DESERT ISLAND DISCS
If you haven't listened to the show before, Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Each week a guest, called a 'castaway' during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, whilst discussing their lives and the reasons for their choices.
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A couple of my favourite episodes are linked below:
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Stella McCartney: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b08vxjth
Nigel Owens: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b08cr6w9
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My Desert Island Discs:
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1. The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon & Garfunkel. From holidays as a child - chugging along the country roads of France - to now, this song feels like the omnipresent, ethereal voice of an old friend. Also great for shouting into an Infinite Abyss - a la Garden State - should you have one nearby.
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2. Myrtle Avenue - Floating Points. A unique concoction of electronic, jazz and ambient arrangements unravelling into a wandering, hypnotic revelation. Perfect for a late night work session when you need a backdrop of high quality white noise.
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3. Carey - Joni Mitchell. On Carey, Joni goes full Mitchell; creating brilliantly vivid, multi-chromatic scenes with 'fancy french cologne', a 'mermaid cafe' and a place where 'the night is a starry dome'. It's a wholesome, virtuous experience and a choice that my mum will be proud of.
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4. Arcade Fire - Ocean of Noise. A menacing epic, with a chord change towards the end rewarding those who've stayed. Exploding into a crescendo of crashing piano keys and strings, Winn battles with the idea of how he's 'gonna work it out', repeating several times till we know he's not lying.
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5. The Boy With The Arab Strap - Belle & Sebastian. If you could distill joy and bottle it up into a whimsicle indie classic-branded concoction, then TBWTAS would be the produce. Melancholy has never been so much fun.
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6. Big Thief - Shoulders. There's nothing like Big Thief live where Andriana Lenker's vocals sting through the crowd, hushing even the most attention-spanless listeners in a way only she can do. Fortunately, the studio versions still pack a punch, and Shoulders is one of my favourites that comes out swinging with both fists.
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7. I Let Love In - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The Bad Seeds take full flight in "I Let Love In" taking you through Nick's spiritual domain with arm swinging and leg stomping vigour. Declaring to 'let love in' with moody vocals, carved up with a potent riff - this is the track that your girlfriend might ask questions like "which one was that?".
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8. Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi - Radiohead. Trying to decide on which Radiohead song is like picking between your kids; a thankless task, but Weird Fishes is the weird kid that takes the title (for now). For me, mostly, for the perfection of recreating the ocean in vibration-form mixed with a unique NYE memory edged it this time.
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Honourable mentions: Where The Dreams Go To Die - John Grant, Someday - The Strokes, All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again - Bob Dylan, Fall On Me - R.E.M., To Zion - Ms. Lauryn Hill, Neil Young - On Sugar Mountain