MANGOFARMER'S TEN BASIC CD COLLECTION:

Keep in mind, my taste in music is probably not cool or indie or electic enough to be compacted into any sort of list that would be palatable for the general public, or at least the very cool people who read my ramblings here on a regular basis (the poor, misguided souls). But let's just say, if you wanted a Mangofarmer clone of your very own (keep dreaming, my friends), these are the CDs that you should purchase for your Mangofarmer for authenticity purposes:

1) "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles (bonus points if you purchase the White Album, "Abbey Road", or even "One", if only for the sheer, if by no means comprehensive, conglomeration of good songs). Say what you want about the Beatles, they are my first musical love, besides Beethoven of course. Granted it is the fault of my parents that I like them. But oh well. The Beatles said more in the last chord of "A Day in the Life" than most musical groups say in their entire career.

2) "Nevermind" - Nirvana (bonus points for "Unplugged in NY"). Ah, grunge. How I loved thee. How I still love thee. I didn't wear flannel every single day my first two years of high school for nothing. "Here we are now/entertain us./I feel stupid/and contagious." It's just good.

3) Any decent recording of the Symphony no. 9 by Beethoven (bonus points for Beethoven 5). Again, I think I became a classical music geek because of my parents. The Beethoven 5 was my favorite record to listen to when we sat on the couch and matched thunderous music to nature's thunderous tempest outside. As I've grown older, I've fallen under the spell of the Ninth, however.

"Joy, thou spark from Heav'n immortal,

Daughter of Elysium!"

(That sounds prettier in German.) Schiller's words and Beethoven's music. When I saw the symphony perform this piece on campus, I was a little bit disappointed in it, somehow. I think because I wasn't the one playing it. Enter wildest craziest dream: to be in an orchestra and perform the Beethoven 9.

4) "The Immaculate Collection" - Madonna (possible bonus points for the Spice Girls' "Spice"). This list would not be complete without indulging my inner girly-girl, with some so-awful-it's good pop. Nothing fits this bill better than old school Madonna.

5) "The Matrix" soundtrack (bonus points for "The Matrix: Reloaded" soundtrack). You haven't seen anything (and maybe you should be glad of this) until you have seen quiet little Mangofarmer turn up the volume until the very foundation of the house is shaking and jump around the room like a monkey on crack to "Rock is dead" or "Wake up" (and college marching band renditions need not apply in this case). I need more techno in my life. Particularly if it is inspired by a head-to-toe black leather-clad Keanu Reeves.

6) "The Concert in Central Park" - Simon and Garfunkel (possible bonus points for Jeff Buckley's "Grace"). Everyone needs mellow, thought-provoking music with amazing lyrics. Obviously "Bridge Over Troubled Water" makes me cry every single goddamn time. This is another CD I stole from my parents' collection.

7) *if you can find this particular bargain bin CD with all three of these pieces, woohoo* "Pictures at an Exhibition" - Mussorgsky/Ravel, "Hary Janos" Suite - Kodaly, "Lieutenant Kije" Suite - Prokofiev (bonus points for any recording of Copland's "Appalachian Spring" or Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"). I've played all of these pieces in some form at one time or another (with the exception of the bonus Gershwin, which some people *have* played, grrrrrrrrr). This is all good shit, people. Even if you don't like classical music. These are approachable, fun pieces, so go listen to them now and be educated, dammit. Hahahahaha.

8) "Echoes" - Pink Floyd (bonus points for probably anything, "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Wish you were here" in particular, also unrelated bonus points for Radiohead's "OK Computer" because I had to stick that in somewhere). Now, I have only fairly recently gotten into Pink Floyd. Yes. Shoot me for my musical negligence. So I'm sure purists would argue with my choice of "Echoes". But it has all the good stuff. For some reason I love the segue from "Wish you were here" into "Jugband Blues". I don't know why.

9) the "Forrest Gump" soundtrack (bonus points for any good oldies greatest hits or "best of" collections, i.e. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Doors, etc.). I don't know why I waited so long to get this double CD. Movie heads might argue with the academy's choice of "Forrest Gump" over "Pulp Fiction". While both are awesome movies (with good music), my inner sap who likes too much music that is before her time gives the edge to the Gump. Good stuff, people.

10) "Les Miserables" original cast recording (bonus points for "The Phantom of the Opera" original cast recording). I'm not a huge fan of musicals. But come on now. Good music here. It's too bad "Les Mis" just closed on Broadway. I would have liked to have seen that. I saw "Phantom" in Toronto about five years after everyone else I knew had seen it. Oh well. But I saw it.

There you have it. Mangofarmer waxes ineloquently on her favorite topic on the entire earth: music. Time for a sandwich. Happy Monday everyone!

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