Friday Music Day: Desert Island Twenty

Earlier this week, Algonad asked for some help figuring out what turntable he should purchase to play twenty albums – the twenty albums he would choose to have on a deserted island. In the discussion that followed, ubelmann mentioned that he was working on sifting and winnowing his digital music library to under 64 GB. I was really intrigued by the idea of voluntary artificial constrains on a music collection. I’m a digital hoarder, and have accumulated nearly 100 GB of music. I have two small bookcases jam-packed with CDs and a small vinyl collection. So what would I do if I could only take twenty records with me to a desert island? Would I take the music most important to me, or the best stuff in my collection, or the longest albums, or what?

I’ve thought about it for a couple days, and I’m still not sure I have an answer that satisfies. Not all of the albums below contain music I have strong emotional attachment to based upon significance to specific events or periods of my life, though some of it certainly does resonate. I suppose if I were headed to that island I’d try to bargain, and ask for one supplemental CD mix of songs that I have a deep personal attachment to, just to preserve my sense of identity and emotional connection to my loved ones. But otherwise, I think I’d want to have music that was provocative and beautiful, so that’s what I have below.

CH's Desert Island Twenty

  • Modern Jazz Quartet - The Complete Last Concert
  • Frank Sinatra - September of My Years
  • Bill Evans - Conversations with Myself
  • Antônio Carlos Jobim - Wave
  • Oscar Peterson - Olympia, 1963 – The Champs Élysées, 1964
  • Tomasz Stańko - Leosia
  • Louis Armstrong - The Hot Fives, Vol. 1
  • Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ of the Andes
  • Cesária Évora - São Vicente
  • Anouar Brahem - Le Pas du Chat Noir
  • Tower of Power - Urban Renewal
  • Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys
  • Rodriguez - Cold Fact
  • Bruce Springsteen - Live in Dublin
  • Glenn Gould - Bach: The Goldberg Variations
  • Daniel Barenboim - Chopin: Nocturnes
  • Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign
  • Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
  • Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

What's your desert island twenty?

158 thoughts on “Friday Music Day: Desert Island Twenty”

  1. I’m a digital hoarder, and have accumulated nearly 100 GB of music.
    And if you don't let that pesky law get in the way plus have a brother that set up a NAS with a lot of space, you can easily break the 1 TB barrier.

  2. Here's my random list:

    1. The Avett Brothers - "Pretty Girl from Michigan" - The Carpenter
    2. Oasis - "Rock 'n' Roll Star" - Definitely Maybe
    3. Uncle Tupelo - "No Depression" - 89/93: An Anthology
    4. Dr. John - "A Quitter Never Wins" - Zu Zu Soiree
    5. Lupe Fiasco - "Dumb It Down" - The Cool
    6. Son Volt - "Live Free" - Trace
    7. U2 - "With or Without You" - The Joshua Tree
    8. Josh Ritter - "To the Dogs or Whoever" - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
    9. The Black Keys - "Gold on the Ceiling" - El Camino
    T. Beck - "Lord Only Knows" - Odelay
    B. Gomez - "Tear Your Love Apart" - How We Operate

    I'm not sure what I would take on an island. Funeral, OK Computer, Separation Sunday, and Born to Run are definites, beyond that it might depend on my mood.

    1. Ok, back from a hearing. More time to think, and one per artist. A few that will just always put me in a happy mood (probably no need to have music that will make me angry or depressed if I'm already stranded on an island) even if not "classics":

      Arcade Fire - "Funeral"
      Billy Bragg & Wilco - "Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 1"
      Boston - "Boston"
      Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - "Born to Run"
      Cake - "Prolonging the Magic"
      Guster - "Lost and Gone Forever"
      Mumford & Sons - "Babel"*
      Oasis - "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?"
      Radiohead - "OK Computer"
      Paul Simon - "Graceland"
      Pink Floyd - "Dark Side of the Moon"
      Prince & the Revolution - "Purple Rain"
      Randy Newman - "Good Old Boys"
      Sufjan Stevens - "Illinois"
      The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds"
      The Beatles - "Rubber Soul"
      The Decemberists - "The Crane Wife"
      The Hold Steady - "Separation Sunday"
      The New Pornographers - "Twin Cinema"
      U2 - "The Joshua Tree"

      *Ok, maybe not, but it is tempting just to remind myself how much Philo despises them.

      1. Ok, back from a hearing.

        I received many greetings!

        For our lists, there are not many duplicates but lots of overlap. I would have an impossible time choosing 20 from our combined lists - well done.

      2. I revoke Mumford & Sons since we've now got a spreadsheet and I don't want it screwed up. Instead, I'll add Belle & Sebastian - "The Life Pursuit"

  3. I haven't narrowed mine down to 20 but I have a start. My rule was no compilation or greatest hits albums but I think I am going to break that rule on Led Zeppelin. I can't find any affordable Zep albums and I have a hard time picking just one or two albums.

    In the end, my 20 record collection will be somewhat dictated by cash/availability.

    I had thought about a jazz album but I am not sure which one. I also thought I should have a Dylan album but none of the albums really stand out for me. Blood on the Tracks is probably my favorite.

    Feel free to comment on any omissions to my list.

    Beach Boys Pet Sounds
    Beatles Abbey Road
    Beatles Let It Be
    Billy Joel The Stranger
    Black Crowes Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
    Black Keys Rubber Factory
    Black Sabbath Paranoid
    Bruce Springsteen Born to Run
    Bruce Springsteen Nebraska
    The Cult Electric
    Def Leppard Pyromania
    DriveBy Truckers Decoration Day
    Grateful Dead American Beauty
    Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction
    Jayhawks Hollywood Town Hall
    Jayhawks Tomorrow the Green Grass
    Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison
    Led Zeppelin Mothership
    Marvin Gaye What's Going On
    Metallica Master of Puppets
    Neil Young Harvest
    Neil Young Live at Massey Hall
    Nirvana Nevermind
    Pearl Jam Ten
    Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd The Wall
    Prince Purple Rain
    R.E.M. Murmur
    Replacements Let It Be
    Replacements Tim
    Replacements Pleased to Meet Me
    Rolling Stones Let It Bleed
    Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street
    Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers
    Stevie Wonder Innervisions
    Tesla Mechanical Resonance
    Tom Waits Closing Time
    Tori Amos Little Earthquakes
    U2 Joshua Tree
    Van Halen Van Halen
    Wilco Being There
    Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
    Wilco Ghost is Born

    1. I see that Concert albums are OK, although they serve as a type of greatest hits record.
      With that, I can keep the Bottle Rockets live double-album! Whoooo!

    2. This is what I am leaning towards for my 20:

      Beatles - Abbey Road
      Grateful Dead - American Beauty
      Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
      Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction
      Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
      Led Zeppelin II
      Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
      Metallica - Master of Puppets
      Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall
      Pearl Jam - Ten
      Pink Floyd - The Wall
      Prince - Purple Rain
      Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
      Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
      REM - Murmur
      Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
      U2 - Joshua Tree
      Van Halen I
      Van Morrison - Moondance
      Wilco - Being There

      1. Tori Amos, woo! I came across Little Earthquakes at exactly the right time in my life.

        I find it interesting, by the way, just how male dominated these lists are. I don't mean this as a criticism at all--merely as an observation.

        1. Tori should possibly be on mine somewhere, but Little Earthquakes is the disc I was spinning regularly both before and after the death of my high school sort-of-girlfriend, and it took on a whole new connotation.

        2. Well, we're 90%ish male. I'm sure there's a tendency to connection to music composed and sung my members of one's own gender.
          And Sheenie shows up and gets mocked for the Indigo Girls (OK, that was me and I stand behind it).

          There's also the latent sexism in the industry where, say, if Coltrane were female, we'd've never heard her. Even if that were gone from recording artists now (which it isn't).

          Checking my list, I have two female artists, one band (Peaking Lights) that's half-female (including all the vox), two more bands (Low and SY) that are 25-33% female and with the woman taking just under half the vocals. Another album that could've made my list is by Neotropic (La Prochaine Fois), who was one of the few female musicians making Reflex-y IDM in the mid-90s. And Lauryn Hill's album might get considered until I remember the skits and the slow second half. Would definitely still make a Desert Island 50 though. Definitely also a Björk and maybe even a Sugarcubes album.

          1. In "fair"ness... we also tend to skew towards classic rock. Indeed, pretty much all music, until much more recently, has been male-dominated. Give us 20 years Pepper. Our lists will be improved in that direction. If I were doing a "last 10 years" my list would look very, very different (Amy Winehouse, Feist, Metric, off the top of my head - and all of them got considered for this list too.).

          2. You and Philo both make good comments. I was also thinking that the pool of music from which these lists are drawn skews more male to begin with. An interesting topic for discussion, all the same.

  4. 20 albums

    I'm going off the top of my head, let's see what I come up with.

    Guided By Voices - Mag Earwhig
    Built to Spill - Live
    The Wedding Present - Bizarro
    Pavement - Zowie Wowee
    Bob Dylan -- Blonde on Blonde
    Johnny Cash - American Recordings
    Replacements - Let it Be
    Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
    Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes
    The Beatles -- Abbey Road
    Wilco -- Yankee Foxtrot Hotel
    Radiohead -- The Bends
    Neil Young -- Live Rust
    Anthology of American Folk Music
    Miles Davis - Almost Blue
    R.E.M. - Murmer
    Weezer - Pinkerton
    The Who - Tommy
    Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
    Gang of Four - Entertainment

        1. From the repository:

          1. "Help Me" (Larry Gatlin) – 2:51 Previously recorded by Kris Kristofferson for Jesus Was a Capricorn (1972) Originally recorded by Johnny Cash for "The Gospel Road" (1973)
          2. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (Traditional) – 2:38 Previously recorded by Odetta for Sings Ballads and Blues (1956), by Elvis Presley for How Great Thou Art (1967), and by The Blind Boys of Alabama (as "Run On for a Long Time") for Spirit of the Century (2001)
          3. "Like the 309" (Johnny Cash) – 4:35
          4. "If You Could Read My Mind" (Gordon Lightfoot) – 4:30 Originally recorded by Lightfoot for Sit Down Young Stranger (1970)
          5. "Further On (Up the Road)" (Bruce Springsteen) – 3:25 Originally recorded by Springsteen for The Rising (2002)
          6. "On the Evening Train" (Hank Williams) – 4:17
          7. "I Came to Believe" (Johnny Cash) – 3:44 Cash originally wrote this song prior to the sessions for this album
          8. "Love's Been Good to Me" (Rod McKuen) – 3:18 Originally recorded by Frank Sinatra for A Man Alone & Other Songs of Rod McKuen (1969)
          9. "A Legend in My Time" (Don Gibson) – 2:37 Originally recorded by Gibson for Sweet Dreams (1960) and Roy Orbison for Lonely and Blue (1961)
          10. "Rose of My Heart" (Hugh Moffatt) – 3:18 Written in 1981 or 1982 and recorded by many artists, including Moffat for Troubadour (1989)
          11. "Four Strong Winds" (Ian Tyson) – 4:34 Previously recorded by Ian and Sylvia, John Denver and Neil Young
          12. "I'm Free from the Chain Gang Now" (Lou Herscher, Saul Klein) – 3:00 Originally recorded by Cash for The Sound of Johnny Cash (1962)

        2. I love American Recordings, because (as I've said before), that's the album that came out when I was at exactly the right age and turned me into a Johnny Cash fan. I think it's a great album, one of the best of his career.

          The reason why I picked American V is the content. It's basically Johnny Cash coming to final terms with his and June's failing health, their impending physical separation, her death, and his mortality. American Recordings is a great record because it opened another chapter in Johnny Cash's career. It gave another generation of people their own piece of Johnny Cash. What makes American V an even greater record is Johnny Cash taking an unflinching look at death, his humility about his limitations and honesty about dying, the deathless love he feels for his wife, and his faith. It's an absolutely unvarnished meditation on something we spend entire lifetimes trying not to think about, and yet somehow manages to be beautiful.

          I loved American V when it came out in 2006, but after watching Pops say his goodbye to my stepmom, it absolutely destroys me. Every. Single. Time. It's the kind of record that brings you closer to that person you've chosen to walk with down to the very end of life's path. We need more art like that.

      1. That's a great question. V is good, great even but it has a little too much "I'm dying soon and here are some songs about death" vibe to it. AR kicks off the series, completely comes out of left field (rightly or wrongly JCC was considered somewhat washed up prior to this album), and I will always be a sucker for the sinner redeemed theme that IS American Recordings. Without the first one, you can't get to the fifth.

      1. I thought I already cheated by including 3 GBV albums.

        Albums listed by others that I wish I had included:

        Van Halen I
        Led Zeppelin II
        London Calling
        Get Happy!
        Aeroplane Over the Sea
        American Beauty

        I would rather go soundless than include Boston's first album. But I'm a jerk like that.

        So who's going to put together a spreadsheet to find out the most popular album and who among us has the most common selections?

        1. So who's going to put together a spreadsheet...

          Someone with a heart of gold, that's who! /looks around pleadingly/

              1. I'll start tabulations tonight or tomorrow morning while I watch soccer, so most everyone has a chance to post.

  5. I thought about this last night, and mostly I just went with 20 albums that I most enjoy listening to as albums. One per artist, just to make it interesting. I stayed away from the few box sets I own, although there are a few double albums in here.

    Pre-1980
    Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet
    Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy
    Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps

    80's
    The Cure - Disintegration
    Pixies - Doolittle

    90's and 00's
    NIN - Broken
    Nirvana - In Utero
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor - f#a#∞
    Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
    Deftones - White Pony
    Dredg - Leitmotif
    Tool - Lateralus
    Spoon - Kill The Moonlight
    Knife - Silent Shout
    Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - Music for 18 Musicians

    More Recently
    EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
    Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
    Leyland Kirby - Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What it Was
    Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
    Yellow Swans - At All Ends

      1. I took M418M because it was my introduction to minimalism and Reich. Plus it's a full hour-long piece that makes up an album.

        Classical/Composed Music is hard, because I tend to focus on single works, instead of albums. I should probably have more of that on here, but nothing stuck out.

  6. For your Holiday enjoyment:

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiSn2JuDQSc

    "Shut up Wesley!"

  7. .

    * Battery Acid - Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
    * The First Five Minutes After Death - Coil - Horse Rotorvator
    * Untitled - The Cure - Disintegration
    * I Want You - Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
    * Mother's Milk - Swans - The Great Annihilator
    * 2 Jet Legs - Parallel 41 - (self-titled)
    * Maria - Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles
    * HYPERPOWER! - Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
    * Ribs Out - Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
    * Re-Record Not Far Away - Leyland Kirby - Intrigue and Stuff (Vol. 1)

  8. Using DG's guidlines, one album per artist, no hits or boxed sets here is my totally random top 20. (ask me again tomorrow and the list would be different.)

    Elvis Costello - Get Happy!
    Velvet Underground - Loaded
    Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
    Van Morrison - Into the Music
    Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
    Who - The Who Sell Out
    Kinks - Are the Village Green Preservation Society
    Stone Roses - the Stone Roses
    Clash - London Calling
    Willie Nelson - Stardust
    Beatles - Let It Be
    Replacements - Let It Be
    Steely Dan - Aja
    Ella Fitzgerald - Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook
    Nick Lowe - Labour of Love
    Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
    Monkees - Headquarters
    Bob Marley - Exodus
    Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
    Toots & the Maytals - Funky Kingston

    1. Willie had so many great albums in the Seventies. If I could have squeezed one more country album on the list, it probably would have been Yesterday's Wine.

  9. Get The Knack and Shatner's Has Been almost made the list:

    Marty Robbins - The Drifter
    The Pogues – Red Roses for Me
    Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of The Moon
    U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
    Jackie McClean - Vertigo
    Quatuor Pour la Fin du Temps – Messiaen – Brunner/Fontenay
    The Beatles – Help
    Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
    Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
    Neil Young – Harvest Moon
    BTO - Bachman Turner Overdrive II
    Rolling Stones – Tattoo You
    Javier Garcia - Trece
    The Who – Who’s Next
    Boston – Boston
    Elton John – Blue Moves
    Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A, K622, Stoltzman, English Chamber Orchestra
    Steely Dan – Katy Lied
    Satyagraha – Philip Glass – Christopher Keene
    Maná – Amar Es Combatir

      1. I liked your Cesária Évora selection above, as well as the Goldberg Variations. And if you're already on an island, do you really need Marley or Bunny?

    1. Quatuor Pour la Fin du Temps – Messiaen – Brunner/Fontenay

      This music kills me. The music is something, but the story behind it is just ... wow. If I were to add more classical to my list, this would be among the contenders.

  10. if I were stranded on a desert island, I would want a mix of "top shelf" material and "sentimental" record to remind me of time I was not stuck alone with a record collection. I also limit myself to up too two records per artist. This is always a changing list, but for right now it would probably look something like this:

    The Kinks - Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
    The Kinks - Lola vs Powerman and the Moneygoround pt1
    The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
    The Police - Synchronicity
    The Replacements - Let It Be
    The Replacements - Tim
    The Features - Some Kind of Salvation
    Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Get Happy!
    Nick Lowe - Labour of Lust
    Pixies - Doolittle

    Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
    Frank Sinatra - Songs For Swingin Lovers
    Ryan Adams - Gold
    Weezer - Pinkerton
    White Stripes - Elephant
    The Who - Who's Next
    Van Morrison - His Band and Street Choir
    Led Zeppelin II
    Derek and the Dominoes - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
    Fountains of Wayne - Utopia Parkway

    1. Your second grouping are almost all in my Top 50. Makes me realize I'll have to look into those from the first grouping I haven't heard.

  11. A random ten, brought to you courtesy of pandora.com:

    1. "My Hope is In You"--Aaron Shust--My Hope is In You
    2. "Wagon Wheel"--Darius Rucker--True Believers
    3. "Piano Man"--Billy Joel--Piano Man
    4. "The Indigo Swing"--Indigo Swing--All Aboard!
    5. "The Happy (Sometimes I'm Happy)"--Boots and His Buddies--The Chronological 1937-1938
    6. "Every Breath You Take"--The Police--Synchronicity
    7. "Come Rain or Come Shine"--Ella Fitzgerald--The Harold Arlen Songbook (Volume Two)
    8. "Lyin' Eyes"--Eagles--One of These Nights
    9. "Ring of Fire"--Joaquin Phoenix--Walk the Line (Soundtrack)
    10. "Livin' on a Prayer"--Bon Jovi--Cross Road

  12. Off the top of my head:

    Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
    Flood - TMBG
    Sgt. Pepper's - Beatles
    Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis
    (What's The Story) Morning Glory - Oasis
    Glory Days - Springsteen
    Tubthumping - Chumbawumba
    GaGaGaGaGa - Spoon
    Loaded - Velvet Underground
    Something that has Rhapsody In Blue
    Something Louis Armstrong - You gotta give me a compilation here, I think, right? So many singles, albums don't really work.

    My other 10... I think would change too much, day to day, to select. I'd want something Stones, something U2, possibly something BNL since those have a lot of sentimental value to me, possibly even something Weird Al. Probably another TMBG. That's 15. After that, I don't quite know.

    1. 2nd 10:

      Dookie - Gren Day
      More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
      Let It Bleed - Stones
      Joshua Tree - U2
      Gordon - BNL
      Something Sinatra
      Crane Wife - Decemberists
      Something Elvis
      River Of Dreams - Billy Joel
      Speakerboxx/Love Below - Outkast

      1. It cracks me up that you have river of dreams and velvet underground in the same list. And I understand that I am pretty similar.

        1. Yeah, I know. But I really really like that album. I decided I wanted Billy Joel, and if I had to pick just one, that would be it. The Stranger was a very close second, but River Of Dreams was my introduction to him.

          1. Perhaps we discussed this before, but you're wrong.
            Also, I maybe should have had ATLiens as my lone hip-hop album.
            Or Aquemini or Stankonia.
            But probably ATLiens. Love that set of ONP beats.

            1. There was no hip-hop on my list because so few albums I bought were completely satisfactory to me.
              I've been more a singles fan for Hip-hop (and pop), and also much of my consumption has treated it as commodity or appreciated novelty over substance.

              Maybe Cypress Hill or New Kingdom's Mexico or Bust?
              Or KRS-One's Return of the Boom-Bap?

              Maybe if we'd've done this project in May or June...

              1. No, it would be
                Ice Cube The Predator
                That should be on the top 20 somehow.
                /Smacks own forehead.

        1. Ah yeah. I would almost consider putting that on mine, too. Not because it's top 20 by any stretch (though it holds up pretty well), but the nostalgia factor is off the charts. Gotta have something to think back on during all those nights out on the island.

          Also, Linds and I started Lost tonight, so this is all remarkably appropriate.

          1. I'd definitely say Bad Hair Day, if only for "The Night Santa Went Crazy". Alapalooza a close second.

            1. Now I've gone and got that stuck in my head, and I don't think I've listened to it in at least 10, if not 12 or 13 years. Something's finally gonna snap in my brain at this rate.

            2. Poodle Hat is pretty remarkable in its range. Honestly, Al's gotten better with time. Bad Hair Day is probably third, but some of them on there just are too grating.

  13. I'm still thinking my over my 20 albums list, but in the mean time, here is the new music I've acquired lately:

    Library

    The Replacements - All for Nothing/Nothing For All
    Hanni El Khatib - Will The Guns Come Out
    Woddy Guthrie - Woody at 100: The WOddy Guthrie Centenial Collection (3 disc set)

    Amazon MP3 Sales

    Kanye West - Yeezus
    Arcade Fire - Reflektor

      1. To me, Kanye is the kind of artist who I'm going to get everytime just to see what he comes out with. And I always need multiple listens, because there's so much to hear that the first couple of spins don't do it justice. Heck, I still hear new stuff on College Dropout

  14. Off the top of my head, incorporating most of the previously discussed constraints (1 per artist, no compilations) but with caveats and notes.

    1. Arcade Fire The Suburbs
    2. The BeatlesThe White Album
    3. Bill EvansPiano Player (a compilation, but considering he had like 30 albums and I’ve heard maybe 7 of them…)
    4. Billy Bragg & WilcoMermaid Avenue
    5. Bob DylanBlonde on Blond (but only because it has more tracks than Blood on the Tracks)

    6. Fleetwood MacRumours (though I probably listen to The Dance most often)
    7. Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape
    8. Jimi HendrixElectric Ladyland (toss-up between this and Are You Experienced)
    9. Led ZeppelinII (but man-o-man do I love III & IV)
    10. Miles Davis Kind of Blue

    11. Neil Young - Harvest
    12. NirvanaUnplugged in New York
    13. Pearl JamVs.
    14. Red Hot Chili PeppersCalifornication
    15. The Rolling StonesLet It Bleed

    16. Tool 10,000 Days (toss-up between this and Lateralus really)
    17. Vince Guaraldi Trio A Charlie Brown Christmas
    18. Ween The Mollusk
    19. The WhoTommy
    20. Willie NelsonStardust

    1. Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

      Gotta have something to listen to this time of year. Had I gone for a Christmas album, it would have been Guaraldi or Dylan's Christmas in the Heart.

      1. 10,000 really grabbed me for some reason, but every album of theirs is solid gold.

        Without your mention of Foo Fighters, I may have overlooked that one. I'd forgotten how many spins that album got junior year of HS.

        1. I thought about including a Foo Fighters album, probably The Colour and The Shape, but in the end none of them seemed good enough start to finish.

  15. Thanks for taking this, CH!
    Thanks for making it 20, I think 10 would be too few.

    I was thinking about functionality and the needs of what would be on the desert island.
    Would I be without my wife? I wouldn't want too many sexy or sentimental songs if I was stranded all alone.
    Would I be angry that I'm on the Island? Or would it be my choice?
    Is the island ever cold or is it always tropical?
    Do I have loud speakers or just earbuds?
    Am I using the music to stave off the boredom of the island?

    But then I really didn't think too much about those things and just thought what collection of CDs would be the best if all I had for personal listening was an iPod with 20 albums on it. So it's not about Desert Island, it's just about what if I lost all the music I had and the internet was gone and all I could buy was 20 albums to put on an old iPod shuffle and some new religious vows I took for some reason would prevent me from ever buying another. Or something like that.

    No clear order - just that in which they came to me (more or less, when I'd replace one I wouldn't re-order).

    1. Ha Ha Tonka - Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South
    2. Johnny Cash - American Recordings
    3. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
    4. Merle Haggard and the Strangers - Mama Tried
    5. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife
    6. Black Dice - Beaches and Canyons
    7. Lydia Loveless - Indestructible Machine
    8. Peaking Lights - 936 (but please an expanded edition with the On-U and Patten remixes?)
    9. Current 93 - Black Ships Ate the Sky
    10. Twilight Circus Sound System - Horsie
    11. Low - Christmas
    12. The Bottle Rockets - Live in Heilbronn
    13. Robert Turman & Aaron Dilloway - Blizzard
    14. The Solid Doctor - How About Some Ether?
    15. Robyn - Body Talk
    16. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Sings Greatest Palace Music
    17. Meat Puppets - Too High to Die
    18. Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices (performing Arvo Pärt) - De Profundis
    19. Sonic Youth - Sister
    20. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

    That seems more focused on recent releases than I'd expected; does that make me look faddish?

    Skipped Coil because I couldn't really think of what particular album I'd want without it just making me long to hear other parts.
    Skipped Reggae (non-dub edition), too, but my tastes in that ebb and flow, so I don't know how I'd pin down one album. Maybe a Pete Tosh album?

    Notes:
    If I'm honest #3 could really just be Part 1: Acknowledgement
    #5 Beats out Ministry - Psalm 69
    #6 Beats out Tarot Sport (which DG included)
    #11 Works both as a Christmas album and not as one.
    I just dug out #14 and it would satisfy all of my Trip-Hop/Downtempo cravings really well. It's good on breadth and quality if it feels less like an album.
    #17 Partly because "Comin' Down" saved my life, but also those first three songs are so awesome and when it was new I loved coming up with alternate random lyrics to fit the songs. And also because of the "Lake of Fire" hidden track.

    Rules questions:
    Is #16 a "Greatest Hits" cop-out? If so, make it Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Lie Down in the Light
    #12 is definitely an attempt to get around the "Greatest Hits" rule. Guessing the weeks-old double-album reissue backage is also out. Then just make it The Brooklyn Side
    #14 is labelled like a compilation, but only like 5 of the tracks were available outside of it, and then on 12" singles (labelled "Losing Patients EP" 1-3, but they were just 2-4 tracks.) It is two full discs worth.
    #15 is an album made up of most of three EPs. I would really miss the two acoustic versions on EPs 1 and 2: can I add them? I think they'd all fit on one disk.

    #21 would be either
    Eric Copeland - Alien in a Garbage Dump/Al Anon (a bit of a cop-out too, as it's two EPs released on one CD)
    or
    Colin Stetson - New History Warfare, Vol. 2
    (or maybe the Knife - Silent Shout, didn't think of that before seeing DG's list)

    1. But then I really didn't think too much about those things and just thought what collection of CDs would be the best if all I had for personal listening was an iPod with 20 albums on it. So it's not about Desert Island, it's just about what if I lost all the music I had and the internet was gone and all I could buy was 20 albums to put on an old iPod shuffle and some new religious vows I took for some reason would prevent me from ever buying another. Or something like that.

      jeez AMR, you could have put some thought into this.

    2. Surprised we didn't hear why Sister was your Sonic Youth selection. I don't disagree, just thought we'd hear more on the selection process.

      1. Because Daydream Nation is so polished and "Catholic Block" and "PCH" and "Pipeline/Kill Time" and "Cotton Crown"
        Minute for Minute, the one I'd most want to listen to. I also felt it least likely to make me long for another SY album, while DN makes me want some songs on Sister. It's pretty obvious to me that Sister would be the one I'd want but I feel like expressing why is difficult.

        Runner up may have actually been The Eternal.

    3. Thanks for making it 20, I think 10 would be too few.

      Thanks for that go to Algonad, who made this entire topic happen.

      I was thinking about functionality and the needs of what would be on the desert island.
      Would I be without my wife? I wouldn't want too many sexy or sentimental songs if I was stranded all alone.
      Would I be angry that I'm on the Island? Or would it be my choice?

      I've been grappling with, and becoming even more conscious of, my anger in the last month or two. I was a very angry person for several years, and worked hard to get some control over it. Lately, it's not that I'm losing control, but that I'm encountering more sources feeding my anger. I'm the kind of person who can be motivated by anger, but also consumed and ruled by it. So while there were a couple albums on my list I might have picked, I ultimately decided that I wasn't going to pick any music that makes me angry.

      As for the sentimental, that's what I'd ask for on the CD mix. Very few entire albums have a sentimental pull on me, but there are sure as heck a bunch of singles that I'd be crushed if I never heard again. Maybe that's a subject for another Friday Music Day down the line.

      1. As for the anger, well I listened to plenty more harder stuff as a teenager when limitations and obligations seemed more something to rage against. [Compared to my middle-aged acceptance of things being the way life goes.] If I wanted to rage against something on the Island, I'd probably want Psalm 69 and Badmotorfinger at least, if not RATM's first.

        I meant just sentimental in general, not my sentiment.

      2. Re: Anger. I was a pretty angry youth, and my musical choices reflected that. I was pretty deep into the punk rock scene in Mankato for most of my teenage years, and it took a toll on my relationships. There are very few albums, and even fewer artists / bands, from that era that I can listen to anymore. I still like the energy and drive of punk rock, but, like AMR, I've found much more satisfaction in contemplative music that reflects my own emotional development.

      3. I was a very angry person for several years, and worked hard to get some control over it.

        If it's not toooo personal, CH, this would make a very interesting starting point for a stand-alone post.

    4. Grumble Grumble
      Plastikman - Consumed

      Setting this as a Desert Island 20 is a great way for me to determine my Desert Island 30, I guess...

  16. Here's my list. I outlined more detail at my blog

    1. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/Love Below
    2. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
    3. Explosions in the Sky - How Strange, Innocence
    4. Danger Mouse - The Gray Album
    5. The Damnwells - One Last Century
    6. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
    7. Childish Gambino - Camp
    8. Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeroplane Over The Sea
    9. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
    10. The Replacements - Let It Be
    11. The National - High Violet
    12. Johnny Cash - Any of the American albums (please don't make me pick)
    13. The Strokes - Is This It
    14. The Velvet Underground & Nico - Velvet Underground & Nico
    15. Arcade Fire - Funeral
    16. The Clash - London Calling
    17. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
    18. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
    19. Colm Lynch - A Whisper in a Riot
    20. Interpol - Antics
    1. Johnny Cash - Any of the American albums (please don't make me pick)

      Yes. The only one that falls a bit flat for me is American III.

      Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf

      I felt bad about leaving QotSA off the list. It would have been between this and Lullabies to Paralyze.

      1. The only one that falls a bit flat for me is American III
        But that has "Mercy Seat" and "I See A Darkness"!

          1. Probably. If I'm making a compilation disc from the AR records, "Mercy Seat" and "Darkness" will be on the list before I even look at the albums to remember exactly what is available. So probably top 10.

  17. I got my 'Minnesota Mix' running on Pandora. Day 3 of tweaking

    'Music for Boys' - The Suburbs *
    'Close to Me' - The Cure
    'Regent' - New Order **
    'Jungle Love' - Morris Day
    'Little Red Corvette' - Prince

    'Superfreak' - Rick James
    'Fly the Flag' - Stiff Little Fingers
    'Eight Miles High' - Husker Du
    'Fix Me' - Black Flag
    'Hillbilly Junk' - Paul Westerberg

    * I knew this song but had no idea what the name was or who performed it. Good stuff.
    *No matter what custom station I make, New Order will always pop up. Even in a honky tonk format.

  18. The world would be a sad and empty space if we were limited to just 20 albums.

    Cat Power - Moon Pix
    Bruce - Born to Run
    Television - The Blow Up
    Sam Cooke - Live at The Harlem Square Club
    Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
    Joanna Newsom - Ys
    Neil - On the Beach
    Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly
    My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
    Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch
    Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking
    Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Going On
    Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours
    Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
    The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday
    Uncle Tupelo - March 16-20, 1992
    Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain
    Richard Buckner - Since
    Captain Beefheart - Doc at the Radar Station
    Richard Buckner - Since

    1. On the Beach was one of three Neil Young albums I considered (Rust Never Sleeps and After the Gold Rush being the others).

      I went with Rust mostly because I have spent more time listening to it than the other two.

      1. That was really hard picking just one Neil. It came down to After the Goldrush, Everybody Knows..., and OtB. I went with the latter because I haven't listened to it as much as the others.

  19. boy, I spend so little time listening to music anymore....

    Most of this list is for sentimental reasons. And no, I didn't stop at 20, although I tried to eliminate all compilations and live albums (with a couple notable, and plausible, exceptions).

    Bruce Springsteen, The River
    Roger Miller, Golden Hits
    Neil Young, Neil Young
    Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps (that's legit, right?? Crazy Horse makes this different from Neil "solo")
    Johnny Cash, I Walk the Line
    Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food
    Led Zeppelin I
    Pretenders II
    The Suburbs, In Combo
    Cheap Trick, Live at Budokan
    Ray Charles, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
    Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert
    Traffic, John Barleycorn Must Die
    The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced?
    Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
    Manu Dibango, Soul Makossa
    Steve Miller Band, Fly Like An Eagle
    Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time
    The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle
    The Doors, The Doors
    Bob Dylan, Nashville Skyline
    Van Morrison, Moondance
    Fiddler on the Roof Original Movie Soundtrack

    No jazz or classical on this list, but there should be. And if I spent any more time on it, I would add/subtract/recombobulate.

    1. On the way home from work, I quite literally thought of your last three albums. Not in that order, but still. In particular, I can still hear my dad singing, "If I were a rich man yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum...." in his Tevye Yiddish accent.

  20. I have not thought about this enough. Then again, I assume that I'm not going to the island of my own volition, and that I should probably be grateful that those that are taking me there are allowing me to bring 20 albums and an apparatus on which to play them.

    One per artist, no greatest hits. This is not necessarily a list of my twenty favorite albums, but rather a mix of what I'd want around me if I was never going to hear music again.

    Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
    Burial - Untrue
    Deadbeat - Drawn and Quartered
    Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
    DJ Shadow - Entroducing
    Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
    The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America
    Japandroids - Celebration Rock
    Massive Attack - Mezzanine
    mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister
    My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
    The National - High Violet
    Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
    Outkast - Stankonia
    P.O.S. - Never Better
    Pixies - Doolittle
    Radiohead - OK Computer
    Sigur Ros - ( )
    Swans - The Seer
    TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain

    1. I briefly considered Massive Attack before my mind wandered elsewhere.
      I might have gone with Protection, even though the last track is basically throwaway.
      Because Tracey Thorn.

      1. I mean, I know that Mezzanine is essentially the world's greatest EP with five okay trip-hop songs tacked on, but still...

        Also, you still need to listen to Drawn and Quartered.

        1. Which 5 are the OK trip-hop songs?
          It's pretty great start-to-finish, but sorta like my pick of SY's "Sister" over others, I think I'd want "Protection" more on the island in a way I can't put my finger on.

          I've grabbed D&Q, but haven't listened much. First listens were pretty good though.
          Like how there's 5 quarters.

  21. ok, forgive any spelling/grammatical/stupid errors, but I complied the list (started roughly 10pm, so anything posted after is not on) and here is a rough estimate of what people listed

    link to my Google Spreadsheet (because I couldnt think of a better way to share)

    1. Wow. Nicely done, DW!

      Tarot Sport was listed by both DG and I, I think.

      Speaking of, I was listening to FB's new one, and that album grows on me a little more every listen. I doubt it'll ever be a desert island pick like Tarot Sport, but it'll break into my top 20, I think.

        1. I think you skipped Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert and the Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack from my list. Possibly because I didn't separate the title from the title artist? Still, great work, dw.

      1. Speaking of, I was listening to FB's new one, and that album grows on me a little more every listen.

        Dido, I was listening through my 2013 new albums and this one surprised me with how much better it was than I remembered. I still don't like "The Red Wing" which might have colored my initial impression since it was the song released ahead of the album.

    2. Artists with multiple albums listed:

      Neil Young - 6 albums, 8 mentions
      Rolling Stones - 5 albums, 6 mentions
      The Beatles - 6 albums, 6 mentions
      Bob Dylan - 3 albums, 5 mentions
      The Who - 3 albums, 5 mentions
      The Replacements - 2 albums, 5 mentions
      Arcade Fire - 3 albums, 4 mentions
      Bruce Springsteen - 3 albums, 4 mentions
      Johnny Cash - 3 albums, 4 mentions
      Led Zeppelin - 3 albums, 4 mentions
      Miles Davis - 2 albums, 4 mentions

      And a bunch with 3 albums, 3 mentions:
      Sinatra, GBV, Hold Steady, Kinks, Van Morrison

        1. I was really torn on that. I like some of the songs on that album but I think I like their others better.

  22. Here is my list:
    1. Bad Time Zoo - Sims
    2. Big Willie Style - Will Smith
    3. The Heist - Macklemore
    4. Castor the Twin - Dessa
    5. Champion - Brother Ali
    6. Cracked Rear View - Hootie and the Blowfish
    7. Double Live - Garth Brooks
    8. Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
    9. Give Up - Postal Service
    10. How Does Your Garden Grow - Better than Ezra
    11. Light Chasers - Cloud Cult
    12. Lost and Gone Forever - Guster
    13. Sound of Music Soundtrack - Rogers and Hamerstein
    14. Muppets: The Green Album - Various Artists
    15. Somthing to Remember - Madonna
    16. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
    17. This is Our Science - Astronautalis
    18, Twice the Speed of Life - Sugarland
    19. 1200 Curfew - Indigo Girls
    20. stunt - Barenaked Ladies

    1. So if we all get to go to the island together, we'll still have "Man or Muppet."
      But we'll be unable to escape "Closer to Fine" or "Jiggy With It"
      Something tells me you might be an early nominee to be voted off the island.

      1. "Man or Muppet" isn't on the Green Album (it's a compilation album of Muppet covers). Sheenie just can't follow rules...

  23. quick back of the envelop 20. some old favorites, some new favorites. no particular sentiment here.

    the beatles - the beatles
    the decemberists - the crane wife
    dr. dog - fate
    frank ocean - channel ORANGE
    golden smog - weird tales
    joanna newsom - have one on me
    margot and the nuclear so and so's - the dust of retreat
    neil young - tonight's the night
    neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea
    nick cave and the bad seeds - no more shall we part
    pink floyd - the wall
    radiohead - OK computer
    the replacements - let it be
    st. vincent - marry me
    stevie wonder - songs in the key of life
    the strokes - is this it?
    tom waits - blue valentine
    walt mink - el producto
    weezer - pinkterton
    wilco - summerteeth

    1. Had I picked a Tom Waits record, BV would have been the one. I didn't because Frank and Beefheart basically split the difference on him for this exercise. I waffled between Ys and HOoM but chose the former because, in lieu of zero classical records on my list, the wonderful orchestration on that record would do in a pinch. Over familiarity kept artists like the Beatles, Velvet Underground, Pixies, Dylan and many others from my list. All have made records that I love, but I've heard them so often I could probably play them back in my mind with little to no prompting. And as I noted before, having just 20 records would suck.

  24. Okay, I'm just now seeing what I missed. I'll do one.

    The Who - Who's Next
    Latyrx - The Second Album (I happen to be listening to this a lot right now...this might settle out after a while)
    Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
    Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
    Sufjan Stevens - Come On Feel the Illinoise!
    Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
    Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
    Miles Davis - Birth of a Cool
    Epica - The Phantom Agony
    Jurassic 5 - Feedback
    Original Broadway Cast - Ragtime
    Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network Score
    Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
    The Who - Tommy
    Tool - 10,000 Days
    Tool - Aenima
    Pearl Jam - Vs.
    Alice in Chains - Dirt
    Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking
    Original Broadway Cast - Once on this Island

    I did this rather hastily, but it's something like that.

    I found it interesting that the ones that came to mind, in many cases, are albums I've heard scores or hundreds of times and they won out over my current tastes.

    1. Hold on. I assume I only get one per artist? Even if not, I've missed two obvious ones.

      Drop Tommy and 10,000 Days. Add:

      The Left Banke - Complete Recordings
      KanYe West - Late Registration

      1. I assume I only get one per artist?

        that's why I have one Neil and one Neil w/Crazy Horse. Of course I also should have a Buffalo Springfield and a CSNY and a Neil w/the Shocking Pinks [and a Neil w/the Bluenotes].

    2. If you enjoy Latyrx, I assume that you've heard their feature on Herbaliser's "8 Point Agenda". If not, get on that, it's essentially the smoothest, chillest rap ever.

      edit: also, I'm not at all sure how I missed out on Sufjan. I don't know whether I'd go with the familiar awesomeness Illinoise or the underrated depth of Age of Adz. Ouch.

    1. For me it's a "Desert Island 9 + Fairytale of New York" Counting that as one of my choices implies that it's up for debate (at least for me, of course).

    2. Considering there are only 10 Christmas songs ever written and artists just phrase the words different to make the song "new", this list would be easy.

      Ok, that is a bit snarky.

      I could probably do maybe 5 albums and maybe 10 songs.

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