Desert Island IX: Master List, Part One

[Padj]

The song on the playlist is on In a Bar, Under the Sea. That's also my favorite album of theirs. If you like that one you should also check out Worst Case Scenario.

Thanks! I will check it out

 

[the tourist]

Thanks, Tourist. I listened to the first half of yours yesterday and am just now sitting down to the second. Part 1 was really a masterclass of sequencing. I was impressed with how you represented current indie-pop without it sounding monotonous. The second part as well was clever in how it showed influence across time and genre. I'm particularly thinking of the CCR-White Stripes-Rolling Stones sequence: you can hear the continuity of inspiration across those tracks. The one track that stood out as something I need to check out further was from Stardeath - I'll certainly be looking into them.

Thanks! I love putting together playlists, so I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed the flow thusfar.

Fun fact about Stardeath that might or might not be public knowledge - the singer is the nephew of Wayne Coyne. Their album The Birth has some flaws in it, but overall it's a pretty darn solid debut that's been, to my knowledge, largely ignored. Which is too bad.

 

[the tourist]

Alright, just finished Joey's list.

My favorites that were obvious were She's Leaving Home (possibly my favorite track on Sgt. Pepper), Somebody That I Used To Know (I know some people hate it, say it was overplayed, whatever, but I love it and don't listen to the radio so it's not been overplayed for me), I Need My Girl (favorite off its album) and Stay. Some stuff where I thought I didn't care for the band but loved it were Cruel by St. Vincent (I'd heard one song before by them and did not like it) and Blindness by Metric. Might have to check out more of those two at some point. Some of the songs I didn't care for as much were the few instrumentals, R.E.M. (never been a fan), Radiohead (don't care for that album), or the Depeche Mode track you used.

Overall, the flow was fantastic and this is a very strong list. I think overall, the lists I've listened to this time are a lot stronger than past iterations. And I love it! Great competition so far.

And with that, I'm done with the first group. Can't wait til the second one is posted. Planning on listening to a couple more lists at work tomorrow! If you wanted to post the next group tomorrow, LM, that'd be a-ok with me!

 

[LemonMelon]

If you like that one you should also check out Worst Case Scenario.

Everyone should do this.

 

[bono_212]

That is like the best compliment you could ask for. It's been years. Thanks. I still listen to that list.

Hey, so do I. It's easily my favorite list of the whole comp. Your and GAFs lists from that one as well probably got me into the most new bands in a single go.

 

[the tourist]

I should have loaded more playlists. I could have gotten through another one today!

 

[cobl04]

Fun fact about Stardeath that might or might not be public knowledge - the singer is the nephew of Wayne Coyne. Their album The Birth has some flaws in it, but overall it's a pretty darn solid debut that's been, to my knowledge, largely ignored. Which is too bad.

No wonder they collaborate so often. Cool

 

[Mr. V]

Going to knock over nielsgov's list today at some point. Listened to first half last night but couldn't finish it due to you know, life, so I'll give it a full run today. I *really* liked what I heard and the way it all fitted together, but it was starting to get a bit samey, so hoping for a bit of a change-up.

Fuck I love this game.

Hey, so do I. It's easily my favorite list of the whole comp. Your and GAFs lists from that one as well probably got me into the most new bands in a single go.

That is awesome man. What artists specifically? I know I got myself into quite a few new ones myself while trying to piece together the damn thing. Took me ages.

 

[nielsgov]

I listened to the tourist's playlist yesterday. I liked it a lot. Lots of good songs with lots of variety. Transitions were good in general as well. My favorite stretch was All Black Everything - Sunship Balloons. Needless to say the hiphop section could've been longer for me. Now I know I need to listen to more Outkast.

 

[cobl04]

Now I know I need to listen to more Outkast.

You've come to the right place

 

[Mr. V]

OK, so I'm done with your list, nielsgov. I think I like it the most out of what I've heard so far.

I was doing other things while I was listening though so I'm not sure which song was which etc - but rest assured, I was listening attentively, just that my eye wasn't always on my phone while I was.

The first half of your list - probably eight songs - was phenomenal. Wonderful sequencing, faultless transitions, terrific tracks. Some of the time it even felt like a DJ mix - I couldn't tell when old songs finished and new ones started. That is among the highest praise I reckon you could give someone, and I can tell you spent a lot of time on it.

Will be going through that section again to find some albums and such I can get into by those artists. As I said before, though, it was just starting to become samey - if I have any criticism of your list it's that there wasn't enough genre hopping for my liking. But I'm very particular.

Thankfully, the change-up came not long after your terrific first half, and the selection here was good, even if a couple of transitions were pretty jarring to my ears. Once or twice it really hit me that, boom, yes, this is a new song - which didn't happen in the first half. Having said that, the finishing flourish was amazing, albeit a little depressing. But maybe that's me. Who am I kidding - of course it is.

If I could summarise your list visually:

I had a lot of fun listening to it. It meshed well. The songs were nice. Bravo.

 

[Mr. V]

I wish I could explain how happy seeing these playlists makes me. From the weirdest to the most well adjusted of us, we all share a very deep love of music that, at least in my circle of friends and family, your average person does not fully relate to or understand and thus it's hard to share. For example, on Sunday a friend of mine and I went to a little vinyl record swap meet in Chinatown. I don't even own a record player yet I loved being around this environment....songs blaring, music lovers combing boxes for that album they covet, etc. I could have stayed all day. My friend wanted to leave after 30 minutes, so I indulged her and we split. Not a big deal, but perhaps slightly illustrative. So...that passion cannot be channeled in too many different ways...you can listen, of course....you can learn to sing or play or write music.....maybe teach it even....but your options narrow after that, especially if you have the love and passion but not the aptitude. For the music nut, making a playlist is a potentially naked form of expression. Maybe you cannot find the words or craft the music to match how you feel or think, but songs can be your proxy. It's easy to make a playlist, but it's a labor of love to make one that shines a light on something about you that maybe cannot be gleaned by any other means. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself - as a long time consumer of art but one who is wholly unable to create any - so forgive me if this is not just a corny post but a horribly self centered one at that. I guess I'm just saying that the huge music dork in me is able to walk arm in arm with the eternally inquisitive person in me when these competitions take place. I learn about music, I learn about you all, and that means something to me, even if it's just a playlist and even if it's just the internet.

I love you.

 

[IWasBored]

Oh man, you are going to HATE my list.

Maybe, but you'll probably hate mine as well. But so will everyone else.

 

[the tourist]

I listened to the tourist's playlist yesterday. I liked it a lot. Lots of good songs with lots of variety. Transitions were good in general as well. My favorite stretch was All Black Everything - Sunship Balloons. Needless to say the hiphop section could've been longer for me. Now I know I need to listen to more Outkast.

Thanks a ton! I had thought about expanding that part out a bit, but there were just so many genres/subgenres and specific songs that I wanted to use this time around that it got to wind up being a time-crunch. As it was, I had 5 songs that had to be cut for time purposes, unfortunately, which will go into my next list whenever we get around to the tenth desert island.

 

[the tourist]

I know this isn't the place for it, but today I'm planning on listening to the lists made by Laz, namkcuR, and Padj.

 

[gump]

Finished listening to tourist’s playlist last night, and really liked it. I thought the transitions were put together very well, as iYup said, and it was a good mix of genres, styles and periods – classic and new stuff. My favourite sequence was probably Flaming Lips all the way to Lotus Plaza. White Stripes to Rolling Stones was very good too. I’ll check Stardeath and the White Dwarfs, who I didn’t know, and Ringo Deathstarr. The hip hop section didn’t do much for me, but I don’t care much for hip hop in general. But it’s a minor complaint. Great job overall.

 

[PhilsFan]

Maybe, but you'll probably hate mine as well. But so will everyone else.

I just mean that when I wrapped up, I looked at all of the years and actually thought to myself, "There is an unusually large number of recent tracks on this thing." I have four songs on my list released before 2005. I didn't intentionally set out to do so, it just sort of happened.

 

[Mr. V]

I just mean that when I wrapped up, I looked at all of the years and actually thought to myself, "There is an unusually large number of recent tracks on this thing." I have four songs on my list released before 2005. I didn't intentionally set out to do so, it just sort of happened.

Happened to me too. Meh. As a whole I'm happy and that's all that matters.

 

[LemonMelon]

My list:

60s: 9
70s: 19
80s: 2
90s: 5
00s: 3
10s: 0

 

[phanan]

Is this the one that will have some power pop from the 70's?

EDIT: yep.

 

[LemonMelon]

A quarter of it is power pop

I'm glad there was some distance between it and your last mini DI.

 

[phanan]

Meh, it was only a mini anyway.

Can't wait to listen to it.

 

[Padj]

Just finished listening iron yuppie's playlist.
Reading the tracklist, I wasn't sure I would enjoy it, but I did, very much, particularly from Rapture onwards. Really, really enjoyed that Elton John's song. I'm ashamed to say I hadn't heard it before.
Some transitions were very well done, for instance Bizarre Love Triangle >Around the World.
It's not music I would listen normally, but that's why I like this thing, I'm discovering tracks I wouldn't otherwise come across.

 

[bono_212]

That is awesome man. What artists specifically? I know I got myself into quite a few new ones myself while trying to piece together the damn thing. Took me ages.

From yours:

Bloc Party, Frightened Rabbit and James

From GAF's:

Of Montreal, Okkervil River, and the songs "Lake Shore Drive" and "Going to California" (Yeah, somehow I'd never heard Going to California before that).

 

[LJT]

OK took me a while to get through the first set of playlists. First off I enjoyed them all immensely, good work so far folks.

The Tourist's was suitably epic start to the contest with the 40 songs it contained. The breadth of styles and genres was brilliant and certainly prevented me getting bored considering the number of songs. It covered the eras of music quite well too. Out of what was new to me I enjoyed Poor Moon and Ringo Deathstarr the most. My general view of the competition has always been about introducing people to new music or something they might want to reconsider and The Tourist's playlist has done this admirably. My main criticism is that it lacked a little bit of cohesion and maybe could have lost a few tracks but those are generally based on my own personal taste, I like Justin Timberlake but Suit and Tie just doesn't do it for me, plus I wasn't sure about Led Zep's placement.

Joey's playlist contained a lot of music I really love and it flowed excellently together, St Vincent and Danger mouse and Sparklehorse, along with Savages (good to see them get some keen followers outside the UK already). I also quite enjoyed the mini section of Porcupine Tree through to the Reznor/Atticus track. I'm not sure how much of a criticism this is since it was your intention but it was a bit too much one pace overall and while it made a pleasant and serene experience a bit more variation in tempo would have enhanced that experience for me.

Iron's playlist just contained some cool song choices like the Bizarre Love Triangle mix, Sun God, Rapture, absolutely love Shell of Light. A few tunes took me out of the groove though not entirely sure why though, but it was the few older tracks like Kiss and Enjoy the silence, though I love both artists I'm just not sure they meshed with the overall sound of the playlist.

I really enjoyed Niels' list the whole way through, good song selection that flowed quite well while introducing me to a few new artists like Trentemoller and Amatorski. Possibly my favourite playlist so far along with Gump's the first half of it especially which flows really well and is quite fun to listen to, it would make for a great night out. The second half I find a bit too one pace but I understand that is going with the theme you picked but I enjoyed it never-the-less.

 

[iron yuppie]

Niels, I loved the downtempo groove of the first half of your list. I will echo others in complimenting the flow, which was superb throughout the first half and the first four tracks in particular. I sense there is quite a bit of overlap in our taste (I nearly used the same Burial track you picked) so there was a lot for me to enjoy here. For some reason I cannot bring myself to like anything from Blur - I still don't know why that is - but otherwise this list was hit after hit for me.

 

[LemonMelon]

You didn't like Battle? That is a surprise to me. Great song, really underrated Blur track.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Spoiler

Links?

 

[iron yuppie]

You didn't like Battle? That is a surprise to me. Great song, really underrated Blur track.

They just don't click with me. Neither does Gorrillaz. I really don't know why.

 

[lazarus]

If you don't like The Good, The Bad, And The Queen either I'd say you have a case of the Damon Albarns.