Saturday, April 30, 2005
Lost in Place
Last year ABC Television managed to cut through the dross of reality programming with "Lost:" a groundbreaking new drama about some stranded castaways... Well, "Lost" may not seem so original at first glance: Gilligan's Island meets Survivor, as told by Stephen King. Radical narrative flow, flashbacks and knotty intrigue fuels a chiller unlike anything on commercial television since the Golden Age.
Desert islands are fascinating, giant sandboxes. Fantasy always runs rampant out there. Yet you get: What if you were stranded on a desert isle—what record, book, x-box game, etc. would you want to have with you? God, I hate that question! I'd rather have absolutely nothing rather than one album to hear for the rest of my life. I'm so glad no Walkmans survived on "Lost," and Charlie got his guitar back. Now he can make up new music and return to civilization a bigger star. But what if the survivors on "Lost" had landed with just one record they could play on a specially rigged jambox... what would each of them choose for their "Desert Island Discs?"
Charlie, for instance, is fairly obvious. He is a former rock star, so naturally he would want a recoding of his band when they were at the peak. I've heard his band, though: they suck! For his own sanity's sake, I recommend that Charlie keep a copy of Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma." There is a piece of music that can be listened to for a lifetime, always bearing new joys and pleasure.
John Locke would choose "Waiting for a Miracle: Bruce Cockburn's Greatest Hits." Locke isn't necessarily the tree-hugging, granola-crunching New England liberal who typically personifies a Bruce Cockburn fan, he has the philosopher's perspective and the epicurean taste to appreciate Cockburn's deeply complex music. It is so refreshing to see Terry O'Quinn cast away from the Tom Clancy gung-ho military type he performed brilliantly in Fox's "Millennium." He even spreads a little of that butter over Locke, but I suspect he is more a Cockburn than Hatch man.
Three characters vie for the protagonist's position, and their music choices reveal a lot about them. Kate, the former bank robber would choose "Get Back: Glynn John's Final Compilation," a rare bootleg of the Beatles' "Let It Be" sessions. Much better than the "Let It Be (Naked)" crap released last year. This version is iconoclastic—revealing the 60's supergroup as cohesive and intuitive rather than the fractured and dysfunctional mythology hyped at the time of their breakup. "Dig It becomes meaningful as a four-minute jam instead of a snipp of filler in the Spector version and totally expunged in "Naked." The Beatles' were always slick and tight, no matter what the situation, and though you should be thoroughly familiar with every contour and crevice of their sound, you just want to explore over and again. Its the same way with Kate.
Jack, the doctor, would have "Milestones" in the operating room. It was probably what his parents were playing when they conceived him. He keeps a copy with him everywhere he goes. Miles Davis is perfect and precise, just as he is. He has a song to go with everything he does, a soundtrack.
Sawyer is my favorite character in the show. He is an honest man who is forced to be dishonest occasionally in order for him to do what he thinks is right. Therefore, he gets to break the rules a little with a boxed-set: "The Definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd Collection." As a southern boy steeped in the Blues, he especially likes it when stuff comes easily. Lynyrd Skynrd made it sound so easy, yet nobody has duplicated that sound since Ronnie Van Zant left the planet.
As the only castaway with a child (at least until Claire drops,) I hope Michael has a copy of "Songs in the Key of Life" to help chill him out. This album will be soothing savage breasts for centuries. Stevie Wonder's masterpiece will also be a great boon to everyone else on the island too.
His son Walt needs the Roots' "Phrenology." I pray that kids listen to this album at least once a day. "Phrenology" is built of elements that shower the listener with light-- a complete hip-hop education encapsulated into 90 minutes. By the time Walt returns to civilization, he will have missed very little (except, of course, subsequent Roots albums.)
Sayid, the former Iraqi Republican Guard, will have Thievery Corporation's "The Outernational Sound." Such a true man of the world deserves a copy of this melange of sound collages, trip-hop collabs and crunchy dubs.
Since Hurley resembles Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, he would have "Facing Future." However, nothing seems to indicate either Hurley or Jorge Carcia is Hawaiian, but there has to be a way to wedge Buddha Iz's mighty presence into the show. The producers probably want to avoid such a campy self-reference, but I have a proposal: Hurley finds the magnificent recording rummaging through the wreckage. He is astonished by Iz's haunting voice, the deep, echoey production. The simple ukelele and vocal arrangements convey a spiritual purpose to Hurley, propelling him on a new course toward isolation, where he confronts the monster harrowing the terrified community.
The Japanese couple have similar, but divergent tastes in music. Both like piano music more than anything else. Sun, the wife, prefers classical piano. She would have with her a copy of Beethoven's "Complete Piano Sonatas" (is this a boxed set too? Well, she probably brought it for the long plane ride, I dunno.) Meanwhile, her husband Jin has a more nationalistic attraction to Keiko Matsui's "White Owl."
Claire will have "Diesel and Dust" because she believes that Midnight Oil personifies the Australian spirit.
Boone left before he got a chance to reveal enough, so I'll hedge with Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." God bless AG & you too Boone!
His sister Shannon has a mix-tape of Hall & Oates. Mainly, she just plays "Rich Girl" repeatedly 'cause she thinks the song is about her and she's too shallow to catch the irony.
Desert islands are fascinating, giant sandboxes. Fantasy always runs rampant out there. Yet you get: What if you were stranded on a desert isle—what record, book, x-box game, etc. would you want to have with you? God, I hate that question! I'd rather have absolutely nothing rather than one album to hear for the rest of my life. I'm so glad no Walkmans survived on "Lost," and Charlie got his guitar back. Now he can make up new music and return to civilization a bigger star. But what if the survivors on "Lost" had landed with just one record they could play on a specially rigged jambox... what would each of them choose for their "Desert Island Discs?"
Charlie, for instance, is fairly obvious. He is a former rock star, so naturally he would want a recoding of his band when they were at the peak. I've heard his band, though: they suck! For his own sanity's sake, I recommend that Charlie keep a copy of Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma." There is a piece of music that can be listened to for a lifetime, always bearing new joys and pleasure.
John Locke would choose "Waiting for a Miracle: Bruce Cockburn's Greatest Hits." Locke isn't necessarily the tree-hugging, granola-crunching New England liberal who typically personifies a Bruce Cockburn fan, he has the philosopher's perspective and the epicurean taste to appreciate Cockburn's deeply complex music. It is so refreshing to see Terry O'Quinn cast away from the Tom Clancy gung-ho military type he performed brilliantly in Fox's "Millennium." He even spreads a little of that butter over Locke, but I suspect he is more a Cockburn than Hatch man.
Three characters vie for the protagonist's position, and their music choices reveal a lot about them. Kate, the former bank robber would choose "Get Back: Glynn John's Final Compilation," a rare bootleg of the Beatles' "Let It Be" sessions. Much better than the "Let It Be (Naked)" crap released last year. This version is iconoclastic—revealing the 60's supergroup as cohesive and intuitive rather than the fractured and dysfunctional mythology hyped at the time of their breakup. "Dig It becomes meaningful as a four-minute jam instead of a snipp of filler in the Spector version and totally expunged in "Naked." The Beatles' were always slick and tight, no matter what the situation, and though you should be thoroughly familiar with every contour and crevice of their sound, you just want to explore over and again. Its the same way with Kate.
Jack, the doctor, would have "Milestones" in the operating room. It was probably what his parents were playing when they conceived him. He keeps a copy with him everywhere he goes. Miles Davis is perfect and precise, just as he is. He has a song to go with everything he does, a soundtrack.
Sawyer is my favorite character in the show. He is an honest man who is forced to be dishonest occasionally in order for him to do what he thinks is right. Therefore, he gets to break the rules a little with a boxed-set: "The Definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd Collection." As a southern boy steeped in the Blues, he especially likes it when stuff comes easily. Lynyrd Skynrd made it sound so easy, yet nobody has duplicated that sound since Ronnie Van Zant left the planet.
As the only castaway with a child (at least until Claire drops,) I hope Michael has a copy of "Songs in the Key of Life" to help chill him out. This album will be soothing savage breasts for centuries. Stevie Wonder's masterpiece will also be a great boon to everyone else on the island too.
His son Walt needs the Roots' "Phrenology." I pray that kids listen to this album at least once a day. "Phrenology" is built of elements that shower the listener with light-- a complete hip-hop education encapsulated into 90 minutes. By the time Walt returns to civilization, he will have missed very little (except, of course, subsequent Roots albums.)
Sayid, the former Iraqi Republican Guard, will have Thievery Corporation's "The Outernational Sound." Such a true man of the world deserves a copy of this melange of sound collages, trip-hop collabs and crunchy dubs.
Since Hurley resembles Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, he would have "Facing Future." However, nothing seems to indicate either Hurley or Jorge Carcia is Hawaiian, but there has to be a way to wedge Buddha Iz's mighty presence into the show. The producers probably want to avoid such a campy self-reference, but I have a proposal: Hurley finds the magnificent recording rummaging through the wreckage. He is astonished by Iz's haunting voice, the deep, echoey production. The simple ukelele and vocal arrangements convey a spiritual purpose to Hurley, propelling him on a new course toward isolation, where he confronts the monster harrowing the terrified community.
The Japanese couple have similar, but divergent tastes in music. Both like piano music more than anything else. Sun, the wife, prefers classical piano. She would have with her a copy of Beethoven's "Complete Piano Sonatas" (is this a boxed set too? Well, she probably brought it for the long plane ride, I dunno.) Meanwhile, her husband Jin has a more nationalistic attraction to Keiko Matsui's "White Owl."
Claire will have "Diesel and Dust" because she believes that Midnight Oil personifies the Australian spirit.
Boone left before he got a chance to reveal enough, so I'll hedge with Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." God bless AG & you too Boone!
His sister Shannon has a mix-tape of Hall & Oates. Mainly, she just plays "Rich Girl" repeatedly 'cause she thinks the song is about her and she's too shallow to catch the irony.
# posted by MadMac @ 9:30 AM 
