Often there is a melody playing in my head that I recognize, but can’t crystalize well enough to identify. It just roams around in there, haunting me, taunting me.

This morning I’ve got some seventies, Doobie Brothers retro thing up there, which is less surprising for me than you might think, because there’s been some great music created lately (by DJs and songwriters) that have made use of the post-funk, edge-of-disco era.

The problem is that as I play a few tracks, trying to isolate the one that is in my head, I run the risk of losing what has been there. The music being played tends to overwrite what was up there. Sometimes the act of searching becomes an act of sabotage.

I was lucky this morning, though. After chasing down a few songs I discovered that the orchestral strings, which were backed by an organ and disco percussion, were from track two of the new DJ Shadow album, Outsider.

I think it’s growing on me.