I’m currently on vacation in New York City. It’s the first time I’ve been here, and it’s completely amazing.

Because a friend of mine is here on business, I’m able to stay in a fancypants hotel room on her company dime—the Hudson Hotel. It’s near Central Park and Times Square and it’s gorgeous.

I’ve never ever stayed in a hotel like this, it’s painfully trendy. There’s no sign on the front. The escalators to the lobby are lit with pea yellow neon, the lobby is covered with ivy on the inside and everything’s dimly lit and “cool.” The hotel even has it’s own soundtrack, and for $23 you can take the two-disc Hudson CD home.

The tracklisting is as follows:

Disc One
1. The Kooks “Seaside”
2. El Perro Del Mar “God Knows (You’ve Got to Give to Get)”
3. Lay Low “Mojo Love”
4. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. “Oce More With Feeling”
5. The Shivers “New Direction”
6. Innaway “Tiny Brains”
7. Domino “Tropical Moonlight”
8. Andrew Bird “Imitosis”
9. Cocorosie “Rainbowwarriors”
10. The Veils “Advice for Young Mothers to Be”
11. Albert Hammond, Jr. “Hard to Live in the City”
12. Charlotte Gainsbourg “The Operation”

Disc Two
1. Scanners “Bombs” (Goulet’s Dollar-Slot Jackpot Mix)
2. Walter Meego “Hollywood”
3. Jamie T “Salvador”
4. The Rapture “Gon Don Do It”
5. New Young Pony Club “Descend”
6. Bugz in the Attic “Move Aside”
7. The Black Ghosts “Anyway You Choose to Give It” (Playgroup Remix)
8. The Loose Cannons “Girls in Hats” (Kissy Sell Out Mix)
9. The Lotterboys “Heroine”
10. Sons & Daughters “Dance Me In” (Optimo Remix)
11. The Futureheads “Let’s Dance”
12. The Sounds “Song With a Mission”

There’s also a bar with a DJ. I haven’t really checked it out, but when we got back after visiting Times Square and stalking Willie Nelson last night, they were blasting Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” “Odd choice when trying to whip up a Monday night dance party,” I thought. “Odd choice on the eve of 9/11.”