Err, I got tagged for this thing by Rhythmic. I have to basically nominate five albums that I’d take with me if I were to be left alone in a desert island. Not easy, but here’s my list going purely by recent listening trends.
1. Alcest - Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde: I am convinced that no album released (or awaiting release) this year, metal or otherwise, can match the sheer pastoral majesty of Souvenirs (I am also convinced that I’ll never be able to pronounce the damn title). The vocal melodies alone makes my heart melt – the track ‘Les Iris’, in particular, can single-handedly brighten up my day. Neige, the only member of this band, created Alcest to create music of his imaginary “Fairy Land” – an idyllic place where, “the divine, memories of another world in which time, words and human perception did not exist but were replaced by other things that I cannot define”. The album I’d wake up to everyday.
2. Burzum - Dauði Baldrs (The Death of Baldr) – For a racist, misanthropic murderer Varg Vikernes made some astounding music. None more so that Baldr. Composed and arranged entirely in his prison cell, there are no vocals here. Instead, it’s Varg playing synthesizers. A great way to remind myself that the world is fucked up beyond belief.
3. Shakti - The Way of Beauty – Not an album, but a DVD. Sorry, Rhythmic. You can hold a gun to my head, tickle my toes till I laugh to death, threaten me with castration, but I’ll never be able to pick one Shakti album over another. The DVD is a natural choice as it has a nice mix of material from the first version of Shakti and the more recent Remember Shakti. This is the stuff I’ll play before practicing guitar. Inspiring beyond belief. Wait….I can take my guitar along with me, can’t I?
4. Comus – First Utterance – I’ve already raved at length over this album so I shan’t bore you again. At this point in time, I can’t imagine going anywhere, much less a desert island, without Comus’ brilliant debut.
5. Wolves in the Throne Room – Diadem of 12 Stars: One hour of dense guitar layers, blast beats and fabulous dual vocals. This is black metal to be played while sitting around a camp fire after dinner, staring at the stars and watching the world go by. The album that I’d listen to while falling asleep every night.
Oh and I tag the following: Sach, Cerno, Azrael, Born Yesterday and Looney Bin.
3 Comments
August 23, 2007 at 7:48 pm
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August 29, 2007 at 7:30 am
Eh this is not as easy as I thought. And only 5!! Still sorting through those discs in my head. Some I’ve realised are ancient by now.
Cramming stuff into a DVD is handy.
Think I’ll resort to that. (Peal of deep echoing cackling laughter with some added reverb followed by much coughing)
September 14, 2007 at 8:11 am
[...] 5 albums for a desert island (desert island discs) September 14th, 2007 — cerno Theena tagged me awhile back and over time the weight of implied obligation has grown to crushing [...]