The Unofficial Writer’s Block Soundtrack to My Novel-in-Progress

Yep, this is my oft-replayed playlist I use to wrestle a scene to the ground.  Some of these items help me immerse myself in the setting of the novel or the mood of a scene; others speak to universal themes or specific ones I write about. In any case, playing them in this order is somehow conducive to a productive day at the laptop.

Elvis Costello – Everyday I Write the Book.  My mantra, my theme song.  It begins and closes a daily sitting. 
Tego Calderón – Dame un Chance.  El Enemy de los Guasíbiri.
Sarah Brightman — How Fair This Place. La Luna.
Sash – Intercontinental Invaders.
La Ley – Mas Alla.  Libertad.
Kristine W – Clubland (Thunderpuss 2000 mix).
Ruff Driverz – Dreaming. 
Dolce– Fire (Junior Vasquez Mix).  Earth Music.
Bryan Ferry –Where or When.  As Time Goes By. Bryan’s frail vibrato makes this classic even more “precious”.  I mean that in a good way.  I just do.
Jay Levy– Shalom Aleichem.  To Life! Songs of Chanukah and Other Jewish Celebrations.   So I sing this a capella every Friday evening.  It’s an effective punctuator.
The Psychedelic Furs –Pretty in Pink. All of This and Nothing.  Only because the main character performs one of my very own, real-life, “stupid drunk tricks” – an impression of the Furs, castrated from birth, underwater.  The trick is to gargle the song in a raspy falsetto without choking on the Aquafina.  Since I only get smashed on my birthday, I’m still perfecting my technique.
The Kinks– Strangers. Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-Go-Round.
Caetano Veloso – Tempestades Solares.  Noites do Norte.
Charlotte – Skin (Keith Litman mix).
Ednita Nazario.  Quimíca Ideal.  Ednita Por Ti.
Quédate Conmigo – Chayanne.  Sincero.  
A ‘Salk – Ofra Haza, Fifty Gates of Wisdom.  A little something for Little Tel-Aviv in Miami Beach by the late great Yemeni Israeli diva.
Laurie Anderson– One White Whale. Life on a String.
Bedřich Smetana — Má Vlast, cycle of 6 symphonic poems – No. 2 (“Vltava”).  The Vltava doesn’t quite meander into Česky Krumlov, but Smetana’s masterpiece does take the reader and writer alike out of tropical Miami into the utterly untropical Czech Republic for a critical turning point in the plot.
Rosenstolz – Liebe ist Alles. I discovered German pop in Prague (Germany still dominates Europe in one area).  For me, a good psychological connection between the Prague and Cesky Krumlov scenes and that of South Florida.  The American panhandle has been a prime tourist destination for Germans for years; there is even a German-language Florida tourist magazine. 
Tchaikovsky–“Pas de Deux”, The Nutcracker.  The penultimate scene in the ultimate ballet.  Clara has watched all the candy dance and finally gets it on mid-air with the Nutcracker Prince before she wakes up only to find it was all a marzipan-encrusted wet dream.  I personally think this would make a stirring wedding processional.
U2 – Promenade.  The Unforgettable Fire.
Dario G – Voices (Sash remix).
The Smiths – Bigmouth Strikes Again.  Singles.
Akvarium– Ivanov. Classic rock from the then-Soviet Union rapt with fluid string and acoustic combo. Russian rock’s 1960s’ answer to Handel’s “Water Music”. 
The Columbian Drum Cartel – Paranoid (Junior Vasquez mix).  Twilo, Vol.1.
Andy Scheinman– Tornado Song. Make Amends.  Technically, I’ve written a post-hurricane scene rather than something out of Oz, but who’s counting?  Besides, for Miami Beach, folk-western should qualify as “world music”. 
Philip Glass –Act I: Tolstoy from Satyagraha.  Gandhi formulates his theory of nonviolence to a stirring opera in Sanskrit.  See, all you need is music. Or love. Or something like that.
Phats and Small – Turnaround (Chris and James remix) 
Susan Fiering – Love Will Shine a Light. Cool Conception of Love.
Nelly Furtado – Childhood Dreams . Folklore.
Ozomatli – (Who Discovered) America?
Chant – Sweet Images (Kaycee remix).