Found Sound

It's the middle of the night. You're startled awake by the blaring of a fire alarm and of sirens blasting from the street below. The air is murky with smoke. You jump from bed and stand groggy and shaking in your underwear. To your left, the window beyond which is the fire escape. To your right, the shelf units where your CD collection is stored. You hear muffled screams and breaking glass in the distance. The ceiling above you emits a low contorted groan. What do you do?1

The Twenty

The list below is presented neither alphabetically nor chronologically, but rather, as Rob Gordon's character says in High Fidelity, autobiographically.

  1. my bloody valentine - loveless
  2. blur - leisure
  3. ride - twisterella (e.p.)
  4. the charlatans u.k. - up to our hips
  5. heavenly - p.u.n.k. girl (e.p.)
  6. ivy - realistic
  7. air miami - me me me
  8. the grassy knoll - positive
  9. sonic youth - made in u.s.a. (soundtrack)
  10. juliana hatfield - hey babe
  11. versus - deep red (e.p.)
  12. sunny day real estate - diary
  13. [various artists] - working holiday (comp. - simple machines, arlington va)
  14. sleater-kinney - call the doctor
  15. velocity girl - simpatico!
  16. quasi - featuring "birds"
  17. beck - mutations
  18. elliott smith - xo
  19. the dandy warhols - come down
  20. mean red spiders - stars and sons

1For this reason, you can justify the purchase of an iPod as a potentially life-saving investment.