Dave Wirth
I like this question: "If you were banished to a desert island, what records would you bring?" One reason why I Iike this question is because it encapsulates a concept about music that most people normally miss: Music is an escape. The desert island question asks us quite simply what records we couldn't live without. These are the records that steady and center us. These are the records that we could theoretically use to escape the doldrums of living on a desert island, where we would apparently have no other entertainment.
It wouldn't be a surprise to me if someone had named Sgt. Pepper as a desert island record. The Beatles are well-known for many reasons. For lack of a less pithy explanation, they were able to help a lot of people forget about their troubles with their music. Playing guitar along to their music is like getting a transfusion of this escape. It's highly recommended! Similarly, playing the chords to a Rolling Stones' song on your own is far, far different than playing along with their recording. There is a push, a rush, a beauty to songs that we miss if we just played the chords and strummed at any pace we feel like. I am certainly not knocking anyone's desire to make a song more personal, don't get me wrong! Playing along with a record however is the best way to feel that escape, to feel why a song is awesome. Not surprising either that it's a fantastic way to get better at guitar.
My desert island picks? Well, I would have to say that Sigur Ros's Parenthesis album would most certainly make the cut.
