Throwing Words Into the Void

Grabbing a handful of new tracks from iTunes can be a sublime experience. In the space of an hour, one can sample, download, and burn a disc’s worth of ear candy without an ounce of filler. It was the first legal service on the block and it is still the best. Granted, it’s not the preeminent place for those of us who like to find new independent artists (I use eMusic and random blogs for that), but it saves me a ton of $$ on what I would otherwise be forced to spend on untested full-length releases.

I have never worked at a record store so I haven’t had the benefit of scamming free promo discs. Still, there are over 3,000 releases racked in my living room (much to the wife’s dismay), so my love for downloaded singles might seem somewhat misplaced. I’m an album guy. But, the truth is, there aren’t a ton of artists out there who are putting out complete sets of music in our time. The ‘Oughts’ are the new Fifties in the sense that the single is the dominant art form within the music industry.

There is nothing wrong with the single. When done well, it can do in three and a half minutes what many artists can not achieve with a lifetime of output. But, while the single is important, the full length release is more the modern equivalent to a classical movement. With euphoric peaks and melancholic valleys, an exceptional record can take the listener on a head trip like nothing else. Music is one of the most personal experiences someone can share with an artist and even the most famous recordings are markedly different for each person who hears them.

Which brings me to what Desert(ed) Island is all about: recordings that, regardless of how they were received when they were released, have held up and deliver an absolutely transporting experience (to me). For every CD I regard as a timeless classic, probably 90% of the population feels otherwise. I like to think of myself as a man of reasonable taste, though, so I am optimistic that a few will be enlightened by my choices.

There is little point in going on and on without using an example to illustrate the value of an album, so read on, if you feel inclined (it would be a shame if I was just doing what the title of this post says).