The Insomniac’s Playlist
On a sleepless night, a podcast that spreads its magic and fills your head
Tuesday night. It’s been six hours after an intercontinental flight deposited me at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and I can sense the onset of jet lag. Flying west to east is the worst, they say, and I’m realising that as I toss and turn trying desperately to fall asleep. The melatonin capsule I dropped seems to be a placebo with no effect – it did squat to regulate my sleep cycle or readjust it to IST; I’m tired but wide awake. Music is what I turn to. I choose an episode of the Endless Boundaries Jam Radio, a Philadelphia-based FM radio programme whose podcast is available on the Internet. It works. No, it doesn’t get me sleep but then I’ve already given up on that – instead, it fills my late-night wakeful hours by making things less fitful.
Nearly half of the episode was still left and yet to come were old jam band favourites such as a medley by Phish; a track from one of Trey Anastasio Band’s gigs this April; a new band called Jazz is Phish where a jazz ensemble covers Phish songs (similar to how Jazz Is Dead does Grateful Dead tunes); and tracks off recent shows by Lotus and Sound Tribe Sector 9.
Endless Boundaries has a seemingly bottomless archive of its weekly shows online, easily accessible, free, and, as I discovered, immensely therapeutic. The right fix for a fitful sleepless night. Download an episode or stream it, lie back and enjoy. One thing is guaranteed, though: you’re not going to be sleeping.
From HT Brunch, May 14, 2017
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