The Eighth Nerve

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I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us.

- Martin Luther

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Desert(ed) Island Listening

First things first: Is it Deserted Island or Desert Island? Am I to imagine being stranded on a tropical oasis with swaying palm trees, water falls and white-sand beaches or am I stuck on a barren strip of sand hovering just above sea level?

Either way you know the place and its significance. This is where we go to make life's really important decisions. For instance, if you were stranded on a desert(ed) island and could bring along one historical figure, ANY historical figure, who would it be? If you could only bring one book? Eat one food?* You get the idea, right?

So here's the situation: You're stranded on this hypothetical island with or without coconut trees and your only companions are are portable CD player and a giant box of batteries. As you etch tiny lines into the player's plastic case to keep track of the passing days which albums will you be longing for? A deserted island wishlist may not always include the best and brightest moments in popular music but your favorites, those indispensable standbys and perennial personal greats, are sure to be represented. Here is a realistic look at 100 albums I would rather not do without...

1. Neutral Milk Hotel “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”
2. Wilco “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”
3. John Prine “s/t”
4. Van Halen “s/t”
5. Pixies “Surfer Rosa”
6. Lyle Lovett “Joshua Judges Ruth”
7. Uncle Tupelo “Anodyne”
8. Gillian Welch “Revival”
9. Radiohead “Kid A”
10. Jayhawks “Tomorrow the Green Grass”
11. Johnny Cash “Classic Cash”
12. Ryan Adams “Heartbreaker”
13. Indigo Girls “s/t”
14. REM “Automatic For The People”
15. Muddy Waters "Hard Again"
16. Lyle Lovett “Pontiac”
17. Uncle Tupelo “No Depression”
18. Pixies “Doolittle”
19. Weezer “s/t (Blue)”
20. Paul Simon “Graceland”
21. Depeche Mode “Violator”
22. Son Volt “Trace”
23. Aerosmith “Toys in the Attic”
24. Indigo Girls “Rites of Passage"
25. Smashing Pumpkins “Gish”
26. Jane’s Addiction “Ritual De Lo Habitual”
27. The Shins “Chutes Too Narrow”
28. Modest Mouse “The Moon and Antarctica”
29. Secret Machines “Now Here Is Nowhere”
30. Gillian Welch “Time (The Revelator)”
31. Crowded House “Woodface”
32. Uncle Tupelo “March 16-20, 1992”
33. New Pornographers “Electric Version”
34. Emmylou Harris “Wrecking Ball”
35. Iron & Wine “Creek Drank the Cradle”
36. Fugazi “Red Medicine”
37. Beatles “Rubber Soul”
38. Beatles “White Album”
39. Dismemberment Plan “Emergency & I”
40. Beastie Boys “Ill Communication”
41. Built To Spill “Keep It Like A Secret”
42. Pixies “Trompe Le Monde”
43. U2 “Joshua Tree”
44. The Eagles “Greatest Hits Vol 1”
45. David Gray “Flesh”
46. Beatles “Abbey Road”
47. Beatles “Revolver”
48. Franz Ferdinand “s/t”
49. The Cult “Sonic Temple”
50. They Might Be Giants “Flood”
51. Neil Young “Harvest”
52. The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”
53. Pixies “Bossonova”
54. Liars “They Threw Us All In a Trench And Stuck a Monument On Top”
55. Steve Earle “Guitar Town”
56. Matthew Sweet “Girlfriend”
57. Wilco “Being There”
58. Weezer “Pinkerton”
59. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion “Now I Got Worry”
60. Roscoe Holcomb "The High Lonesome Sound"
61. Public Enemy "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back"
62. Wilco “Summerteeth”
63. Blondie “The Best of Blondie”
64. Apples In Stere “The Discovery of A World Inside the Moone”
65. Beulah “When Your Heartstrings Break”
66. Jayhawks “Rainy Day Music”
67. Beethoven's 9th Symphony
68. Carole King "Tapestry"
69. Arcade Fire “Funeral”
70. Madonna “The Immaculate Collection”
71. Rolling Stones "Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones '71 - '93"
72. Queens of the Stone Age “Songs for the Deaf”
73. RL Burnside “A Ass Pocket of Whiskey”
74. Beach Boys Greatest Hits Vol. 1"
75 - 80. various artists "Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music"
81. Neil Young "Harvest Moon"
82. Palace “Viva Lost Blues”
83. A-Frames “2”
84. White Stripes “White Blood Cells”
85. The Strokes “Is This It”
86. The Microphones “The Glow pt. 2”
87. Brendan Benson “One Mississippi”
88. Liz Phair “Whitechocolatespaceegg”
89. Bad Religion “Stranger Than Fiction”
90. Jets To Brazil “Four Cornered Night”
91. Radiohead “The Bends”
92. Ben Harper “Fight For Your Mind”
93. Six Parts Seven "Things Shaped In Passing"
94. Bonnie “Prince” Billy “Master and Everyone”
95. Wilco "AM"
96. Hefner “Breaking God’s Heart”
97. Steve Earle “I Feel Alright”
98. Cake “Fashion Nugget”
99. Peter Gabriel “Shaking the Tree”
100. Michael Penn “Free For All”

Lists are culled from my own music library and reflect what I listen to. If there are things you think I've left off in error or you'd like to suggest a topic for future Lists please feel free to drop a note in the Ye Olde Comments section below.

* Galileo: The Unabridged Mark Twain: Birthday cake

Posted by Kyle at March 1, 2005 12:55 PM

I think you have taken a little too many liberties here. Nobody is going to ever get stuck on an island with 100 records. You've got to pare this list down to five records, but I don't think you'll be able to commit to that so I'll give you ten.

Posted by: Marc at March 3, 2005 12:51 PM

You raise a good point, 100 gives lots of wiggle room and doesn't force the hard decision. Ranking them did, however. If I had to pare things down I'd start cutting at #100 work my way up. I might switch #11 and #10 at the last minute but otherwise my top 10 out of 100 would be the Exclussive Desert(ed) Island Listening List. I'll even commit to my top 5. Thanks for keeping me honest.