Food is something we all need to energize and keep our bodies moving, but there is something else that can accomplish that: music. Music helps me focus on homework, alleviates the monotony of long car rides and ramps up my workout intensity. I enjoy many genres of music, from jazz and classical to rock and electronic. I’ve decided to take a short interlude to introduce this other aspect of my life. What’s your favorite kind of music and when do you listen to it?

Contrary to what most people think, electronic music is not just head-banging beats with no background music (although I’ll admit that a lot of it is junk). It may appear repetitive and annoying (see: Surfin’ Bird) to the casual listener but as with anything in life, the more you experience something the more you’re able to understand and appreciate it (like wine, chocolate, peanut butter). With electronic music, it’s the energy buildup and the ever-changing subtleties to the harmony and main beat that I most enjoy. For me, this type of music induces energetic feelings and keeps my mind moving even when my body isn’t, especially useful when doing work. Other than a cup of coffee and your morning oatmeal, what gets/keeps you moving?

One of my current favorite electronic artists is Matt Darey. His style of music is a blend of trance, house and rock. Every week he produces a 2-hour radio show called “Nocturnal”. The first hour is Matt Darey himself, mixing his favorite tunes from around the world. The second hour is a guest DJ who mixes his/her own blend of music. The mixes tend to have a great beat and some good vocals. I love listening to them on the long drive I make to San Francisco and back every other weekend, and many of the songs keep me energized at the gym. The mixes have also introduced me to many new musical artists.

I’ve provided links below to stream the mixes online, view the tracklists and download cue sheets. But more importantly, I’ve spent the better part of an afternoon compiling an easy-to-use list to download all of the mixes. For those of you that are new and lost among the ~300 mixes available, try streaming Hour 1 (Matt Darey Mixes) of Nocturnal 35 (trance), Nocturnal 38 (harder trance), Nocturnal 132 (house) or Nocturnal 108 (rock), they’re all great. Every week a new Nocturnal show is released and I’ll try to keep the download list updated.

* The above picture is from Sensation White 2008 in The Netherlands. Yup, everything, including their clothing, is white.

Downloads: To download any of the Matt Darey Nocturnal Radio Shows for offline (anytime) listening or to burn them onto a CD, choose from the following (in .mp3 format, ~55 MB each):

Streaming: To listen to any of the Nocturnal Mixes right now without downloading, check out the media player here: Nocturnal Media Player

Tracklists: To see the tracklists for the mixes go here: Nocturnal Tracklists

Cue Sheets: To download .cue files (very small files), used for splitting the Nocturnal Mixes into their individual songs, go here: Nocturnal Cue Sheets. In addition, you will need a cue splitter program which will use the .cue file to chop the corresponding .mp3 file into pieces and rename the songs accordingly, I suggest Medieval CUE Splitter. This is a convenient tool so that you have around 10 regular-length songs instead of a single hour-long song.

Additional Info:

Still hungry? Then here’s a quick recipe: Cut a crisp apple into 8-12 slices, arrange on a plate and douse with cinnamon. Place plate in the freezer for 20 minutes and serve.

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14 Responses / Leave a comment »

  1. ChocolateCoveredVegan says:

    Apples and cinnamon = a terrific match (applesauce and cinnamon too!)

  2. Rosiecat says:

    I love electronic music! I continue to be surprised by the number of people I meet who also love it, mostly because I expect people to recoil in horror when I confess.

    My current favorite DJ is Armin van Buuren. When I buy a new CD, I like to listen to it many, many times, so I can’t really keep up with all the stuff that Armin puts out, but everything I’ve heard so far has been fantastic. I listen to music most often when I’m cooking. When no one is looking, I like to dance too :-)

    Thanks for the links to your favorite guy, Nick. I’ll definitely check him out.

  3. Meg says:

    Thanks for all the downloads!

    That is one of my favorite snacks…cinnamon and apples!

  4. Sagan says:

    I’ve microwaved apples with cinnamon and baked them in the oven and even had them just raw, but I’ve never considered freezing them- such a good idea!

    I like indie/alternative music. Said the Whale, Josh Ritter, Immaculate Machine, The New Pornographers, and Cat Power are among some of my current favourites.

  5. VeggieGirl says:

    I listen to anything and everything. No joke. Everything from Tupac to Frank Sinatra to Madonna to Beethoven.

    Loooove the cinnamon & apples snack!!

  6. Lori says:

    I love Imogen Heap, not sure if she is electronic like what you are talking about. I just noticed that itunes rates her in that category. :) I should probably explore more of that type of music.

    I listen to just about everything. My only dislike is hardcore rap. My all time favorite band is the Cranberries.

    Love cinnamon and apples!

  7. Rock says:

    I’m willing to listen to anything, but as of now, I gravitate to rock. Currently, I’m in a Coldplay, Tool, U2, Run-DMC, and Tupac phase. Most of the time, I listen to K-Rock (NYC area). I’ll try out electronic music, though. And I’m eagerly awaiting more pumpkin recipes!

  8. Michelle Ann says:

    I am really partial to Damien Rice and Poe right now… It goes in spurts. I usually just get obsessed with one artist, play the heck out of it and then become completely sick of them until I “rediscover” them.

  9. Frozen cinnamony apples!! Sounds delish!

  10. zestycook says:

    Nick, Huge fan of the cinnamon and apple snack for sure…. considering we have a tonne of apples left. Music wise I am pretty wide open however I tend not to listen to country :)

  11. Dee says:

    Ooh, very classy! Love the new look. Apples and cinnamon are a perfect marriage. I’m pretty open to most music but I’m not a fan of anything too Pop-ish. I tend to gravitate towards the music of a generation before me – maybe I’m an old soul, but give me The Stones and Neil Young any day :)

  12. anudivya says:

    The apple snacks are cool! Will try it when I am lazy and hungry at the same time :)

  13. heather says:

    im a die hard billy joel fan. i just love him! those apples look delicious! i’ll bet they’re good dipped in…. peanut butter!! ;)

  14. Nick says:

    Thanks all for sharing your music tastes, it seems that most of you guys listen to all different types of music minus a couple genres like country and hardcore rap – I would have to agree on that =).

    Rock, K-Rock (in NYC area) is m favorite radio station of all time. I’m on the west coast now so it’s just not the same. I miss Howard Stern’s days though.

    Rosiecat, Alright! Another electronic music fan! We are few and far between, that’s for sure, but finding another fan is always nice! I need to get a music system set up near my kitchen, I guess I do sorta have one but I need to remember to use it. I like Armin van Buuren as well. I was hooked on his weekly radio show “A State of Trance” for a while before I got hooked on Matt Darey’s Nocturnal series.

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