You all know the premise: you’re stuck on a deserted island somewhere, and all you have for entertainment is a wind-up (or solar-powered) record- or CD player and a few records. Which records would you choose to have?
… Here, then, are the parameters:
Ten composers, singers or groups. Examples: Beethoven, Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones. It can be any mix of the above — all bands, all singers, whatever. But only ten.
Specify up to five albums for each selection. Assume 45-50 minutes of music per album.
So you’ll have a maximum of fifty albums allowed. (For the pedantic, we can allow CDs to ensure that they’ll last however long you’re marooned.) But no carrying over: if you can’t think of five but only three, that’s what you get. I will allow only ONE compilation album, in total.
Here are my picks:
Bach — As much of the Well-Tempered Clavier as you can fit on five CDs.
Beethoven — The last four piano sonatas, plus the Waldstein and Pathetique; the Diabelli Variations; the seventh symphony.
Chopin — The Ballades, Etudes, Waltzes, Polonaises, and as many mazurkas as you can fit on one disc along with the Berceuse and Barcarolle.
Fauré — The complete piano music.
Ravel — Complete solo piano music and concertos; as much of the orchestral music as will fit on two discs (you can skip Bolero).
(Yeah, I like the piano.)
Fairport Convention — the first five albums.
Gentle Giant — Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends, Octopus, In a Glass House, The Power and the Glory, Free Hand. (That’s six, but they’re all essential. If you’re going to be picky, roll a die to select the one to skip.)
Steve Morse/Dixie Dregs — What If, Night of the Living Dregs, Unsung Heroes, The Introduction…. Actually, you can just pick any five from all his recordings; they’re all good.
Allan Holdsworth — i.o.u., Metal Fatigue, Atavachron, Secrets, Wardenclyffe Tower.
Compilation album — Japanese favorites, e.g. Yuki Kajiura, Yoko Kanno, Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, etc.
Ask me again tomorrow, and you’ll get a different list.