[Music] NSC Desert Island Discs

[HantsSeagull]

1. Riptide by Lew Stone & his Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals - Britain's first 'pop star' - killed in the blitz

2. Watching the Detectives - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - frankly it could be any one of about 300 of his songs but I had to pick one and this is iconic

3. This Must Be the Place - Talking Heads (live from Stop Making Sense) - this just pips quite a few others from them

4. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow - ditto

5. Kingdom of Rust - Doves - ditto

6. Stick to Me - Graham Parker & the Rumour - ditto

7. Better written off - The Leisure Society - ditto

8. Eden - Talk Talk - ditto

Book - Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Luxury - my vintage album poster collection so i could remember all the songs i dont have!

 

[jakarta]

Thanks! Not sure about YouTube, definitely on Spotify.

Will have a look, I am already thinking of changing the tracks I chose.

How could I not have a live Rory Gallagher song for example?

Or some Talking Heads?

Or some Fripp/Eno collaboration?

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast by Pink Floyd also comes to mind. Marmalade, I like marmalade...

Something off Black Sabbath Volume 4?

Something off XTC's masterpiece Skylarking?

Karl Jenkin's Benedictus from the Armed Man?

Steve Reich's Different Trains?

Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on theme of Thomas Tallis?

There is SO much music out there and yet people still insist on listening to Ed Sheeran.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Will have a look, I am already thinking of changing the tracks I chose.

How could I not have a live Rory Gallagher song for example?

Or some Talking Heads?

Or some Fripp/Eno collaboration?

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast by Pink Floyd also comes to mind. Marmalade, I like marmalade...

Something off Black Sabbath Volume 4?

Something off XTC's masterpiece Skylarking?

Karl Jenkin's Benedictus from the Armed Man?

Steve Reich's Different Trains?

Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on theme of Thomas Tallis?

There is SO much music out there and yet people still insist on listening to Ed Sheeran.

I listened to Ed Sheeran once........ just once, and not for long

And Karl Jenkins "Armed Man" is a great piece of work.

 

[El Presidente]

Tracks

1: Holidays in the Sun: The Sex Pistols, TOTP was never the same after that.
2: Butterfly Collector: The Jam, Weller’s B-Side streets away from what others can produce as their best.
3: Black: Pearl Jam, Reminds me of my daughter with whom I’ve had no contact for 9 years
4: Plainsong: The Cure, their regular set opener which always means the next 2-3 hours will be unforgettable.
5: I Believe In You: Talk Talk, Don’t do drugs kids
6: In Shreds: The Chameleons. Manchester’s greatest outsiders
7: Joy Division: Twenty Four Hours: Oh Ian
8: Johnny Cash: Hurt. The greatest cover ever that took a self pitying junkie lament and turned it into a reflection of life as death approaches.

Book: Viz Profanisaurus, encapsulates all that is great about this country.

Luxury Item: Fleshlight and an old photo of [MENTION=46]Lush[/MENTION]

 

[Gwylan]

8.Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune. Claude Debussy. Claude had a way of expression. You can see the young deer prancing about in the forest.

A pedant writes: Faune does not mean fawn, a young deer. It means faun - half man, half goat.
A fawn is faon.

The poem that Debussy set to music does, however, add another meaning. " Inerte, tout brûle dans l'heure fauve .." (Motionless, everything burns in the fawn hour)

Oh boy. These are both good shouts.

Indeed. The Motors were a decent power pop band - I thought they'd make it big but they vanished after a couple of hits

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Will have a look, I am already thinking of changing the tracks I chose.

How could I not have a live Rory Gallagher song for example?

Or some Talking Heads?

Or some Fripp/Eno collaboration?

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast by Pink Floyd also comes to mind. Marmalade, I like marmalade...

Something off Black Sabbath Volume 4?

Something off XTC's masterpiece Skylarking?

Karl Jenkin's Benedictus from the Armed Man?

Steve Reich's Different Trains?

Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on theme of Thomas Tallis?

There is SO much music out there and yet people still insist on listening to Ed Sheeran.

Same here. Another poster mentioned Talking Heads Stop Making Sense concert film, the full soundtrack which has a truly wonderful live version of Heaven. Whilst I’m in this mood there’s the sublime Divers, title track and album, by Joanna Newson. Tony Allen’s Go Back. If I want to annoy the neighbours something from noise artists Uniform. I know it’s a desert island but these boys could reach the neighbours no matter how far away. Anyone one of numerous Radiohead albums. Bon Scott era AC/DC. Thee Oh Sees have become part of my life with their multiple releases and touring each and every year....the latter from a NSC tip off thanks [MENTION=14921]spring hall convert[/MENTION]. It’s endless.

 

[BadFish]

There is SO much music out there and yet people still insist on listening to Ed Sheeran.

I listened to Ed Sheeran once........ just once, and not for long

And Karl Jenkins "Armed Man" is a great piece of work.

I bought an Ed Sheeran Album on vinyl for my daughter. It is still in its wrapper. I would sell it but that would be tantamount to pushing smack.


***** Actually do you know what fair play to the bloke, he is ginger and looks like he has been squashed. He had a rough time at school because of this by the sounds of it and he is making a career out of writing his own songs. Castle on the Hill aint bad (nostalgia for this ex pat) and Class A team is a decent song.

As long as I don't have to listen to it, he's alright by me.

At least he's not Beiber!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Amazingly, there is only one Krautrock Track! Although one of the other tracks was recorded in Berlin and is clearly influenced...

No Hendrix, No Pink Floyd, no Classical, Nothing from the 1950's or 1980's, no Glenn Miller or any other USA stuff, No Brian Eno, no Shoegaze, I'll bet tomorrow I'll come up with a different list (except for one):

1. The Moon in June - The Soft Machine (live at BBC Version - 1969). Started as a Pop Group, evolved into a pretentious jazz rock outfit but on the journey did some quite wonderful songs. This was the last time Robert Wyatt sang, everything following was instrumental. The live lyrics are improvised and quite batty compared with the Album version, which this completely kicks into touch. Completely English, you can't imagine anyone else doing this sort of stuff.
2. Day is Done - Nick Drake (also 1969). I was very late onto Nick Drake but have now got pretty much everything he did. For obvious reasons this is not a difficult task. Wonderful, wistful and almost pointing you towards what was likely to happen to him.
3. Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin 1970. What is all this nonsense about Stairway to Heaven? It's not even the best track on Led Zeppelin 4 (that would be When the Levee Breaks which almost snuck in due to THAT Drum intro). Percy and Jimmy giving it the full treatment here.
4. Hallogallo - Nue! 1972 Wonderful, hypnotic minimalist stuff, was tempted by Can, Cluster, Kraftwerk or the Tangs but thought 8 Krautrock tracks might be a bit unfair on everyone else!
5. You Shouldn't Do That - Hawkwind -1972 This is the live version which somehow didn't get onto the original version of Space Ritual but is there on the re-released version. The album version is about half the speed of this, I wonder if that had anything to do with Lemmy playing bass this time around?
6. Subterraneans - David Bowie -1977 Well I SAID there was no Brian Eno but of course the whole of Low has his fingerprints all over it. No vocals as such, just a feeling of profound sadness. China Girl it aint...
7. Sketch for Summer - The Durutti Column -1979 Start of over 40 years of wonderous underachievement. First Band that Tony Wilson signed to Factory Records. My favourite guitarist - mind you he can't sing so best stick with the instrumentals!
8. Champagne Supernova - Oasis 1995 The year I moved down to Sussex to be with Mrs Jakarta so this is a really sentimental choice.

As I said could have chosen 7 different tracks quite easily but The Moon In June stays forever.

Book would be The Most Dangerous Enemy by far the best account of the Battle of Britain ever written.

Luxury Item would be my CBR600, I'm assuming they would have some empty roads to ride it on and plenty of petrol stations!

Thumbs up to 6 of that 8 (and that's only because I am unfamiliar with your Hawkwind and Nick Drake selections).

One track from each of 8 genres.....may have a crack at that....

 

[jakarta]

Thumbs up to 6 of that 8 (and that's only because I am unfamiliar with your Hawkwind and Nick Drake selections).

One track from each of 8 genres.....may have a crack at that....

Cheers, Hawkwind you either love or hate, but I would be amazed if you didn't like Nick Drake, another artist that couldn't have come from anywhere else but England.

As mentioned he died so very young a Nick Drake Collection won't take up much space on your Shelves.

 

[Gwylan]

As mentioned he died so very young a Nick Drake Collection won't take up much space on your Shelves.

Indeed. Four studio albums plus a set of his John Peel sessions.

A wonderful artist and one that I didn't discover until some years after he died. Nick Kent's article on him was published in the NME that I bought on my 18th birthday but I skipped over it - my musical loves then were Velvet Underground and Can and he didn't seem to fit the bill - my loss. But what a musician he was and what a song writer.

 

[Lush]

Luxury Item: Fleshlight and an old photo of [MENTION=46]Lush[/MENTION]

Oi! What's wrong with a recent one?

 

[Mellotron]

Shit. NO BOWIE AND NO INTERPOL.

What am I doing? 8 songs is IMPOSSIBLE. Piss off Desert Island. I'm not going.

 

[zefarelly]

Shit. NO BOWIE AND NO INTERPOL.

What am I doing? 8 songs is IMPOSSIBLE. Piss off Desert Island. I'm not going.

I went for a swim last night, I'm on a different Island today, can I have 8 new songs ?

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

OK, This is my one and only crack at the 8 tracks. In giving a fair crack to my earlier faves I missed out most of my entire collection. I could have done 8 by Tuxedomoon, 8 by Velvet Acid Christ, 8 by Steely Dan, 8 by Hunters and Collectors, etc etc. It actually grieves me to make a list of 8. If you have a top 8, an actual top 8.....no, I would simply die on a desert island in hours if I had only 8 tracks to hear. Anyway, that's enough ranting. Here are my 8.

1. The Four Tops – Simple game. I love 60s Tamla and this is one of the first singles I bought
2. The Beach Boys – Feel flows. One of many smashing tracks off Surf’s Up. 20 years ahead of its time.
3. Robin Tower – Day of the Eagle. English style heavy rock at its finest. As enjoyed at The Dome, and on the iPOD still.
4. Caravan – L'Auberge du Sanglier / A Hunting We Shall Go / Pengola / Backwards / A Hunting We Shall Go (reprise). This is my Canterbury Sounds entry, albeit an untypical track. A composite (track 7 on the CD) that had me spellbound in 74, and spellbound today. RIP Richard.
5. Alternative TV – Life. Had to pick a punk track. A genre I rarely reach for these days. This is somewhat transcendent as Mark Perry was a tad eclectic but this still hits the mark (gedditt??)
6. The Chameleons - Intrigue in Tangiers. Could have picked any of 15 tracks by this hugely underrated band. This is where things get really tricky for me. ‘Post Punk’ covers basically anything decent after 1979, from these through U2 to ‘indy’, shoegaze, grunge, general ‘alternative’ music…..basically 50% of my collection.
Sorry, I am going to miss out most of my musical life and jump to today for my last two selections.
7. The Midnight – Lost boy. Odd that a bit of perfect pop can utterly blow me away, me, in my 60s. This is in the style of Synthwave, a deliberate take on 80s ‘Miami Sound’ pop, upgraded like the latest Cybermen. In the dark there are no strangers.
8. Fraunhofer Diffraction – Into nothingness. A jawdropping masterpiece. This is in the style of Witch House, with your main man, Stanislav Martensitov part of the Russian ВЕДЬМИН ДОМ scene. One of the youtube comments on this track is “Ok, I now see what everyone talking about. The amazing starts at around 2m 30 s.... and continue right to to the end... wonderful”. Another is “The more I listen more I see Jesus at the Cross”.



Happy days.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Cheers, Hawkwind you either love or hate, but I would be amazed if you didn't like Nick Drake, another artist that couldn't have come from anywhere else but England.

As mentioned he died so very young a Nick Drake Collection won't take up much space on your Shelves.

I will check him out. I have a feeling I have a reason for taking agin' him. Something personal? Perhaps it is a queasy feeling I get when journos start a-droolin' about an artist only after they have passed. That said I still listen to Joy Division. Maybe it is partly a singer songwriter thing. Chris De Burgh has a hell of a lot to answer for

 

[jakarta]

OK, This is my one and only crack at the 8 tracks. In giving a fair crack to my earlier faves I missed out most of my entire collection. I could have done 8 by Tuxedomoon, 8 by Velvet Acid Christ, 8 by Steely Dan, 8 by Hunters and Collectors, etc etc. It actually grieves me to make a list of 8. If you have a top 8, an actual top 8.....no, I would simply die on a desert island in hours if I had only 8 tracks to hear. Anyway, that's enough ranting. Here are my 8.

1. The Four Tops – Simple game. I love 60s Tamla and this is one of the first singles I bought
2. The Beach Boys – Feel flows. One of many smashing tracks off Surf’s Up. 20 years ahead of its time.
3. Robin Tower – Day of the Eagle. English style heavy rock at its finest. As enjoyed at The Dome, and on the iPOD still.
4. Caravan – L'Auberge du Sanglier / A Hunting We Shall Go / Pengola / Backwards / A Hunting We Shall Go (reprise). This is my Canterbury Sounds entry, albeit an untypical track. A composite (track 7 on the CD) that had me spellbound in 74, and spellbound today. RIP Richard.
5. Alternative TV – Life. Had to pick a punk track. A genre I rarely reach for these days. This is somewhat transcendent as Mark Perry was a tad eclectic but this still hits the mark (gedditt??)
6. The Chameleons - Intrigue in Tangiers. Could have picked any of 15 tracks by this hugely underrated band. This is where things get really tricky for me. ‘Post Punk’ covers basically anything decent after 1979, from these through U2 to ‘indy’, shoegaze, grunge, general ‘alternative’ music…..basically 50% of my collection.
Sorry, I am going to miss out most of my musical life and jump to today for my last two selections.
7. The Midnight – Lost boy. Odd that a bit of perfect pop can utterly blow me away, me, in my 60s. This is in the style of Synthwave, a deliberate take on 80s ‘Miami Sound’ pop, upgraded like the latest Cybermen. In the dark there are no strangers.
8. Fraunhofer Diffraction – Into nothingness. A jawdropping masterpiece. This is in the style of Witch House, with your main man, Stanislav Martensitov part of the Russian ВЕДЬМИН ДОМ scene. One of the youtube comments on this track is “Ok, I now see what everyone talking about. The amazing starts at around 2m 30 s.... and continue right to to the end... wonderful”. Another is “The more I listen more I see Jesus at the Cross”.



Happy days.

Presume no.3 is Robin TROWER?

Also assume the Caravan track is Kentish LOYALTY... I don't mind as a Softs fan of course.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I went for a swim last night, I'm on a different Island today, can I have 8 new songs ?

This. I picked a "sound track of my life". It missed so much out.

No Stone Roses, Stevie Wonder or St Etienne (which is, I think, why I chose "S" as my band letter in a similar thread). I could nick "Age of Love" off [MENTION=21158]Weststander[/MENTION] . Then there's Colossus by Idles which is the last time I fully pulled myself up straight and went "what the **** is THIS?". All that soul, reggae and funk on my cooking playlists. Damn, I could do 8 Latin and Old Skool Hip Hop tracks inspired by listening to Huey Morgan on 6 music when cleaning / getting ready for football on a Saturday.

 

[jakarta]

I will check him out. I have a feeling I have a reason for taking agin' him. Something personal? Perhaps it is a queasy feeling I get when journos start a-droolin' about an artist only after they have passed. That said I still listen to Joy Division. Maybe it is partly a singer songwriter thing. Chris De Burgh has a hell of a lot to answer for

A million miles away from Chris De Burgh. Mostly acoustic guitar loveliness with some cello as per my original choice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2jxjv0HkwM

 

[Is it PotG?]

I will check him out. I have a feeling I have a reason for taking agin' him. Something personal? Perhaps it is a queasy feeling I get when journos start a-droolin' about an artist only after they have passed. That said I still listen to Joy Division. Maybe it is partly a singer songwriter thing. Chris De Burgh has a hell of a lot to answer for

A couple of documentaries will steer you right. 'A Skin Too Few' and 'A Stranger Among Us'. Both on YT.


Troubled but so talented. Could really play the guitar, and had a great ear.

Melancholic/reflective genius (too often banded about).

Meanwhile, the wonderful Joan Shelley gives her take.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

1. Planet Claire - B52s - Could easily fill 5 lists with just B52s tracks, but this is the one that would top each list. Just exceptional.
2. 666 Conducer - Black Rebel Motorcycle club. - Probably the greatest song of all time (today)
3. This is the day. The The. Beautiful song - insanely uplifting and has got me through my darkest times.
4. Dead Souls. Joy Division - Ahh Joy Division. What else needs to be said. The greatest band.
5. Release the bats. The Birthday party - Will always remind me of being a young man and all of my friends from back then. We all loved this one.
6. This mess we're in - PJ Harvey - Such an exceptional song writer.
7. Call of the West - Wall of Voodoo - Stan Ridgway is a supreme story-teller. His songs always make me smile
8. Too nice to talk to - The Beat. The perfect pop song.

Book: Bluebeard Kurt Vonnegut - Have read it dozens of times and hope to read it dozens more
Luxury Item: Guinness - It's a classic innit.


Edit: ****!! No Pixies. This is too hard.