Ed Schrader and Devlin Rice are the duo behind the Baltimore rock band Ed Schrader’s Music Beat. For their new record, Orchestra Hits, they brought their friend Dylan Going on board as a co-writer and co-producer. To celebrate its release — it’s out today on Upset The Rhythm — the three collaborators each shared a few of their favorite songs to listen to on their commutes to work. Listen to it on your way to punch the clock on Monday — and in the meantime, check out Orchestra Hits!
— Annie Fell, Editor-in-chief, Talkhouse Music
Devlin’s Picks
Pet Shop Boys — “I Want to Wake Up”
Ed and I saw PSB at Coachella while on tour years ago and we were so blown away. This one nails that exasperated, theatrical longing and heartbreak set to a beat that will get you through your long train ride.
Eurythmics — “Here Comes the Rain Again”
I was afraid of vampires at night when I was small, and listening to Eurythmics Greatest Hits kept me calm. This number is perfect to comfort your heartache as you sleeplessly watch the hours of the evening tick by while you wait to catch that long train ride we keep talking about.
Scott Walker — “It’s Raining Today”
I absolutely love the early Scott Walker catalog. The ominous strings to open give an ugly tinge to the scene described until the release. A perfect soundtrack while you look down the parallel tracks stretching to the horizon, waiting for that interminable train, to take you on a ride to somewhere you don’t want to go to.
Type O Negative — “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)”
Say what you will about them but they are fully in their powers with this one. You can feel the cold gray skies above and the cold crunching leaves underfoot as you reflect on what you could have said or done in that meeting as you step off the platform onto your rolling chariot, a train homeward bound.
Dylan’s picks
Karlheinz Stockhausen — “Helikopter Streichquartett”
For those that get to work in a helicopter you’ll feel right at home in this piece where each member of the string quartet performs from their own helicopter as part of a greater 29 hour long opera. “The desire to give the individual tone a very specific sense that transcends momentary saturation and the merely impulsive play of organization and combination; a sense, that is, of music as a representation of that comprehensive “global” structure in which everything is integrated.” 🤙
Fuerza Regida — “Descansando”
I didn’t expect to die when I drove off this morning. Don’t worry, I’m at peace but I miss my family, I miss my friends, and I miss my truck
Silk — “Meeting In My Bedroom”
This one goes out to all the WFH freaks out there since it’s no easier to exchange your time for money even if your commute happens entirely within the home. The space created by the production and the seven-part harmonies suggest an absolutely palatial bedroom
Ed’s picks
I’d like to preface this by saying I don’t have a license and I basically walk everywhere. These are jams to help you forget your sore feet.
The Thompson Twins — “In The Name Of Love (Special ‘88 Mix)”
I love the original ‘82 version, but the remix in the hands of Shep Pettibone stands as my favorite. It isolates vocals and instruments and re-infuses them in a way that showcases the original magic of Sheffield’s most fun trio. Don’t get me wrong, the original is great, but for fans of the band it’s a real treat and does everything a great remix should do — reimagines.
PJ Harvey — “Prayer At The Gate”
I had the pleasure of seeing PJ Harvey for the first time just last week at The Anthem. I can say without any hyperbole that it was hands down the greatest live performance I’ve ever witnessed, achieved in no small part with the help of a great backing band. But PJ is a singular force who I was damn lucky to see play live. She opened with “Prayer At The Gate” (also the opening track off her latest record) and her performance is utterly mesmerizing. You feel like a door-to-door canvasser invited into a mysterious person’s apartment for a martini, and for the next hour and forty five minutes you lose track of any semblance of place and time as you’re swept into the trenches of the being before you who shifts in changing light patterns all at once commanding yet vulnerable in their universe. She never overplays her hand, she gently opens the transom of her soul and it consumes you whole.
Strawberry Switchblade — “Michael Who Walks By Night”
This is such a great band whose subtle yet evocative vocal flourishes transfix you like a strange neon light in a field of thorns. They embrace the bitterness and euphoria of the human experience, specifically awful relationships and unrequited love in a way that feels like you’re drinking Malort while chewing on a Now And Later.
Janet Jackson — “Miss You Much”
This song can rehydrate deserts. It’s an unapologetic tidal wave of funk and pent up lust on the verge of terraforming distant moons into lush discotheque rainforests bouncing in time to a creme brulee sun. It is the pure form of pleasure. Janet has always had the ability to exalt pop into a higher dimension in a deceivingly effortless way. If you think you know her, you probably don’t. Go deeper, you won’t regret it.
