Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Just for Starters



So.... in theory all of your CD's, Mp3 Files, or any other existing files that holds some type of music disappears. Basically they become irretrievable! You are able to, at this point, only pick up FIVE Cd's to start building your collection again:


1. WHAT FIVE CD'S WOULD YOU START WITH?



Lets apply this to literature as well. Say everything that is in written form becomes instantaneously lost....

2. WHAT FIVE PIECES OF LITERATURE WOULD YOU START WITH?




As a caveat: I understand that music and literature are not the most important, nor should they be, vital to daily life. They add to the richness of who we are as people, the ability to create, and foster growth. I think these two, at least for me, speak a lot into where are culture is, where it was, and where it is going. Literature and Music are beautiful and should be sought after yet not idolized or worshiped. Now we can carry on...

9 comments:

j u s t i n said...

al this is a tough one...can i have for each mood...like 5 cd's when i feel like dancing...and five for when i'm driving in the car...and five for when i'm lost on a desert island...or maybe five for when i'm in a hurry...you know...

Al said...

hey, since you're the first person to comment, I guess I could give a little. It is a hard question. I mean if you have the time to separate those in such a way...I'd like to see how creative you can be.

Go.

Brandon Zangus said...

wow..a lot to think about

Jason said...

Five CDs:
-Matthew Sweet- Girlfriend
-Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
-Crooked Fingers- Dignity & Shame
-John Coltrane- Giant Steps
-Urge Overkill- Exit the Dragon

Five pieces of lit.
-Marilynne Robinson, "Gilead"
-Raymond Chandler, "the Big Sleep"
-Alex Dumas, "Count of Monte Cristo" (unabridged)
-Herman Melville, "Moby-Dick"
-Holy Bible (ESV if I had my choice)

Anonymous said...

I'm going to make a slight assumption and say that this is one of those "if everything in the world were gone and we were rebuilding civilization" questions...am I right?

CD's: (chronologically)
Bach- Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould's 1981 recording)
Beethoven- The 9 Symphonies (Herbert von Karjian w/t Berlin philharmonic)
Schubert- "Winterrisse" (any recording)
Wagner- The Ring (cycle of four operas, Sir George Solti recording)
Stravinsky- The Rite of Spring (any recording)

Each of these CD's, I feel, represents the halmarks in certain, key, areas of the development of musical language, granted, among them one would have more than 5 CD's...(the Beethoven and the Wagner are both several CD's worth of music).

Litereture: (in no particular order)
The Bible (not for religious reasons)
The Bagivat Ghita
Stoker- Dracula
Steinbeck- Travels with Charlie
Nobokov- Lolita

The first two are for poetic and aesthetic beauty reasons. The last three I feel are metaphores for things very prevelant to human existance (Moby Dick would be a good one too).

Chris said...

CD's (This is hard because I always like newer stuff)

Pink Floyd -- Meddle
AC/DC -- Back in Black
The Hold Steady -- Separation Sunday
The Arcade Fire -- Neon Bible
Sujfan Stevens -- Seven Swans (or Michian. I'm having second thoughts. Dah or Illinois. I can't decide.)

Lit (This is hard because I don't really like reading things twice)

Brian Walsh -- Subversive Christianity
William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
Chuck Klosterman -- Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs (mostly for the list of 20 questions he asks everyone)
Then for the last one either The Grapes of Wrath, The Complete Works of W.B. Yeats or The Great Gatsby depending on which one I grabbed first.

joeldaniel said...

It does depend if the future of civilization rests upon my choices or if the scenario is more just me on a deserted island trying to keep my sanity. with reading glasses and an ipod. We'll go with my personal druthers...

CD's
The Everglow by MAE
Catch For Us The Foxes by mewithoutYou
Cutting Edge by Deliriou5 (yeah, it's a multiple CD set, but we'll count it as one)
The Garden State Soundtrack by Various Artists
Absolution by Muse


Books
Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Bible...my little pocket one that has my notes & stuff

Al said...

this question does not hinge upon civilization. It's just your own collection...as in all you had burned and disappeared for some strange reason. I want it to be personally creative.

Thanks for your thoughts. This is fun to read and add some new ideas to my lists...

if you have more keep em' coming... I'm still thinking of my own.

Adam A said...

Okay... so my five CDs:

1) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
2) Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman
3) Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street
4) Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise!
5) The Roots - Phrenology

I'm still thinking through my books, but I'll get back to you :)

peace,
a