Your record collection has gone and you're starting again

What are the first ten albums you buy?

For the sake of argument, they can be in whatever fucking format you like, BUT, you have to imagine spending moolah on them, and they have to be albums. Pretend individual songs aren't available.

the first ten records i see that look like they are worth buying.

i agree with scott, id just continue on as if nothing happened

My stock answer always used to be that I'd spend the money on a fishing rod instead.

what Scott said - have always stumbled on stuff really haphazardly rather than having a 'to buy' list, pretty sure such a fucked up situation wouldn't change that course of action for me

i've always liked the idea of starting from scratch. not that, um, i want too... but i like the IDEA.

this is a funny question but Scott is probably OTM - I wouldn't be likely to rush out and buy all the Beach Boys or Funkadelic or Spacemen 3 albums or something (altho it would probably be in the back of my mind to keep an eye out for them and get them eventually), as much as I would just be excited to go to the record store and start over

All Sleater-Kinney albums (except the self-titled), 69 Love Songs and I dunno, some D'Angelo or something. Maybe Ready To Die.

i mean i could spend money on Slanted And Enchanted (fave album poss.) but whats the point in spending money on something ive listened to heaps of times?

i'd start again (ack) with "roots of rumba rock: congo classics 1953-1955"

this is a good way to rethink the whole "what are my favorite records?" question btw.

http://www.ericcarmen.com/images/x3/x3stover.jpg

Guys stop being cute and just pretend the question is what ten records could you imagine yourself desperately needing to hear and then buying again in short order.

the first 10 i really needed to hear again, as and when. you can't predict that! i never know what i'll be seized w/the desire to listen to on any given day.

if anyone needs any suggestions, i'm playing this right now and i heartily recommend it:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510BZRjv%2BiL._SS500_.jpg

My reasoning was just records I always like knowing are there, I dunno, 'just in case'. The hypothetical question is based in a crazy world where you couldn't just download/stream inifinite amounts whenever you'd like to, I assume.

i'd probably would stop buying records tbh

Yeah me too. Or maybe I'd start buying vinyl instead. I could see it completely altering my listening habits.

OtToMH

(1) roots of rumba rock: congo classics 1953-1955 2cds
(2) robert wyatt, rock bottom lp
(3) essential roy acuff cd
(4) paul robeson, spirituals cd
(5) mahler, ruckertlieder (v: schwarzkopf) cd
(6) slidin' on the frets: the hawaiian steel guitar phenomenon cd
(7) best of charley patton cd
(8) bob dylan, nashville skyline lp
(9) art deco: sophisticated ladies 2cds
(10) kraftwerk, ralf und florian lp

you could probably replace the last one with any of three or four other krautrock lps: e.g. clusters sowiesoso, neu!'s first lp...

every Beach Boys album between "Smiley Smile" and "Love You" (that's more than 10 I think)

Off the top of my head:
Fairport Convention "Liege & Leif"
Popol Vuh "Das Hoheleid Salomos"
Rush "A Farewell to Kings"
Genesis "Nursery Cryme"
Ultravox "Vienna"
Immortal "Sons of Northern Darkness"
Black Sabbath "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
Jessie Matthews "Centenary Collection"
Propaganda "A Secret Wish"

(though in all honesty I'd probably do what Scott said, just keep buying stuff)

would also require some Buck Owens, Ice Cube and/or Too $hort, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby", Spiritualized's "Lazer Guided Melodies", Funkadelic's "Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow"

also i'd probably make that great leap and start collection 78s.

I'd probably wait for the Kraftwerk vinyl reissues (and The Beatles')

A sort of cross between Alex and Fruity's answers for me - I'd probably resolve to stick with a core vinyl collection of some all-time favourites, starting with things I've only ever had on CD. So my first 10 would probably include things like Double Nickels On The Dime, Murmur, Cuban Linx, Countdown To Ectstasy and Scott 4.

if i started over, i think i'd go for quality over quantity. i'd buy nothing but pristine vinyl. spend extra on really nice pressings/packages, but just not buy as much. i dunno why this is. cuz i'm older and pickier now, i guess. i'll get in 3 or 4 hundred records at the store and i usually end up just taking one or two for myself and they tend to be really clean audiophile type records.

When I say 'stick with' I know I'd end up buying new stuff alongside it all. This is pretty much what my meagre vinyl collection looks like at the moment anyway - some favourites I've replaced and a fair amount I've bought on a whim.

what scott said basically

yes scott otm. i'd probably get into dl'ing again in a huge way too.

the first ten records i see that look like they are worth buying.

Exactly. But I'd also stipulate that my 10 albums will also cost $10 total (maybe plus a few cents tax.)

pearls before swine - balaklava
godz II
charalambides - union (lol yeah right i could find it/afford it, now.)
blue sky boys 2xLP anthology
some michael hurley record or another
popol vuh - bruder des schattens
the shadow ring - lighthouse
fleetwood mac - tusk
kate bush - hounds of love
the basement tapes

10 albums that would be hard to live without for long (maybe):

DJ Hype mixes Drum & Bass Selection Vol 3 or 4
Miles Davis Get On Up With It (just cuz I put on "He Loved Him Madly" all the time)
Some Black Ark Lee Perry record
Some 80s Waterhouse style dancehall record
A King Tubby dub record (probably one of the B&F ones--Freedom Sounds in Dub or Termination Dub)
A Shirley Collins record (or maybe one of the Sandy Denny Fairport records)
A Neu or Harmonia record (possibly the recently re-ished Live album)
The Gray Machine record (or Ice's Under The Skin if I can find it) cuz I'm currently loving it
A Morricone collection
Uh gee I don't know. Something psych-y probably. Le Orme? Os Mutantes? The Beatles hah?

compulsive gamblers - crystal gazing, luck amazing
harmonia - deluxe
yo la tengo - i can hear the heart beating as one
saint etienne - good humour
rolling stones - exile on main st
anita o'day - cool heat
willie nelson - phases and stages
brian eno - taking tiger mountain
howlin' wolf - moanin' in the moonlight
underworld - second toughest in the infants

Out of sentimentality, I'd probably rebuy the first ten albums I ever bought, on vinyl. I hope you can still get Chipmunk Punk.

I'd probably download more and be more selective about what I bought physical copies of. The first 10 I'd buy would probably be a mix of things that I like to listen to for different purposes - ie., good music for in the car, while drinking coffee in the morning, while cooking dinner, etc.

you dudes are into some wacky shit.

If I rebought my 10 fave records, that shit would be like Ramones, Public Enemy, Run DMC, Minutemen... Which is pretty boring compared to the suggestions on this thread afaic

Here it is. I have it, actually. It's not as funny as you remember.

Hmmn oh yeah actually I would probably buy a Wu-Tang or BCC record pretty quick too.

gerard cosley to thread

more than 10 but I would rebuy my Cure, Prince, Siouxie & the Banshees, Orbital, Prodigy, Boards of Canada, TKK, MBM, Bjork and Portishead albums first

I can see myself buying all my predictable "must-have essentials" and then not listening to them, being that I've listened to them to death and know them back to front. It might be quite liberating to suddenly not have all that stuff. There'd be a lot more space in our apartment, that's for sure.

To get more specific:

For in the car:
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
The Kinks - Arthur, Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire

Drinking coffee in the morning:
J.S. Bach - collection of cantatas
Vivaldi - Concertos for Flute & strings
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Going Places

Cooking dinner:
Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me

ooh which cantatas?

Radiohead / Amnesiac
Björk / Homogenic
Talk Talk / Spirit of Eden
Alice Coltrane / World Galaxy
Piano Magic / Low Birth Weight
George / The Magic Lantern
Autechre / LP5
Debussy / Nocturnes & La Mer
Can / Tago Mago
The Smiths / Hatful of Hollow

pharoah sanders - karma
mort garson - wozard of iz
steffi mixtape.info 27
wighnomy brothers bla bla studio amsterdam april 2009
inner dialogue
best of francois de roubaix
toni iordache sounds of a bygone age
hilbilly music...thank god! volume 1
the very best of jack hylton & his orchestra
ennio morricone vergogna schifosi

oh yeah, my Smiths and Radiohead albums, too

:D

ooh which cantatas?

Hmm, my favorite is an LP with two cantatas performed by the Munchener Bach Chor directed by Karl Richter. One of them is "Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ", I think. Can't remember the other right now.

keith jarrett - sun bear concerts

assuming no repeats this is my 3-minute attempt

ride the fader
developer
expresso 2222
africa brasil
graceland
ask the ages
meanderthal
rosemary lane
blessed black wings
tago mago

ha looking at people's lists in response to this question particularly (rather than '10 favourite') kind of makes me want to hear all the things i haven't heard that people mention

i would actually quite like to do this: getting rid of my old record (er, cd) collection might prove difficult though

Gonna go with Bark Psychosis, Hex. I don't really need anything else. I could probably be persuaded to grab New Order, Technique or MBV, Isn't Anything depending on the season.

Alex in NYC,
Bbbbut some of us happen to listen to all of these predictable must have essentials a lot. I honestly cannot live without the ones I mentioned. :P

And I guess the only record no one knows about in my list is the George one.

I'd buy ten albums which contain multitudes and which I never get sick of hearing or have never really got round to. Something like:

Rumours
Exile on Main St
Marquee Moon
The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
Louder Than Bombs
Thriller
a Supremes compilation
Sergeant Pepper
Back to Black
Graceland

But I'd rather have a bunch of singles and shuffle any day, so I might just go for ten Now That's What I Call Music! albums

Damn, Turangalila, that Piano Magic record... I'd forgotten about that one.

yesssss
I can't live without it. I can't live without early Piano Magic, actually.

i encourage everyone to run out and buy the compulsive gamblers record i mentioned, it's probably the greatest album greg cartwright has been associated with and that's saying a LOT.

I think I'd need Slowdive's "Just for a Day" too. I listen to few songs as much as I listen to Ballad of Sister Sue.

This question would've been a lot harder to answer 10 years ago. But with MP3 backups in a few places I might never replace stuff I've lost. But in the spirit of the question I'd get a mess of box sets:
The Fall - Complete Peel Sessions
Wire - The first 3 have been repackaged recently as a box.
V/A - 1234 Punk & New Wave
V/A - Flying Nun 25th Anniversary box
James Brown - Foundations Of Funk
Brian Eno - Vocal box
Roxy Music - The Thrill Of It All
John Cale - Island Years
V/A - Rockin' Bones
David Sylvian - Weatherbox

Koop - Waltz For Koop
the White Stripes - S/T
Avalanches - Since I Left You
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Prince - Sign O The Times
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
the Flaming Lips - Clouds taste Metallic
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
the Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
Yes - The Yes Album

if i had no recorded music all of a sudden, i'd just try to cover my bases as far as different listening moods:

new birth brass band - d-boy
prince - purple rain
james brown - in the jungle groove
telefon tel aviv - fahrenheit fair enough
metallica - and justice for all
t.i. - king
joe gibbs - no bones for dogs
hank mobley - soul station
radiohead - hail to the thief
the essential michael jackson

i always imagine that id just set out in the direction of my current interests, confident that i could regain my canon whenever. but id probably get a new record id never heard, too, or something to provide future challenge.

don cherry -- organic music
francis bebey -- akwaaba
popol vuh -- aguirre
grateful dead -- live/dead
carla bley -- escalator over a hill
michael hurley -- hi-fi snock uptown
leo kottke -- mudlark
cecil taylor -- unit structures
surf city EP
eat skull -- wild and inside

I've more or less experienced this, having painfully sold thousands of dollars worth of CDs while still living in collegiate poverty. But as of today:

Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life
Royal Trux - Accelerator
Kleenex/Liliput - S/T
Alpha - The Impossible Thrill
Basement Jaxx - Remedy
Capsule - Sugarless Girl
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
Charlotte Hatherley - Grey Will Fade
Sugar Plant - Dryfruit
New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

I don't even know that I'd qualify that as a list of favorites per se, just a varied collection of stuff I listen to a lot.

Actually, I'd happily trade out any one of those for the Rhino One Kiss Can Lead To Another box. Or any four, if necessary.

oh yeah, royal trux would bean early buyback!

this will be an honest, but terrible list of music. all stuff that i own and end up downloading all the time because it isn't to hand, on the ipod or whatever.

bad plus - these are the vistas
prince - the hits collection
mbv - isn't anything
john adams - harmonium
pharcyde - bizarre ride II
luomo - the present lover
steve reich - electric counterpoint
keith fullerton whitman - playthroughs
botch - anthology of dead ends
arthur russell - world of echo

basically:

telstar ponies - voices from the new music
arthur russell - calling out of context
ellen allien & apparat - orchestra of bubbles
animals that swim - i was the king, i really was the king
susanne abbuehl - april
sparklehorse - good morning spider
wrens - the meadowlands
can - monster movie
aphex twin - selected ambient works 85–92
phoenix - united

This is one of my nightmares but to answer the question these are my ten I would buy again.

The Who: Live At Leeds
Led Zeppelin: IV
Van Morrison: Tupelo Honey
Deep Purple: Machine Head
The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers
The Velvet Underground: Loaded
Rod Stewart: Never A Dull Moment
Neil Young: Zuma
Paul Simon: The Rhythm Of The Saints
Electric Light Orchestra - Out Of The Blue

i'd buy ten albums i never owned/paid for before

dr dre - the chronic
prince - the hits 1 & 2
can - ege bam yasi
propaganda - a secret wish
michael jackson hits comp
wu-tang clan - the w
boards of canada - geogaddi
prodigy - experience (the remastered expanded version)
aphex twin - selected ambient works 85–92
stevie wonder - inner visions

and the forthcoming kraftwerk remasters and warp 20 collection

maybe I would buy
International Submarine Band - Safe At Home
Field Mice - Skywriting
Sam Dees - The Show Must Go On
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Susan Christie - Paint A lady
We All Together - We All Together
Teery Reid - Seeds Of Memory
Sam Cooke - Night Beat
Poco - From The Inside
Ian Mathews - Valley Hi

But I prb would do what scott said, go on looking for whatever I find.

so wait the three artists ilm can't live without are

i can
ii prince
ii (tie) michael jackson

"I'd also stipulate that my 10 albums will also cost $10 total (maybe plus a few cents tax.)"

No tax here in Oregon!

But I would rush out and pay $ for this cuz it rules so much and sort of covers classical and metal in one fell swoop:

http://images.bluebeat.com/an/0/8/3/2/2/l22380.jpg

to be more serious:

Tones on Tail - Everything cd (or POP LP)
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Julee Cruise - Into the Night
Tangerine Dream - anything from the 70s
Morgoth - Odium
Gary Burton & Carla Bley - A Genuine Tong Funeral
Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Geraldine Fibbers - Lost Somewhere Between the Earth & My Home
Jesus Lizard - Goat
Voivod - Dimension Hatross

you need this too. morricone metal.

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/7091/coverqb2.jpg

The Chameleons - Strange Times
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
The Cure - Disintegration
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol. II
Tones on Tail - Everything!
Can - Future Days
Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again
Cloudland Canyon - Lie In Light
The Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot
The Black Angels - Directions to See A Ghost

First ten albums that come to mind (this would change in a heartbeat if I looked at it again):

Basement Jaxx - The Singles
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
Cranes - Forever
The Cure - Disintegration
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Prince - The Hits/The B-Sides
Saint Etienne - Too Young To Die: Singles 1990-1995
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Yo La Tengo - Painful
v/a - Harmony of the Spheres

Already wishing I'd had room for New Order's Substance, something by Stars of the Lid, Public Enemy, Chameleons, Durutti Column... etc.

Scott - I don't have Red Sonja ost. I have the two Poledouris ones...

Will seek it out. Thanks!

Also realized my list of 10 error - no Alice Donut (or Judas Priest for that matter), no credibility.

gahhh I love Heaven or Las Vegas, ilxor

Not the popular answer, but it's my favorite Cocteaus album by a mile.

mia - kala
sally shapiro - disco romance
annie from norway - anniemal
taylor swift - fearless
ashlee simpson - i am me
britney spears - in the zone
mariah carey - mimi
aaliyah - s/t
nellie mckay - get away from me
lady sov - public warning

It really depends on what I'm listening to at the moment. At this precise moment of my life the 10 records I would search for first would be:

Claude Debussy - Suite Bergamasque
Gene Vincent & his blue caps - Bluejean Bop (1956)
Jorge Ben - Jorge Ben (1969)
Little Dragon - Little Dragon (2007)
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)
Paavoharju - Yha Hamaraa (2005)
The Kinks - Kinda Kinks (1965)
The Zombies - Begin here (1965)
Valentin Silvestrov - Leggiero, Pessante (2001)
Velvet Underground - Loaded (1970)

There's a bunch of records that i keep together for those 'I have to hear this now' moments and it doesn't change much, so i guess they would be the ones i'd go for:
Blue -Joni
LAMF
The Soul of a Bell- William Bell
Village Green Preservation Society
SF Sorrow
The Band
Holland
Big Star 3rd (The Aura version)
2 7s Clash
2 Steps from the Blues

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Dinosaur Jr - You're Living All Over Me
Joy Division - Closer
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Radiohead - Kid A
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse
Television - Marquee Moon
Wilco - A ghost is born
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

I started a thread with a variant on this question years ago:
Survivors!

I don't trust my answer on that thread though - I'm pretty sure if I had to start again now, I wouldn't bother to reacquire about half of the records I mentioned there. Now, I'd probably buy only second hand library music records and/or CD reissues of same.

for a second at first i thought i'd probably re-purchase those albums in my collection that i've listened to the most, since that might be a good indicator of how necessary they are to me.

but i like the idea of just picking up where you left off. just keep on going. i could buy 'amnesiac' again i guess b/c it's a great album and i've listened to it a ton, but it's been a while since i've really 'needed' to hear it. it could be a few years before i want to play it again.

so my first 10 would prob be a combination of 1.) albums that were already on my to-buy list and 2.) re-purchasing of albums that i was really feeling at the time of this hypothetical loss.

prob look something like this:

1 billie holiday columbia boxset - 1933-1944
2 art of field recording boxset
3 coltrane, love supreme, maybe crescent too
4 stones, exile
5 miles, miles smiles,get up with it, or in a silent way
6 ghostface supreme clientele
7 tribe, low end theory
8 whatever album i see in the shop that looks good
9 "
10 "

prob some country albums too. merle haggard or something

black dots
ready to die
funhouse
parade
sex machine
rainbows from atoms
music for 18 musicians
what makes a man start fires
fear of a black planet
selected ambient works ii

maybe.

it's interesting to think how it would affect my collecting decisions. would it make me more discerning? no buying of cheap shit that may or may not be good? or would i buy as much cheap shit as i could just to build back a collection? would i be as 'completist' i.e. feel the need to buy every album of an artist just b/c i used to have them before the loss?

like scott i've always been a little intrigued by the idea of starting over. even tho i'm a little too attached to ever consider doing so voluntarily. i don't even sell/trade back any of my collection anymore -- there's too much shit that i got rid of before that i kick myself now for

but if i was only allowed to buy ten, period, i'd be fighting long and hard to see what gets swapped out for future days, enter the wu-tang, remain in light, katy lied, etc etc ad infinitum.

oh and i'd probably add some charlie parker to my list too xp to myself

and fucking miles. AND SLY. and pil. jesus, f.u. southall.

i don't even sell/trade back any of my collection anymore -- there's too much shit that i got rid of before that i kick myself now for

I feel this but I definitely go through phases. For a couple years I didn't sell back much of anything, and now recently I've given up over 200 CDs to eBay and local shops in the past few months. I figure if it helps me fund purchases of stuff I'm more focused on, then why not? Do I really need my Fugazi records from high school that I haven't played since I was 19 years old (even though they used to be a favorite)? I'm pretty sure nostalgia is not something I'm into. No regrets so far with my sales, by the way.

gerard cosley to thread

For real.

Been thinking about this thread a lot, and while ultimately I fall into the camp of 'carry on buying in the same way', I think there are a bunch of records that I would really miss having and probably try to re-find:

Stereolab - either Peng or Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Brainticket - Cottonwoodhill
La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf
The Tindersticks - first album
Can - any Can album, really, just so long as I had some Can to listen to.
Prolapse - Pointless Walks to Dismal Places
Kenny Everett's World's Worst Record Show
John Cale - Paris 1919
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna...
Art Bears - The World as it is Today

I dunno, I guess a lot of these are quite similar, but they're the things I turn to when staring at my collection blankly, the 'old faithful' records. In reality, I'd most likely try to go for things that I don't know as well as I should and never got around to buying, and just end up with a record collection full of Wu Tang and Charles Mingus.

I'd just want to pick up some any-time-is-the-right-time kind of records.

For me, right now, that would probably include...

Stalk Forrest Group
New Riders of the Purple Sage - s/t
Minutemen - What Makes a Man Start Fires
OKEH Western Swing
Fairport - Liege & Lief/What We Did...
Gun Club - Fire of Love
Shoes - Black Vinyl Shoes
Julee Cruise - Floating Into the Night
a Bo Diddley record
Velvets 3rd

animals that swim - i was the king, i really was the king

braveclub, I want to be your friend.

Interesting to see how many records from people's lists I own. kshighway - you're the only one I own 4 of.

New Riders of the Purple Sage - s/t
OKEH Western Swing

Well, yes!

Possible 11+12 for me now you mention them...

Ian Mathews - Valley Hi

ditto. cosign. um, me too.

Hmm, "found" Red Sonja ost. I like the Poledouris better...

Part of the reason I started this thread is because I was unsure of the tactic I'd use to do this myself, and I'm still unsure. It's really nice seeing the different ways people have gone about it, actually.

this actually happened to an american music journalist (who i think posts here sometimes). the removal van transporting his collection to his new home never reached its destination ... i recall he was after some sahko releases.

myself, i can't imagine not owning some autechre, boards of canada, saint etienne, tindersticks, the kompakt totals, johan johannsson, a bit of rune grammofon. but echo the sentiments further upthread that i'd definitely go for quality over quantity.

BOC-Tyranny and Mutation
Rush-All the Worlds a Stage
Funkadelic-Standing on the Verge...
Boston-st
Black Sabbath-Master of Reality
Slayer-South of Heaven
Mahavishnu Orch-Inner Mounting Flame
actually both Black Box and Rules of Hell box sets
Pantera-Cowboys from Hell

Other than the ones I couldn't miss and would need again (list impossible to compose) I would probably not re-buy a couple of the ones everyone my age owns but never listens to, but maybe I would consider the lullaby or bluegrass versions of Nevermind, Ten, Metallica's black album, Appetite for Destruction, Bodycount, rage against the machine's first one, that colorful one by Primal Scream, ...

this actually happened to an american music journalist (who i think posts here sometimes). the removal van transporting his collection to his new home never reached its destination thieves stole his cd binders ... i recall he was after some sahko releases.

having read that Cosloy thread again, and considering the question again, I think I would start with the things I had been looking for the longest and hardest that had still eluded me. I would get a mint pressing of that damn Brian Eno single with "Wimoweh", not the French press with the photo sleeve but the one with the kids book illustration sleeve. I think it's German. After that, I might branch out.

and also get:

Robert Haigh/Sema - Three Seasons Only
Birthday Party - Junk Yard
Black Uhuru - Sinsemilla

after that, too many to choose.

I found a copy of Birthday Party - Mutiny today. Certainly didn't plan to buy a record, but that's an important one I was missing.

This actually happened to me--about 6 years ago. Faulty wiring caused my apartment building to burn to the ground in the middle of the night. I woke up and saw the ceiling on fire, so no time to grab anything. The first thing I did after getting a new computer was raid the library's CD collection. I remember listening to Excitable Boy and Armed Forces a lot. The first CD I bought though was by Jedi Mind Tricks, perfect music to be angry by.

It was actually the catalyst for me switching to a mostly digital music collection.

up until recently i would have never been able to do this given that i would have required on-u, foetus, madness, cabaret voltaire, shriekback, age of chance, FAX etc making cutting it down to 10 very difficult.
however, this year all that changed and i got bored with my traditional faves.

so now the list would be :

miles davis : in a silent way, bitches brew, get up with it
david axelrod : earth rot, song of innocence, songs of experience
cannonball adderley : mercy , mercy, mercy
letta mbulu : sings/free soul (2 albums on 1 cd)
herbie hancock : sextant
i can't make it alone : lou rawls/david axelrod compilation

i genuinely think i could cope for quite a while on that selection.

there's others i'd put ahead of these, but they're either ones i've internalized so much i could go a long time without hearing (foxbase alpha) or they're owned by close friends and so i could sneak a listen from them (foxbase alpha).

a lee perry comp
a gregory isaacs comp. probably Loving Pauper.
a fela twofer
pat kelly comp
aquemini
rough guide to franco
gotta have some miles. in a silent way, i suppose. need something to fall asleep to.
one of the (relatively) recent african funk comps
something brazilian and female. prob tanto tiempo by bebel gilberto.
sam cooke "night beat".

I agree with a lot of the contrarians upthread. If I lost everything and had to start over with only enough cash to buy 10 records (no free downloads?), I probably wouldn't buy my 10 favorite records, or even 10 records I knew I liked. I'd buy 10 records I was interested in hearing/exploring. Maybe familiar stuff, but not too familiar. ATM, probably something like this:

SunnO))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Soft Boys - Can of Bees or some other early comp, cuz I've been really into this stuff lately
Zola Jesus LP

And after that it gets hazy. Probably whatever I stumbled across that was both intriguing and inexpensive.

Plus some kind of metal something to listen to in the car. Three Inches of Blood or Black Cobra, maybe.

Starting again would mean a chance to start fresh. Instead of picking favorites that are already emblazoned in my head, I'd pick 10 praised by ilxors who are deep into music that I don't know well.

I'm not having Lex make me buy Mariah.

your loss

Contenderizer see if you can find a used copy of Ryko's Soft Boys 1976-1981 2CD. One of the best 2CD overviews ever assembled IMO. Otherwise, Yep Roc is apparently issuing a Soft Boys box in a year or so.

Also this thread premise stresses me out so much! I fear I would end up with a bunch of albums I love but have already heard too many times.

Maybe if I imagine the question as "Your record collection has gone. How do you spend your first $100 on music?"

I've actually been asked this question before, and I'm with the few folks here who said they'd stop collecting. The task of restarting a record collection from scratch - from the Miami Vice soundtrack, Knee Deep In The Hoopla, and Shout At The Devil, all the way to the Cass McCombs CD I bought yesterday - is just too daunting / depressing to fathom. So much of the collection (and presumably, everyone's) is totally irreplaceable. I'd get another hobby. As for music, I'd just, like, subscribe to XM or Sirius or something. Maybe download some Stones, some Coltrane, but then again maybe not even that.

There IS something creepily appealing about not having the burden of needing a damn moving van every time you move from one tiny one bedroom apartment to another. Wonder what that's like?

Had a house burn down 15 years ago and lost my entire record collection. 500 LPs and over 1,000 45s. For a while I felt relieved and happy to abandon the (expensive, OCD-aggravating) hobby, but within 5 years I was back at it. Plus ca change...

The task of restarting a record collection from scratch - from the Miami Vice soundtrack, Knee Deep In The Hoopla

I admit I would pay people to steal these from my collection if I had them.

Well, yeah. I mean, I actually do still have the Miami Vice soundtrack because Melle Mel is on there, and I always had a soft spot for "You Belong To The City," but Knee Deep In The Hoopla is long gone. Anywyay, those are the first albums I ever bought.

An excuse to revive this thread!

What's the very first album you ever bought?

At garage sale:

Jethro Tull- Songs From The Wood

At retail:

J. Geils Band- Freeze Frame

First 7" single:

Xanadu/Drum Dreams (Olivia Newton John/ELO)

xpost - Zola Jesus LP

Hey Contenderizer, I picked this up from her at Wire Fest. It's good!

Yoko Ono - Approximately Infinite Universe
Deaf School - Don't Stop The World
Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams
Gil Scott-Heron - Winter In America
The Loft (presented by David Mancuso) compilation
The Bar-Kays - Money Talks
The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. with bonus disc (shush, haters)
Rolling Stones - Singles Collection: The London Years
The Dears - Missiles

I would probably just get thenashville skyline LP and stare at the smiley bob picture until i was spiritually complete and no longer needed records

i love that Yoko disc.

xp

sleeping on "thrashville skyline" covers set oppo

I've been meaning to get into buying vinyl again. Losing all of my cds would motivate me to make that transition sooner. I'd probably go all digital, save my favorite 5-10 albums a year, which I would buy in vinyl. Or something.

This looks about right:

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy- I See a Darkness
Charalambides- Market Square
Sally Shapiro- Disco Romance
13th Floor Elevators- Easter Everywhere
Pulp- This is Hardcore
Love- Forever Changes
Luomo- Vocalcity
Underworld- Second Toughest in the Infants
Belle & Sebastian- The Boy with the Arab Strap
Charalambides- A Vintage Burden