Jennifer "Miss Pop Rocks" Mathieu's Matagorda Island Discs

In which locals sound off on the ten records they would take to Matagorda Island, the nearest major unpopulated sandbar to Houston.

This week's installment comes to us courtesy of Jennifer "Miss Pop Rocks" Mathieu.

"Overall, what troubles me about my choices is that while there is variety, so much of it seems to be taken from 'the canon'...those 'important' artists that Rolling Stone is always ranking in some bullshit list," she says. "Then again, maybe those artists made it on that list for a ­reason."

1) Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Destruction. Takes me back to eighth grade, but more than that, this album is just incredible. When I'm 75, God willing, I will still turn up the radio when I hear the sweet, sweet opening riffs to "Paradise City."

 2) Bikini Kill: The CD version of the first two records. In case there are any misogynistic male islanders hanging around, I can play this to remind them who's boss. Who doesn't love "Carnival"?

 3) West Side Story movie soundtrack. As a child, I played this album over and over and choreographed my own routines to "Gee, Officer Krupke!"  So I choose this for sentimental reasons and for its ­danceability.

4) Loretta Lynn: The Definitive Collection. Sweet Loretta. Her story songs will keep me hummin' as I warsh my rags and tend to the island fire, y'all.

5) Belle and Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister. Even if I am stranded on an island, I can still prove my mid-to-late-'90s hipsterhood...to myself.

6) Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Recorded by the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Because it's glorious.

7) Johnny Cash: The Essential Johnny Cash. Because it's Johnny Cash.

8) Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde. Hard to choose between this and Blood on the Tracks, but "Visions of Johanna" tipped it in Blonde's favor.

9) Otis Redding: Dreams to Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology. For those lonely nights when I make out with my imaginary husband.

10) Mission of Burma: Signals, Calls, and Marches. I can't honestly say that overall it's one of my favorite albums, but "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" is one of my favorite songs, so that earns Signals my tenth spot.

(Want your own picks to appear in this space? Send them to john.lomax@houstonpress.com. You can write about your picks as much or as little as you want.)