May 31, 2004

Curious George: Music... Of the FUTURRRE See inside...

Okay, here's the somewhat convoluted setup. You've just invented the world's smallest time machine. You can barely fit inside, but you just about manage it. You find that there's just enough space to squeeze in one CD album. You set the timer to go back in time ten years. You climb out, and hey! It worked! It's 1994. Question is, what CD did you bring along with you, in order to prove to people 10 years ago that you actually did come from ten years in the future? Thinking about it for a while, I'd go for either cLOUDDEAD's "Ten", or Black Dice's "Beaches and Canyons", as each has so little to do with anything gone past. However, I think I'd plump for cLOUDDEAD as playing someone Black Dice would probably make them very, very scared for the future. Idea shamelessly stolen from I Love Music

posted by Blaise Bailey Finnegan 20 years ago
  • I'd bring back the postal service - give up. Who would have predicted that IDM would wind up being incorporated into popish music?
  • Easy: The New Cure Album. Why? Because Robert got so chubby and middle-aged!
  • Probably the current album of a band they already know. Maybe Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, because She Don't Use Jelly was popular about ten years ago and the band sounds very different but is still recognisable.
  • What Cali said. It's all about Steven Drozd's drums making the case. /shameless Flaming Lips shoutout. Taking Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" would be interesting, as I think The Downward Spiral came out in 1994.
  • I was thinking U2 or Radiohead, but U2 would be better if you were going back twenty years, not ten.
  • Metallica's Saint Anger. Then I'd go back and patent the machine.
  • Quasi's "Featuring Birds" (electric harpsichord, vocal harmonies and drums) and The Flaming Lips' "The Soft Bulletin" or "Zaireeka". All totally futuristic and even now scary to people who don't know any better.
  • Probably The White Stripes' "Elephant", just to prove to people that no matter how hard you try, electronica will not be the next big thing. In fact, the complete opposite will rule.
  • On second thought, maybe a burned copy of Dangermouse's "The Grey Album" would work to subvert a few minds.
  • I would bring the Fat Wreck compilation "Rock Against Bush." It features songs by punk bands such as The Descendents, The Offspring, Pennywise, Ministry, Social Distortion etc. Most songs are about how messed the Iraq war is and all proceeds go towards efforts to remove George Bush from office. Oh...wait, that wouldn't prove anything.
  • Criswell: "Future musical recordings like these will affect you in the future!"
  • First thought: Prefuse 73 But really, the best choice is Ruben Studdard's "Sorry 2004." The title alone is an incontrovertible time-stamp.
  • "I Love Smash Hits 2004".