weird. Famously quirky. Famously singable.

Steve Howe - My White Bicycle
Also pretty quirky. Yes, Steve sings, be forewarned. Solo guitar on this one - no backing band. But it works just fine.

Panzerpappa - Sykkelgnomflåtten - The Bicycle Gnome Bug
What is there to say about a Bicycle Gnome Bug. Things just get stranger and stranger here on The Fusion Reactor.

Hugh Hopper - Scooter Trash
TWO spoken word songs on one show!? Whereas the previous total was probably zero. But this one is poetry. I'd say the words are best ignored while you pay close attention to the very cool background music.

Joe Satriani - Motorcycle Driver
I think Joe wrote this one about my roommate.

Rick Wakeman - The Cycle of Life
My mp3 of this is terribly messed up. For that, I apologize. It was supposed to be here, but it's not. Perhaps I'll find a suitable replacement.

Birdsongs Of the Mesozoic - One Hundred Cycles
That's a lot of cycles, huh? Maybe they wrote it about a bike shop.

Ghost Circus - Cycles
Some hard rockin' prog here. I feel a little bit of a Porcupine Tree influence here. Maybe it's the vocals?

Niacin - Bullet Train Blues
It's a replacement for the Rick Wakeman track that failed miserably. I didn't want to open up the whole "train" can of worms, because there are simply too many to choose from, but here's a good example.