desert island discs

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned how my 47 year old self was big into BBC Radio 4, where youth goes to die. Now every Sunday morning there's a programme called Desert Island Discs, where "castaways" have to choose 8 records they'd like to take with them to this hypothetical island. In preparation for when I'm a has-been celebrity (so that'd be shortly before appearing on Strictly Come Dancing) I've got my own 8-track playlist at the ready. It's fairly tough to whittle down to 8, and at the tender age of 18 it's probably subject to a lot of future changes, but this is it in its glory ag an am seo.

1. Seven Days in the Sun - Feeder

First exposed to this song in the summer of '01 as an impressionable 6 year old, on the Smash Hits Summer 2001 album, it has remained a firm favourite. I had the opportunity to see Feeder last summer, where they played anything but this no one wants to hear your new album i was 6 when you were big.

2. Sit Right Down - Toots and the Maytals

The first of the "I like this cause Daddy does" tracks. Strange that a Jamaican Reggae band from the 60s should remind me of home, but this whacks of the kitchen on any given Wednesday evening (only if played at maximum volume and sung along to).

3. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground - The White Stripes

I think at some point in the early stages of my development I was brainwashed into loving Jack and Meg unconditionally. For the life of me I cannot think of a better band. Though all are masterpieces in their own right, I like this one cause it's ballsy, and has the best ever recorded reverb after the "every breath that is in your lungs is a tiny little gift to me" bit.

4. All Night Long - David Kitt

Even though the "Small Moments" CD in our house is dedicated to baby Clodagh and not ratty toddler Hannah, I got the David Kitt bug. Saw him in Thomastown a few years ago but it was only over the summer when I found the CDs to complete the collection in the library that I became a proper Kittphile. Got my own copy of this in the post today, and "All Night Long" gets under my skin.

5. Going Up the Country - Canned Heat

Songs that accompany adventures are always the best. I'm a sucker for basslines too, and this one's just so...MEATY.

6. That Old Pair of Jeans - Fatboy Slim

Saw Norman Cook once too, but that was when he was going into Langtons so it's not quite the same. Regardless,  I love this one not only for the bass (that always helps) but for the wobtwangywobwob bit near the end and the lurks.

7. Hope There's Someone - Antony and the Johnsons

Dad played Hope There's Someone from the office when I was about 12, and I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever had to endure. I seem to remember trying to be positive about the bit with the angry piano chords. When Dad had two tickets to go see A&tJ in Belfast but no friends, the tough choice came down to me or mum, and I won the eenie-meenie-miney. A few years of processing and now look at where this has ended up in my esteem.

8. Wild is the Wind - Nina Simone

I first heard this on the Kinky Boots sountrack, as the bit where he gets in the car and it's all love me love me looouuuvvv meeeeee. Incredible voice is a shameful description. dis mah favourite.

In convention with Desert Island Discs, I am allowed to choose one book and one luxury item. The book will have to be Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy cause I'm hip lyk dat, and the luxury item is Reese's peanut cups cause they have both fast release and slow release energy, making for a pleasant and wholesome dining experience. 

Songs that were narrowly cut include: Tainted Love - Soft Cell, Going On - Gnarls Barkley, Poor Howard - Leadbelly, Trampoline - Bellx1, Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths, Ballrooms of Mars - T. Rex,  Freak Off - Orchestra Harlow, You Only Live Once - The Strokes, XXXO - M.I.A., The Only One - The Black Keys, Laundry Room - Nirvana and Heard that you Were Dead - The Bluetones.