A desert island is no place for a lot of sublety.  I largely went for the strong medicine (multi-disc sets where
        possible). Some favorites had to be eliminated in favor of greater diversity. There are 50 CD's and 12 LP's in all.
 
 
        In alphabetical order, here is my 30:
 
        ARTIST OR GROUP --- ALBUM --- LABEL --- COMMENTS

        1) A3 --- Exile On Coldharbour Lane (1 CD) --- Geffen --- Country acid house (with gospel overtones).

        2) Burning Spear --- Chant Down Babylon - The Island Anthology (2 CD's) --- Island --- I listen to Black
        Uhuru's anthology more, but the desert island is the place and time for the heavier spiritualism.

        3) Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band --- Safe A Milk (1 CD) -- One Way --- Had to go for it over
        Trout Mask Replica, this version also included a lot of other stuff not on the original.

        4) John Coltrane --- The Major Works (Ascension et all) (2 CD's) --- Impulse --- Have to go with the
        heavy stuff.

        5) Miles Davis --- The Complete Prestige Recordings (12 LP's) --- Prestige --- The prime quintet work
        with Coltrane plus so much more.

        6) Ani Difranco --- Living In Clip (2 CD's) --- Righteous Babe --- Live recordings; Good mental therapy.

        7) Willie Dixon (actually various artists doing Dixon compositions) --- The Chess Box (2 CD's) --- Chess
        --- The prime Chicago blues (Chose over the 9  CD "Complete Stax/Volt Singles collection).

        8) Bill Frisell --- Have A Little Faith (1 CD) --- Electra/Nonesuch--- His version of Madona's "Live To
        Tell" is probably my favorite tune after Richard & Linda Thompson's "Walking On A Wire"; Also much
        more.

        9) Fred Frith & Henry Kaiser --- With Enemy's Like This, Who Needs Friends? (1 CD) --- SST ---  "Dog
        Puppet Born Out Of A Sock" sticks to even my feeble memory.

        10) Grateful Dead (as plunderized by John Oswald) --- Grayfolded (2 CD's)--- Swell/Artifact --- A
        massive dose of the essence of the Grateful Dead.

        11) David Grisman Quintet --- DGQ-20 (3 CD's) --- Acoustic Disc.

        12) Husker Du --- Zen Arcade (1 CD) --- SST --- The "Ascension" of alternative rock.

        13) Henry Kaiser --- Those Who Know History Are Doomed To Repeat It (1 CD) --- SST --- Probably my
        first encounter with Henry Kaiser (or maybe it was the first Madagascar CD with David Lindley) -
        A better "Dark Star" than the Grateful Dead ever did (?), Beefheart covers, and more.

        14) David Lindley & El Rayo-X --- Win This Record (1 CD) --- Electra/Asylum --- The second of three El
        Rayo-X CD's that I have.  I've played the first (self titled) El Rayo-X to death in the past; I also love the
        third "Very Greasy" - A very tough choice.

        15) Gary Lucas --- Gods And Monsters (1 CD) --- Enemy.

        16) Charles Mingus -- The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1 CD) --- Impulse --- Have to go with the
        heavy stuff.

        17) Moog Cookbook --- Plays the Rock Classics (1 CD) --- Restless --- Classic rock gets a much needed
        harpooning; I think of it as classic rock radio in the twilight zone.

        18) Morphine --- Cure For Pain (1 CD) --- Rykodisc --- The title may be true.

        19) Conlon Nancarrow --- Studies For Player Piano Vols. 1 & 2 (2 CD's) --- Wergo --- Have to give it the
        nod over Vols. 3 & 4 because I love the blues and boogie at the beginning (but I may be wrong, it's hard to
        go against Henry Kaiser's pick) - Will have to cover having to eliminate some John Cage prepared piano.

        20) Harry Partch --- The Harry Partch Collection Vol. 4 - The Bewitched (1 CD) --- CRI.

        21) PDQ Bach --- The Dreaded PDQ Bach Collection (4 CD's) --- Vanguard --- Classical music gets
        harpooned (Eliminated: Getting into Wagner's ring cycle).

        22) Pere Ubu --- Datapanik In The Year Zero (5 CD's) --- DGC (Geffen) --- Reissue boxed set of their
        earliest recordings (3 CD's); Also 1 CD of low fidelity live recordings and 1 CD of misc. related material.

         23) Marc Ribot --- Rootless Cosmopolitans (1 CD) --- Antilles --- For those who know this CD, "Have A
        Nice Day" - "Shrek" could be a substitute - Had to choose over Elliott Sharp (Carbon)'s "Datacide".

        24) Snakefinger --- The Collection (1 CD) --- ESD --- Covers the Residents need also.

        25) Sonic Youth --- Dirty (1 CD)--- DGC (Geffen) --- Daydream Nation is considered their masterpiece,
        but I started here, and it remains my favorite.

        26) Sun Ra ---- Jazz in Silhouette --- Evidence --- If he's written over a billion tunes, you have to have
        some along.

        27) Taj Mahal --- In Progress & In Motion 1965-1998 (3 CD's) --- Columbia --- Mr. Eclectic.

        28) Richard & Linda Thompson --- Shoot Out The Lights (1 CD) --- Hannibal --- Wonderful -  "Walking
        On A Wire" is my absolute favorite tune, it never fails to send a chill down my spine when I hear it.

        29) Various artists --- Live at the Knitting Factory (5 CD's) --- Knitting Factory --- Boxed set that probably
        includes artist(s) I would have liked to give there own selections; Much more.

        30) John Zorn - The Big Gundown (Plays the Music Of Ennio Morricone) (1 CD) --- Nonesuch/Icon --- If
        you are limited to one Zorn, this is it (I had to eliminate the much loved first Naked City CD).