Mmmmm, dessert island
I mean desert island.
So I decided I'd try my hand at doing the twenty desert island albums. So these are, in alphabetical order, the albums that I would take with me if I had to leave right now (I suppose iPods render all this unnecessary, but whatevs, it's hypothetical). I'm going to try to remember to do this again in a year without looking at this list, and see what stays and what goes.
Chet Baker, My Funny Valentine
Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
The Beatles, Revolver
Belle & Sebastian, Tigermilk
Björk, Post
Blur, Parklife
Jeff Buckley, Grace
Depeche Mode, Violator
The Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
Steve Miller Band, Greatest Hits '74-'78
Múm, Finally We Are No One
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Joanna Newsom, The Milk-Eyed Mender
Pet Shop Boys, Introspective
The Pixies, Doolittle
Pulp, Different Class
Radiohead, OK Computer
REM, Automatic for the People
Simon & Garfunkel, Greatest Hits
Velvet Underground, Velvet Underground
Looking at them after I've typed them out, I realize what I privileged: the eclectic--69 love songs, parklife, revolver, etc., coherently sad albums--pet sounds, automatic for the people, in the aeroplane over the sea, grace, OK computer, etc., and those-albums-I-can't-live-without-for-some-reason-or-another-so-don't-judge-me.
So this was a fun and interesting process, to guess what you'll never get sick of. Considering Introspective has never left rotation since its 1988 release (and yes I was listening to it in 1988[!!!]), Violator since 1990, and Automatic for the People since 1992, those definitely have the staying power they need for those long sunny days under swaying palm trees. I took some risks on some newbies, so we'll see how they fare.
I'd like to see other people's lists, because I somehow think this list gives a little insight to my headspace (I'm so not kidding about the Steve Miller Band, for example). Post them as a reply to my post?