Today's #CrucialTracks #MyGoldenOldie - the oldest song I know and like.

The "that I like" caveat makes this a bit easier - although I do like some classical, I wouldn't usually pick it when I'm on the train or reading a book. I've gone a little 1929 bop called Rhapsody in Blue. It evokes a busy cityscape, great reading music. Also, the clarinet solo at the start is insane.

Today is a perfect autumn day in the UK. It's dry and sunny with a temperature hovering around 10-15 degrees C. I love this time of year. It's all about change and new chapters and getting into the zone after being too hot to do anything useful during the summer. La Rentrée is here.

A song I strongly associate with Autumn is Loner. I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as a loner nor do I partake in smoking of weed. I'm happily married and as straight-cut (read: boring) as they come. The song resonates on a thematic level. The protagonist's experience of going out into the world and traveling, returning home forever changed is very on-theme. I discovered this song when I found myself listening to a playlist based on 90s jam-bands about 10 years ago driving home from a family staycation in Cornwall back to my new job at IBM and a couple of weeks after travelling to New York to kick off my PhD. It has strong associations with big changes in my life.

Share a song that represents your current mood.

Georgy Porgy by Toto is a very "dad rock" or "yacht rock" or "sunday morning vibes" song to me. I'm not sure why. I also had Toto's greatest hits on a 2 CD collection in my first car (like yesterday's choice)

The weather in the UK has gone quite autumnal as we move into september and this song reminds me of driving my first car around as I went off to my first internship at IBM and then going back to university the following year.

Yesterday we went to the cinema and there was a trailer for the new Springsteen biopic. For some reason I got earwormed with this song even though it wasn't played or mentioned in the trailer at all.

This is one of my favourite deep cuts from Springsteen and the E Street band. I love the brass intro and recurring riff. I love the chorus. I'm not sure exactly what it means and neither is the boss just that "it's important"

Its a song that transports me back to my late teens and early 20s. My first car had a cd player and the Born to Run album was one of the only CDs I had on rotation. I also remember seeing Bruce and the band play the half time show at the superbowl in 2007 and opening with this song around the time my music taste was really forming as a teenager. That was exciting.

For today's #TuneTuesday over on Mastodon the heme is #SongsFromTheFuture

I recently stumbled across Zayaz and decided to pick up his discography on bandcamp. Zero regrets. Much future wow.

For today's #TuneTuesday we are #AtTheBeach and this is a classic from my childhood with mention of sand dunes and salty air. It was frequently played on family holidays.

Today's entry is based in #TuneTuesday over on Mastodon. The theme is #NomNomNomNom - food related songs.

I'm going for another classic from Dad's record collection, 10CC - Life is a Minestrone. I remember him playing this and many other classics (Rubber Bullets, Dreadlock Holiday) on the stereo when I was a kid.

Today's entry is prompted by #TuneTuesday over on Mastodon. This week's theme is #CityAfterMidnight

We had a similar prompt on Crucial Tracks last week and I picked a Carpenter Brut song. Today I'm going for a "deep cut" from Kavinsky. A lot of people know Nightcall but this one is lesser known. I love the silly spooky news report and the police SFX combined with the synth/outrun vibe of the song

What song makes you think of your parents?

When I was a young lad my parents used to sing this song to me when they put me to bed. At some point one of them broke wind and the verse changed from "in the middle of the night" to "in the middle of a fart" which a young James found absolutely hilarious. I remain a big fan of Joel to this day.

What song makes you feel like you're in love with the world?

Ok maybe I'm a walking cliche but this DMB track absolutely sparks joy in me. There's something deeply summery and joyful about it to me.