Desert Island XI - QUARANTINE ISLAND - Rules and Signup Thread

[cobl04]

We were all dicks at some point on this forum, it's all good. And yes, definitely agree it's easier to make a good playlist when you have a big library.

 

[the tourist]

I’m looking forward to discovering new music really. In previous iterations I made a lot of lists hoping to win. Now I’m just making a list out of pure enjoyment, something I’ll probably listen to long after the competition is over. And hopefully people won’t hate it too much. It’s very sunny, carefree, and happy. Which is what I think a lot of us need right now. Escapism.

 

[Axver]

I feel so rusty trying to make a list. I haven't done anything like this for years, not since I got burnt out and stopped competing in DIs. It's been fun looking at the old lists I did, back when I was motivated to do an entirely instrumental list or an entirely New Zealand music list. I'm also impressed by some of the diversity of other lists, especially as I've been hesitant adding some more heavier stuff to my current draft.

If anything, I feel my current draft is dividing itself into two lists, which is at least making it easier to cull stuff.

 

[LemonMelon]

I’m looking forward to discovering new music really. In previous iterations I made a lot of lists hoping to win. Now I’m just making a list out of pure enjoyment, something I’ll probably listen to long after the competition is over. And hopefully people won’t hate it too much. It’s very sunny, carefree, and happy. Which is what I think a lot of us need right now. Escapism.

That sounds really nice. I definitely think there's room for that.

My list is very sensual and romantic. When I first started making the list 2 1/2 years ago, I had in mind a set of songs that were very passionate and lovelorn, almost a bit teenage, because there's a time and place for that kind of emotional catharsis. As the pandemic has worn on, something about that idea seems very important, like a form of protest. The songs reaffirm the importance of human connection in the face of social isolation by pining for that connection.

It also works as a soundtrack for bored quarantine sex.

 

[bono_212]

I'm struggling with this list, honestly. I had the idea for it four years ago and then never actually started making it and now it's like . I have such a specific idea for what I want, but to make it would require a lot of time in my car, which is...not exactly possible.

 

[lazarus]

I will say that possessing a considerable knowledge of music does make things easier when you know you're missing a particular sound to fill out a section of your list or need to make a transition smoother. A potentially days-long process is just a few clicks away if you know what you're looking for. It doesn't make your list inherently more enjoyable for others though.

It's still hard for me. I have over 1,000 CDs, which I've finally put into a few giant booklet wallets and thrown out the plastic cases. And then I have over 150GB on my computer to go through as well.

I have a 2-part playlist nearly finished just from the stuff on my hard drive, and now I'm going to browse the CDs to fill in any gaps or see if I can polish with some substitutions. But at the moment I can't tell if it's underwhelming compared to my last DI entry, which I still listen to on occasion and enjoy.

 

[iron yuppie]

I’m looking forward to discovering new music really.

Same for me. I always listen to music while doing online work, and now that I have basically endless online work for the next few months, it will be great to have some curated stuff to see me through it.

 

[iron yuppie]

My list is very sensual and romantic. When I first started making the list 2 1/2 years ago, I had in mind a set of songs that were very passionate and lovelorn, almost a bit teenage, because there's a time and place for that kind of emotional catharsis.

It's funny you say this. There are two playlists I had been working on just for the **** of it that I was considering for this. One of them is from quite a while ago, and thematically about some personal **** going on at the time. When I looked back at it now, I found it pretty embarrassing - not because it's emotional, but rather because of how on-the-nose everything is.

Suffice it to say the one I have for this DI is a lot more abstract.

 

[iron yuppie]

It's also funny looking back at some of those lists. Like that one participant who was obsessed with vaporwave or whatever the **** it was.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

So while all this was going on over the decade plus, I was making monthly playlists. Suffice to say I’m stocked with resources and ideas. Never too late to join, is it [emoji23]

But to be clear, just making a playlist in any way shape or form I want that adheres to the time restrictions and rules?

 

[Jerry Dunk]

My list is not a genre exercise, but it's the first time I feel comfortable saying I'll be introducing a decent number of people to some new music. All of my past lists were just taking popular acts from this forum and putting them in a really good sequence, which was the limit of my capabilities but not that interesting. This will be something new from me.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Hmm, may I request that when time comes, you all can help me learn about me regarding my listening style? Analysis from an outside source. I’m a capable writer, but quite incapable of reading.

 

[LemonMelon]

So while all this was going on over the decade plus, I was making monthly playlists. Suffice to say I’m stocked with resources and ideas. Never too late to join, is it [emoji23]

But to be clear, just making a playlist in any way shape or form I want that adheres to the time restrictions and rules?

Outside of time constraints, the lists don't have to feature anything in particular.

Try to think about the flow and thematic aspects that we talk about as more of a fun, unique challenge of the process than something every list must have in order to be successful. Many lists have won that were just a bunch of unrelated tracks that happened to be in a nice order.

 

[LJT]

Just sent mine in but forgot to add the runtime (106 minutes).

As ever i've tried to make flow as well as I can but I am always more obsessed with getting in as much variety as I can within the limits of my theme, but that can be a thankless task because of it! I also occasionally like a more stark transition. We'll see we'll see.

To state my bias upfront if I find a playlist where there are a couple of new songs that I really like, I usually lean heavily towards it.

Was it MrBrau ( like in the very first DI) who used to argue with people about their playlists being 'too white'? I think that got a bit heated at times (he was right a few times, he made me think more about where all the music I was listening to was coming from). In general but that's what I've always loved about Desert Island, changing my perceptions on some music and hearing lots of new stuff!

 

[cobl04]

That rings a bell. And I dare say the vast majority of our lists would have been white and male.

The only list that I still play from time to time is Cassie's Ode to the Beat. For me the best entry ever.

 

[LemonMelon]

Mr. Brau was a blowhard, but there was one thing he said that I'm grateful for.

When I was sharing my first original music on this board, this was back in late 2007/early 2008, Brau told me that I couldn't sing and that the only way I would ever get anywhere in music is if I had someone else sing my songs for me. I've been working on my voice ever since and it's really damn good now. Before the quarantine, I was singing in public once or twice a week and I can't tell you how many friends and acquaintances I've made over the years because someone told me they loved hearing me sing. It's a major source of confidence for me.

When someone tells you that you suck, it's an opportunity for growth. If I ever ran into Mr. Brau, I'd buy him a drink.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Rock Band taught me to sing a little bit better. Not just the little pitch meter thing... the people I played with lol. Built confidence.

 

[bono_212]

I have now come to the conclusion that my list is not even close to what I want and am considering throwing it out. HUZZAH.

 

[LJT]

Mr. Brau was a blowhard, but there was one thing he said that I'm grateful for.

When I was sharing my first original music on this board, this was back in late 2007/early 2008, Brau told me that I couldn't sing and that the only way I would ever get anywhere in music is if I had someone else sing my songs for me. I've been working on my voice ever since and it's really damn good now. Before the quarantine, I was singing in public once or twice a week and I can't tell you how many friends and acquaintances I've made over the years because someone told me they loved hearing me sing. It's a major source of confidence for me.

When someone tells you that you suck, it's an opportunity for growth. If I ever ran into Mr. Brau, I'd buy him a drink.

Yeah that sounds like him he could be unnecessarily harsh about things to put it politely.

But sounds like it didn't kill it for you which is awesome!

 

[Axver]

I've started to sketch out the theme of my list. I thought it would be a bit loose but it has turned into absolutely the most pretentious theme I have ever written.

The music, fortunately, is a whole lot less pretentious than that prog **** I used to submit.

 

[Axver]

PS Mr Brau was an absolute **** ****.

This is not a compliment in Australian-speak.

 

[the tourist]

I love that this thread is taking off. It reminds me of a really mellow week in a single thread from like 12 years ago.

 

[the tourist]

Mr. Brau was a blowhard, but there was one thing he said that I'm grateful for.

When I was sharing my first original music on this board, this was back in late 2007/early 2008, Brau told me that I couldn't sing and that the only way I would ever get anywhere in music is if I had someone else sing my songs for me. I've been working on my voice ever since and it's really damn good now. Before the quarantine, I was singing in public once or twice a week and I can't tell you how many friends and acquaintances I've made over the years because someone told me they loved hearing me sing. It's a major source of confidence for me.

When someone tells you that you suck, it's an opportunity for growth. If I ever ran into Mr. Brau, I'd buy him a drink.

I can identify with this. I hated my voice for the longest time, especially my recorded voice. It’s why I stopped being a singer in a band. Everyone hears themselves differently inside of their own head than what they actually sounded like. A couple years ago though I said screw it and started recording demos for the band I was in at the time with my vocals as guide vocals. And then slowly I produced those vocals up a bit and started liking how it was sounding. Like, I know there’s still a lot of shortcomings. I don’t have a strong voice. I’m definitely a baritone that can sometimes fake tenor, but wish I was a tenor like my brother. Anyway, deciding I didn’t hate my vocals was one of the reasons I let that band go on permanent hiatus to do my own thing. Now 16 months into this record, and hearing my own voice a ton, I’ve gotten 100% comfortable with it for the first time ever.

 

[LJT]

I read something interesting recently about why we don't like our own voice...it is because we hear it lower because you are partly hearing it through the bones of your skull rather than through the air. But you hear it higher when it is recorded as you are hearing what it sounds like through the air.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

My playlist is just about finished. I'm still trying to figure out the ending of it, but I've got it pretty much figured out besides that. Clocking in around two hours even.

 

[lazarus]

You're not closing with Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom??

 

[Jerry Dunk]

Could work for the album art, no?

 

[lazarus]

You'd get an automatic #1 ranking from me, that's for sure.

And I'd be doing a "Forfeit, racket smash!" with my own submission.

 

[bono_212]

Awww, he's kinda endearing in that picture.

There is this inability in my brain to rectify the fact that he was a young man once. I originally thought Taron was a weird choice to play him in the film, but quite a few pictures of young Elton I've seen recently have convinced me it was a good choice visually as well as the actual performance turned out to be.

 

[bono_212]

Pushed through a lot of stress about this list today and now have it almost exactly as I want it. I think I'm going to cut 3 songs and add 1 more and then it's done!