Recently in Playlist Category

National Geographic Magazine Editorial Researcher Brad Scriber took a recent trip to Barcelona and filled us in on how he chose his trip soundtrack.

About the only time my music collection grows is when I travel. Now, I'd love to say that's because I spend my vacation nights in low-lit, smoky clubs discovering emerging talent in cities across the globe. Nope, I just hit the web shortly before I head to the airport.

A child of the 1980s, part of my brain is still wired for making mix tapes, those painstakingly crafted personal soundtracks of years gone by. Twenty years later, instead of spending hours combing through a ransacked pile of cassettes, CDs, and liner notes, I rummage through digital inventories with my keyboard.

In addition to the authentic local samplings that experts on world music can provide, I like a mix that includes a few puns, allusions, or inside jokes. The beauty of search engines on iTunes or Rhapsody is that wordplay can lead to new music and a great vacation playlist -- just plug in some destination related language and pick through the results.

Take the selections from my recent trip to Barcelona, for example:

Need some music to inspire your next trip? In our April issue, writer Tom Pryor put together a list of some of the best songs that will transport you to London: from Britpop to The Clash. And now you can download the entire list on iTunes.

Did you know that in every issue of the magazine, we publish a playlist of tunes tied to a different destination? This month, we take you to New Zealand. Our own music critic Tom Pryor comes up with a list of must-downloads. "If all you know about New Zealand's music scene is opera star Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, then it's time to take another look," he says, choosing a mix that includes fierce Maori hakas and traditional choral music to fertile indie rockers Flight of the Conchords, which we featured last week. We'd like to hear what tunes you'd add (or subtract).

You can download our March playlist for New Zealand on iTunes here. See the complete list of songs after the jump.

We obviously love travel here at the magazine, so we're happy to announce our special online Valentine's Day travel package highlighting some of the best places to celebrate all things amour. Click through to find out where Tiffany & Co.'s recommendations on places to propose, a sampling of romantic books that will whisk you away to foreign lands, an international playlist to woo your one love, a quiz to test your romantic acumen, and our personal favorite, a list of all the special cupcake bakeries across the country (and their V-day recipes), so you can grab a treat for your sweetie.

We accept deliveries here at the office if anyone it interested...

Photo: Thomas Fahey 

Did you know that in every issue of the magazine, we publish a playlist of tunes tied to a different destination? This month, we take you to East Africa. Our own music critic Tom Pryor comes up with a list of must-downloads. "East Africa's musical diversity rivals that of its flora and fauna," he says, choosing a mix that includes Kenya's Yunasi,  Somali-born rapper K'naan, Ethiopian chanteuse Gigi, and Zanzibar's legendary Bi Kidude. We'd like to hear what tunes you'd add (or subtract).

Check out November/December's Playlist for East Africa and find playlists for other destinations, including Paris, Southern California, Italy, and Canada can be found here. See the complete list of songs after the jump.

Here at IT, we're always looking to offer you as many varied travel perspectives as possible. So who better to share their travel secrets than a bona fide rock star who is currently on tour? We asked Rob Myers, the sitar player with the group Thievery Corporation, to send us a few photos and stories from their current European and American tour.

Thievery Corporation recently released their fifth album, Radio Retaliation, in September. The group says it is both politically motivated and international in its scope. "This record is our most internationally oriented," frontman Rob Garza has said, and notes that music is influenced by the eclectic sounds of Jamaica, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. "We worked with artists from around the world. The roots of our inspiration have always come from what is happening globally, and at the moment there is so much happening, on every level." Here are a few glimpses from their travels.

Friday, 10 Oct, Early Morning – LONDON, ENGLAND
We descended into London at dawn. The rays of the sun tried to cut through a thick fog. These were our first steps on foreign soil, but it will be seven days before we get back here for the London gig. On the run to catch the connector to Athens I grabbed this shot of 747's asleep in the mist.

More pictures from the tour after the jump.