Desert Island Records

Well well well…. That is a question and a half: “If you were in a desert island and could only have 10 records, which ones would you choose?”

As Simon Sweetman says in his blog, they never tell you that in a desert island there aren’t any power outlets, spare batteries or computer to upload mp3s into your ipod! But we’re just imagining, creating a fictional situation. Because I am pretty sure that listening to music would be one of my smallest worries if I ever was a castaway! Food, water, tools and shade would be my priorities… But back to the main subject…

I think I’ve tried doing this list before. Especially after having read and seen “High Fidelity” (one of my favourite films) in which Rob, the main character, loves to make “top-five” lists. However, just 5 is not enough for me. There is too much choice. Too many good bands with great albums out there that I’ve loved over the years. I simply COULDN’T pick just five. The problem is, where do you stop? I am pretty sure that come number 10 I’d think: Oh no, I’ve got to include such and such on the list. It’s going to have to be “Top 15″…

These albums, the chosen ones, must be albums that MEAN something to me. I suppose I could base my choise in the quality of the music, but music is such a personal and subjective matter that at the end of the day people are going to choose records that make them feel in a certain way. For example, “OK Computer” by Radiohead makes me feel a bit melancholic, whereas “Four on the Floor” by Juliette and the Licks just make me want to dance!

Okay then, let’s give this a go…

I suppose I must start this list with two albums that in different ways influenced and marked those important years in my life: early adulthood. They are “Siamese Dream” by the Smashing Pumpkins and “Ten” by Pearl Jam. Now, this is one of the first difficult choices, because I could have easily gone for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Versus instead. But -there’s always a but- I must follow my heart and realise that those other albums are VERY good, but the first ones MEAN more to me…
To start with, Siamese Dream has Soma, which is one of my favourite songs EVER (“Wrapped my hurt in you, And took my shelter in that pain…”) among others like Disarm, Today, Cherub Rock, Quiet… Such a varied album, with so many good songs! I believe this album should be among everybody’s top ten!
And Ten… Well, you just can’t miss Eddie Vedder’s voice, those guitars, the feeling that comes off every single line. Songs like Alive, Black, Jeremy, Even Flow, Garden… well, I can’t choose just one! (“I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life, I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky, but why, why, why can’t it be mine”)

The third position is going to go for “Violator” by Depeche Mode. Having grown up listening to some of my older brothers’ music, it comes as no surprise that there’s some quality 80’s techno in my list. I think I even remember the first time I heard Enjoy the Silence. I think I can remember the goosebumps, yes, they’re so clear in my mind now. I am laying on my single bed, next to the huge-almost-broken stereo, my legs are up against the wall trying to steal some coolness from the plaster in the hot summer. I am, what, 12? I don’t know much about music back then. The only thing I know is that those synthesizers and drums and guitars are stirring something inside me…. That’s what music is about!

“Make Yourself” by Incubus is going to be number 4. The first time I heard Incubus I didn’t like them. I just wasn’t ready for them, for their sound. It was S.C.I.E.N.C.E., Redifine maybe (Is that the first song in the album?) and I though: “WTF?” I must admit that I didn’t give them a second chance, not even two more minutes (Same thing happened with Glassjaw. I took me five attempts -or more- to go past minute 0:20 of Pretty Lush. Once I managed to hear the whole song without cringing, I loved them forever)
I listened to them again a couple of years later and that was the beginning of a very different story. “Make Yourself” is such a powerful album, with not only great tunes, but also great GREAT lyrics. The Warmth, Drive, Make Yourself… they all have great words that really captivate you…

I don’t really know who to choose for number five. There are a few of options of who comes next but I can’t make up the order. So, in no particular order, numbers 5, 6 and 7 are: “Bleed American” by Jimmy Eat World (because any song of this album makes me want to jump out my chair and start singing and dancing), “Placebo” by Placebo (same reason as “Bleed American) and “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” by REM (This album has got to be my favourite REM album. They were my favourite band for a long time and I also love the albums that everybody loves -Out of Time and Automatic for the People- but after having followed REM for a while this album came as a surprise: darker, more mature, intriguing lyrics and tunes…)

Number eight has to be “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me“ by Brand New. This is the most recent album of my whole list, only 2006 (Has it really been that long???). I had loved Brand New for a while before this came out. They were more in the “emo” scene back then though (they didn’t like the label, but that’s what everybody called them) and me -a straightforward emo girl who wasn’t ashamed to turn up at concerts full of 14-year-olds, was more than happy to receive and listen the new album. But the surprise was massive. Brand New weren’t emo any more! Thay had grown up! They were singing songs like Limousine or Jesus Christ (“Well, Jesus Christ I’m not scared to die, I’m a little bit scared of what comes after”) and playing guitars like the ones on Not the Sun.

And the last two positions… Why do I have to choose! I can’t really choose. And I’m not going to do it. I’ll leave a list of my next choices, more than two, I know… but I love them all the same!

- “Desintegration” by The Cure
- “Fine Lines” by My Vitriol
- “Absolution” by Muse
- “Ideas above our Station” by Hundred Reasons
- “Everything must Go” by Manic Street Preachers (and Motorcycle Emptiness from “Generation Terrorists”!)
- “Fake Sound of Progress” by Losrprophets
- “Tell all your friends” by Taking Back Sunday
- “The Proximity Effect” by Nada Surf
- “Hot Fuss” by The Killers
(and probably some more that I can’t remember at the moment!)

I have just realised that the order in which this list is doesn’t make much sense. Apart from numbers one and two (Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam) the other ones could be in any order. I can’t believe I left Brand New till number eight when it’s been my favourite album for a long time! It should have been in number three

I have intentionally not included any music in Spanish, and that’s because I’ll dedicate a brand new post to those songs/bands in Spanish that mean something to me! But that’ll be another day. It’s bed time now.