more DID's

[larryy@Apple.COM (Larry Yaeger)]

Well, I've so thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone else's Desert Island Discs
selections that I've tried to compile and write up mine.  I found it
impossible to select 10 - because I couldn't look at any pair of titles
in the final group and pick one over the other.  So a group of 20 ended up
comprising the list.  Of course, as virtually everyone else has noted,
there is *no* small number of discs that would really suffice; variety *is*
the spice of...

It really has been fascinating seeing how other people's tastes run, given
that everyone who contributed shares a complete and total love of Kate's
music.  The differences are as interesting as the overlaps.  And I want
to thank the couple of people who mentioned "Boiled in Lead", as I now
have a brand new musical love in my life!  Whatever you said about them
managed to push my "Celtic" and "quirkiness" buttons (at least), and
convince me to try them... and they're great!  Hope I can return the
favor through some of the verbiage below.  (By the way, the fact that
there's not a single Celtic album in the list below demonstrates how
silly such a limited selection is... no way would I ever *choose* to live
without recourse to that thriving, lively music!  And if you want to
hear a female voice almost as sweet as Kate's singing traditional Celtic
music, seek out "Crosswinds" by Capercaillie, with Karen Matheson.)

In every single case, I would like to (and generally do) have every work
recorded by the artist(s) in question, so I'll just make that observation
here, and avoid reiterating it with each selection.

Kate Bush - "The Dreaming"
     No explanation needed for this group.  And of course I'd like
     to have all her albums.  But, this is the only one (by her or
     *anyone*) that I've put on both sides of a tape, and just plain
     lived in, playing it continously, over and over, in the car, at
     home, at work when I could...  I actually haven't played it in
     a while - most likely because it is now an integral part of
     me, with the sounds, ideas, and emotions of "Pull Out the Pin"
     and "Sat in Your Lap" and ... and ... with me all the time -
     though I think I will give it a listen again soon.
Steve Reich - "Music for Eighteen Musicians"
     I was glad to see someone else list this, and another person list
     "Drumming".  This piece in particular can buoy me up under more
     circumstances than any other piece of music.  If music does indeed
     have healing powers, then this is prescription-only, highest
     potency stuff.  For those who haven't discovered it yet, it's
     "minimalist", pulse music.  It's infectious.  Subtly, yet perpetually
     changing.  Expressed in a repetitive form, yet never repeating itself.
     Enlightenment through sound and rhythm.
Jon Hassell - "PowerSpot"
     How to describe my favorite composer's music?  "Traffic jam in nirvana"
     is a phrase my wife coined.  Jon processes his trumpet through a
     harmonizer, plays it softly and airily, then combines it with
     African polyrhythms and dark, warm synthesizer sounds (more like
     Peter Gabriel's use of synth than the trendy syntho-pop timbres).
     Jon contributed to some of the sound on the Talking Heads' "Remain
     in Light" album, and his music is related, but quirkier, dreamier.
     His catalog varies a lot, but "PowerSpot" is the most energetic
     and uplifting for me, and, oddly, probably the most "accessible".
Peter Gabriel - "Security" (#4)
     Powerful rhythms, warm, lush synthesizers, Peter's voice, and some
     of the finest songwriting in the history of pop/rock.  "Rhythm of
     the Heat" is one of the most powerful and affecting musical
     compositions ever.  (The soundtrack to "Birdy" reuses some of these
     themes in an absolutely beautiful, instrumental way, and is another
     of my all-time favorite albums.)
Talking Heads - "Remain in Light"
     There's not a single album by the Talking Heads that isn't important
     and wonderful.  But this one will always be special to me, for its
     special style (new for them and much of the world's music at the time).
     The story of Mojique, listening to the desert wind, seeing the
     mid-Eastern conflicts through eyes and ways not normally accessible
     to Western mind, deeply and permanently affected me.
Yes - "Close to the Edge"
     Well, actually, I'd probably take the new Box Set if I could get away
     with it.  And "Tormato" was awfully close as the single-album pick.
     But I just couldn't go on, knowing I could never hear the title track's
     "I get up, I get down" passage, or the wonderfully uplifting "And You
     And I".
Jimi Hendrix - A Maui bootleg lp, or "The Last American Concerts"
     Strange to have to select bootlegs as the best representation of a
     figure as huge as Jimi Hendrix.  Yet those shows in Maui, associated
     with his being filmed for the "Rainbow Bridge" movie, are breathtaking.
     Jimi was pretty unhappy with life and his concerts towards the end.
     But, for whatever reasons, he was more spiritually refreshed and
     happy during these concerts than at any other time of his later life,
     at least as far as one can tell from his music.  He was more together
     and into the music for these performances than any other live
     material ever recorded (at least that I have been able to find).  I
     only mention the lp because I haven't been able to obtain a copy of
     the more recent CD version yet.
Tonio K - "Life in the Food Chain"
     Take Kate Bush's storytelling abilities, put them together with Bob
     Dylan's angst, street sensibilities and poetry, place them in
     music scored by Danny Elfman and played by Oingo Boingo, and add a
     really black sense of humor and a brilliant wit... voila, you
     have Tonio K.  This isn't available on CD yet.  Don't know if you
     can find the vinyl anymore.  But thank god I have the vinyl, and made
     myself a tape a long time ago, with this album, his second album (can't
     recall the name off hand), and an EP (called "La Bomba" [sic] I think).
     "Let's do the Funky, Western Civilization... you just grab your partner
     by the hair, throw her down and leave her there... you're doing the
     Funky, Western Civilization!"  There are times when absolutely nothing
     else will do.
Joe Walsh - "Barnstorm"
     His first solo album.  Maybe you had to be there, but since Mobile
     Fidelity finally released it just recently as one of their Masterwork
     series, perhaps more than a few people were.  This album saved my life
     when a really important relationship ended.  There are hints of his
     earlier James Gang work, with classical and jazz influences, combined
     in Joe's unique song stylings.  It makes me smile and cry.
Procol Harum - "A Salty Dog"
     Funny, quirky, salty.  More musical fun than you can shake a baton at.
     The last Procol Harum album with the original lineup of musicians (I'm
     pretty sure Mathew Fisher left after this one).  Gary Brooker's crusty
     voice and piano, Keith Reid's satirical and self-conscious lyrics,
     Mathew Fisher's rolling and majestic organ, Robin Trower's tortured
     and tasty guitar licks... how could you go wrong?  "There were four
     angels standing round me... and it weren't no social call!"  (And,
     to be truthful, I really must have the "Shine on Brightly" album as
     well, if for nothing else than the insightful, "Well, my son...
     life is like a beanstalk... isn't it?" of "In Held Twas I".)
Laurie Anderson - "Mister Heartbreak"
     I found it especially hard to pick a single album by Laurie.  I
     halfheartedly settled on this one for "Gravity's Angel", "Sharkey's
     Day", and the general mixture of the more accessible later stylings
     with the quirkier early sensibilities.  And then there's William S.
     Burroughs.  And Peter Gabriel.  And Adrian Belew, David Van Tieghem...
King Sunny Ade - "Aura"
     I listen to a lot of African music these days, but Juju music,
     especially as performed by its greatest representative, is the most
     invigorating and exciting of the lot.  It's also probably the most
     wonderful to dance to, as there are so many rhythms intertwingled
     throughout.  "Aura" is the third studio album released in the US,
     and is just so tight and driving, it's difficult to put it on and
     not get up and thrash about.
Baaba Mahl & Mansour Seck - "Djan Leelii"
     This is the other end of African music that attracts me.  Quiet,
     mostly acoustic, lilting... this album is another of the healing,
     restorative variety.  I've played this more than most other albums,
     of any style.  It truly makes me feel good.
Uakti - "Uakti"
     I learned of this Brazilian group's existence by their backup support
     on a Milton Nascimento album, "Encontros E Despedidas" (another
     fabulous musical work).  The group's leader, Marco Antonio Guaimareas
     (spelling approximate), contributed a song to the Nascimento album
     ("Lagrima do Sul" - "Southern Tear") that was so beautiful and
     affecting that I memorized his name, and just kept looking until I
     discovered... Uakti.  They build all their own instruments (mostly
     Guaimareas), compose their own works, and produce the most earthy,
     rich, sweet music I've ever heard.  They draw on their Brazilian,
     polyrhythmic background, but craft a music unlike any heard ever
     before.  Rubber pads tapping on the openings to PVC pipes while
     water pours through them.  Glass xylophones.  Instruments that
     can't be described easily or briefly.  And always a gentle, yet
     insistent music.  Some artists reinvent the alphabet in some
     passingly clever way, and then use their new tool to produce doggerel;
     these folks constantly reinvent their alphabet, and then write
     Shakespeare.  These artists have about 5 CD's in their native
     Brazil, but only one in the US; I have that plus one other I bought
     at a concert - if anyone knows how to obtain the others from Brazil,
     I would be forever grateful!  Oh yeah, Uakti (pronounced Wak-chee)
     has more recently shown up on Manhattan Transfer's Brazilian-influenced
     album and on Paul Simon's latest.
"Les Chant des Femmes Bulgares"
     I think this is the usual Bulgarian Television and Radio Choir.  Almost
     all the female voice songs from the classic "Les Mystere de Vois
     Bulgares", plus quite a few more, without any of the more instrument-
     or male-voice-dominated songs, and all recently recorded with
     today's improved technology.  Pretty much everyone on this newsgroup
     is aware of Bulgarian singing because of Kate's use of the Trio
     Bulgarka.  If you haven't heard the sounds that inspired her to
     use them, you owe it to yourself to pick up either "Les Mystere..." or
     this one.  What do angels sounds like?  Listen to this and you'll know.
"Music & Rhythm" (compilation on W.O.M.A.D. label)
     There's a "Best of Music & Rhythm" on CD, but I wouldn't want to lose
     a single track, so I'd have to take either the double LP set or the
     cassette I made of it.  This amazing collection includes songs by
     Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, XTC, The English Beat, Prince Nico M'Barga,
     Mighty Sparrow, Shankar & Lovelady, Jon Hassell, ... This is probably
     the only other album that might compete with Kate's "The Dreaming" for
     most consecutive listenings.  These songs make you feel good.  If you
     have any interest in world music, this is *the* one.  I'm sure that
     if you don't already know the full set intimately then the "Best of..."
     will still knock you out.
Unholy Modal Rounders - "Have Moicy"
     Hoo boy.  What to say about these folks and their music.  For one
     thing, they sound like they will never, ever hit a correct note or
     beat, and yet they never, ever miss one.  They manage to play
     incredibly rich arrangements perfectly, all the while sounding
     like they're improvising, or perhaps just learning their instruments.
     Peter Stampfel has *the* strangest voice and singing style in the
     music biz, and plays his violin just like he sings.   They have
     some of the funniest lyrics, and the most humane and human attitudes
     ever foisted on the world musically.  "Fooey, fooey, I lost my Sue-y."
     "Wa, ha, hee, hee... wo, ho, ho, snicker."  "We fill up our guts,
     then we turn it into shit, then we get rid of it."  If you can listen
     to this stuff and not grin ear to ear, then contact Scrooge about
     some Christmas spirits... you need 'em!  Only available on vinyl to
     my knowledge.
Julee Cruise - "Floating Into the Night"
     Practically a soundtrack for "Twin Peaks" (which is also wonderful).
     I love the odd instrumentation and dreamy music on this album.  It's
     also impossible for me to separate this music from the "Twin Peaks"
     television series, which only works to the advantage of each.
     Sometimes I just need to listen to this.  I have to.
Ennio Morricone - "The Mission" soundtrack
     The only modern day piece of music which works on the scale, breadth,
     and depth of Beethoven's 9th.  Exquisite and haunting melodies,
     soul-wrenching vocal passages, one minute sweeping and huge, the
     next, gentle and serene.  (I didn't hate the movie, but neither did
     I particularly enjoy it; unlike Julee Cruise and "Twin Peaks", this
     music must stand entirely on its own.)
My own classical music compilation
     The exploration I've done in classical music isn't as wide or deep as
     I would like, but there are a few gems I've uncovered that would be
     difficult to live without.  Barber's "Adagio for Strings", Beethoven's
     Cavatina (from String Quartet No. 13, op. 130), Satie's "Gymnopadies",
     Arvo Part's "Cantos in memory of Benjamin Britten" and maybe "Fratres",
     an Albinoni piece, some Vivaldi, Pachelbel's Canon, and probably another
     selection or two.  If I can fit it on the tape, Orff's "Carmina Burana"
     should be there too, though I lean towards the quieter, more lush,
     rich-harmonic-strings type of selections in classical music, generally.

Done?  Huh!  No Sting?  Cab Calloway?  Paul Dresher?  Tom Waits, Vangelis,
Youssou N'Dour, Farafina, Cockerel Boys, Thomas Mapfumo, Jimmy Buffet,
Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Sons of the Pioneers, Alan Stivell, Nicky Skopelitis,
Emitt Rhodes, Harold Budd, Cocteau Twins, Brian Eno, Ginger Baker, Philip
Glass, Steward Copeland, Beatles, Holger Czukay, David Byrne, James Gang,
Randy Newman, Pretenders, King Crimson, Jean-Michel Jarre, and on and on
and on?  Again, I say, huh!

And what about comedy?  Firesign Theater's "I Think We're All Bozo's on this
Bus" and "Roller Maidens from Outer Space" (actually Phil Austin's solo album).
Monty Python.  Tom Lehrer.  Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the CD set!).

Umm, thank you, but... even though the island sounds nice and all... I think
I'll stay here, thanks.
-- 
-larryy@apple.com

"You wouldn't recognize a *subtle plan* if it painted itself purple,
and danced naked upon a harpsichord, singing, 'Subtle Plans are Here Again'."
                        -  Edmund Blackadder