You may have noticed we aren’t firing on all cylinders lately–see below. Which is why we’re rolling with a quasi-rerun of Desert Island discs this week. Why “quasi-repeat”? Because this week’s “willing participant”, actually ran his list over on his own blaaaahg, Reign of Error. Which is nice, because it limits the work we actually have to do. In fact, he even reprinted the rules in his initial write up, which only makes our job even easier. So, without further ado, we present a former writer and editor (of your own beloved and esteemed Bstone no less!) over at Talented Mr. Roto.com, blogger extraordinare and Barry Bonds backer…Greebs. Check out his albums after the jump.
Bstone dropped the old Desert Island Discs meme on Brahsome, and I immediately knew I’d be unable to resist coming up with my own list (and then, almost immediately, feel like making corrections). But thanks to Brahsome for the idea, the waste of time, and the photo here that I stole directly from their site. (Good times!)
The rules of the road, which make enough sense to me:
1) No greatest hits. They’re not albums.
2) Live is okay, provided it was a live album released by a studio production company. This one is highly debatable, but if an artist and studio combine to plan and produce a specific live show, then we’re letting it in. Exceptions are the eleventy billion Pearl Jam, Grateful Dead, and Phish shows. Don’t use them. They go the same way as a bunch of Panic bootlegs or that REM tape from Greensboro that your older brother gave you in ‘93.
3) Double studio albums are only one pick. Also a debatable issue, but if you’re sacrificing the music you like just to have more music you don’t, then you’re a tool.
4) No compilations. Totally ob-vi, brah.
5) No soundtracks. The exception here is an album-style soundtrack penned by one ar-teest. Remember, this is not the 10 albums that you think are the “greatest of all time,” or whatever the eff that’s supposed to mean. They are the author’s personal picks for what he/she wants to listen to while stuck on a desert island.
A caveat – one look at my last.fm page will make some of these choices look a bit suspect. I resisted, as much as possible, the temptation to put in the albums that I’ve been obsessing over lately — The National – Boxer, Caesars – Paper Tigers, Silversun Pickups – Carnavas, for instance. The reason is I’m sure I’ll burnout on them soon enough, and I sort of assume that anything on this list has to have lasting power.
I’ve also resisted the temptation to be too pretentious here – it would be nice if I chose some classical or opera to go with these tunes, to balance the scales away from the rock. But…hell, even though I own some of that I just don’t listen. I might as well add a bunch of Miles Davis…again, I own a ton of his stuff and like it, but it’s not making the final cut. I also resisted the temptation to add bands that “should” be here, like the Rolling Stones, Sabbath, Pixies, Elvis Costello, Public Enemy, Dr. Dre, etc. Sure, they’re all great but for whatever reason, I couldn’t dig it.
The Clash – London Calling. — The no-brainer of the bunch, this has been my answer for “what’s your all-time favorite album” since the early 1980s, when I can remember listening to it four times in a row one day when I was home sick from school. I could have chosen Sandinista! for the sheer volume of songs, but any Clash fan will tell you it’s not nearly their best album. Sure, this list isn’t supposed to be the greatest albums of all time, but I still listen to this baby. And I’d want to keep doing that if I was on a desert island.
Desmond Dekker – The Israelites — So, if I’m sitting on a desert island, there simply has to be reggae somewhere. Sure, I could throw you a Bob Marley, I could mix it up with a little Tosh, or even Mr. Jimmy Cliff. But somehow, Dekker is the one that feels right, especially as he throws in some of the old ska elements that a lot of reggae leaves behind. At the very least, this is going to make me feel a lot less worse about being stranded on a goddamned desert island. (By the way, I would have chosen the best of Desmond Dekker if it weren’t for those confounded rules…)
Tool — Aenima — For those days where Dezzie Dekker doesn’t do the trick and I want to unleash a little pent up steam, there’s no better album anywhere than this gem. Hard crushing guitar, potent lyrics and music that makes me want to punch a hole in some drywall. (In a good way, of course.) This album is also probably in my lifetime Top 10, but it fills a need here that I don’t think I’m getting from any other selection.
Radiohead – OK Computer – Probably one of the more important albums to come out in the 1990s, it remains so completely listenable it’s a bit bizarre. Given that roughly 978 reasons have been suggested for what this “concept” album really means, I figure I could spend a lot of my free time coming up with a few new ones on my own. Hell, it beats drawing a face in blood on a volleyball.
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti — If you like rock music and you don’t choose a Zeppelin album, then…well, god have mercy on your soul. Really, the bigger question is what to bring? I took a bit of the cop-out by opting for Graffiti, but it’s not like this is in any way an album I wouldn’t want to listen to. From the opening track of “Custard Pie,” I can drift off into a land where it was once cool for hard rock superstars to be obsessed with J.R.R. Tolkien.
Minutemen – Double Nickels On The Dime — This one was tough, because the entire album is predicated around driving, and it is perhaps the quintessential roadtrip album. I can’t remember the last road trip I took without listening to at least part of this. And…that might be a little awful while stranded on a desert island. But for sheer listenability, nothing beats D Boon, Mike Watt and George Hurley just jamming out for 43 tracks. Whether it’s the truly melodic “Love Dance,” classic songs like “Corona,” or “A Political Song for Michael Jackson,” this San Pedro trio was and is one of the great bands of all-time.
Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out — One of my favorite bands of all-time and I couldn’t for the life of me decide which of their albums I’d want to bring along for this. In the end this edged out Call The Doctor and One Beat. Why? Because of the mix of songs – not only was this the album that moved S-K from a riot grrrl band into a true rock band, but it combines danceable fun songs like “Little Babies” and “Dance Song ‘97” with some true pounding, punk-infused ROCK songs like “One More Hour” and “Turn It On.” Fuck it, I’m going to listen to this right now.
Uncle Tupelo – Anodyne — I’m a little surprised myself to see this here, but it struck me that I wanted to have something with a country vibe. After all, I’ll be getting back to the basics, and needed some mellower songs to go along with the rather heavy bunch of stuff I’ve already chosen. While I could have gone for a Wilco or Son Volt album, or gone a little older with some Johnny Cash, for instance, I’ll take “Anodyne” which to me is still the quintessential No Depression album (moreso than their landmark album that’s actually named No Depression.) It’s also been a long time since I’ve treated myself to this diddy so that will be a good treat.
Cat Stevens – Majikat — This live CD of his, released in 2004 but recorded in the mid-1970s, is my way of getting a greatest hits here. I know that Cat gets unjustly mocked for both his music and his politics, but I grew up listening to him in the back of my dad’s car, and frankly, when I want to listen to something soothing and calming but also lyrically and musically beautiful, I end up with Cat more often than not. I thought about Elliott Smith or Nick Drake here, but my roots are with the man now named Yosuf Islam.
The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow — Christ, I almost forgot this one. Sure, some mock The Smiths as being maudlin and certainly they are that – but this is such a gem, such a part of my high school and college days, that it’s a blessing that the songs still completely hold up. Frankly, every song on this CD not only is brilliant but contains a specific memory for me – whether it’s making up the lyrics to “Hand In Glove” to mock a dumb but pretty classmate, or recognizing “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” in instrumental form in Ferris Bueller. This one has to be there.
Feel free to let Greebs have it in the comments. Or you could just go check out his original list. Make sure and scope his musings as well at reign of error.
