The two hundred and twenty-fourth TV show: #20 The Tonight Show

Having watched various incarnations of the show to get a feel for it, it quickly starts feeling stale - rehearsed anecdotes, middling, at best, jokes and a stillness that makes it all feel too inoffensive. That the best interview might well have been Johnny Carson interviewing David Letterman, where nothing of relevance was said and everything was avoided with jokes, says it all. I wouldn't want to impugn the show's audience, but even know it feel staid and too comfortable for me.

The six hundred and twenty-second album: #622 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman's first, self-titled album starts so strong - Talking 'bout a Revolution has an impact that hits you, while Fast Car possibly hit harder than it did before. The songs that follow don't feel as familiar, but the message is incredibly strong, the vocals on point, and the folk instrumentation underlying it drawn back enough that it never dominates. Behind the Wall demonstrates this especially - it's a capella and yet the sound fills you and really tells its story stronger than any other arrangement would. Even that sparseness gives a lot of different influences to the music - the panpipe dominated arrangement of Mountain o' Things stands out as something special as well.

The eight hundred ninety-fourth song: Romeo - Basement Jaxx

We're starting off with a decent dance track - I can see how it would work well in the club, but it doesn't really reach the variation it needs for individual listening.

The eight hundred ninety-fifth song: Can’t Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue

The electronic pop songs of Kylie work on a lot of levels - a good dance track, showing off her seductive vocals and staying incredibly memorable - it does get stuck in your head like that.

The eight hundred ninety-sixth song: Vuelvo al sur - Gotan Project

This is a classic tango song, for a large part relying on slower, simpler vocals rather than the full exuberance that can come with it. It feels very traditional, especially compared to the others that came before, surrounded by some more modern or out there segments. The core is strong for what it does, though.

The eight hundred ninety-seventh song: Clandestino - Manu Chao

This track feels like classic mediterranean music, taking a lot from Latin influences and the like. It's not too complicated, instead giving a commentary on immigration that, although in Spanish comes through outside that as well, the sadder tone included. It's really effective and touching still.

The eight hundred ninety-eighth song: Iag bari - Fanfare Ciocarlia

I think it's been a long time since I've featured a brass band and (as seems to be happening this session) there's a set of throwbacks, with this referring to older Balkan or Eastern European music. The vocals are the older man sounds, and the flourishes are very old school. It's not what I've been used to, but I can see how this is executed really well.

The eight hundred ninety-ninth song: Oica la O Senhor Vinho - Mariza

I haven't heard traditional Portuguese music featured in some time, and Mariza creates a song here that feels modern and poppy to go along with it. It's strong, really good, giving a great song to listen to.

The nine hundredth song: You and Whose Army? - Radiohead

The slow build in this song feels stronger than any before, the restrained and slow rise rarely mirrored to this level. There's no amazing crescendo, it doesn't give you everything, but it hits all its moments perfectly, this is exemplary in what it does.

The nine hundred and first song: Tomando y tomando - Lupillo Rivera

This song feels more whimsical, a trumpet jaunting through as other brass instruments come in and out, jaunting through something simple. There doesn't feel to be anything deep in it, but it's a pleasant trip that just cheers you up, building on a universal sensation.

The nine hundred and second song: New York City Cops - The Strokes

Perhaps stymied a bit by release dates in some places, this song hits a sentiment about police shootings in the US that hasn't really gone away since. It's political punk as we've seen less - loud and passionate, but making its points at the same time. It gets to feature those sentiments a lot more here, the music relatively subdued to make sure the lyrics can really speak, and it works to make its point.

The six hundred and twenty-first album: #621 Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Session

While the sound of the album is the reason this was recorded in a church, it also feels like the environment fits the maudlin, slow feeling of this country album, slowly drifting as well as having a jazz feel for its many ballads. This is not an album with energy, instead it feels quite sad and contemplative, but never really surprises or offers anything that would grab me.

The two hundred and twenty-seventh classical recording: #679 Maurice Ravel - La Valse

This piece is insane, as you'd expect from Ravel - thunderous in places, moving all over the place, a moving carnival of sounds that's hard to keep up with. It's incredibly visual in its sounds and it'll keep evoking different feelings.

The six hundred and twentieth album: #620 The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane

Adding a strings section to a rock band always makes the songs that use them lean towards the melancholic and here The Go-Betweens' last album of their original run has a majority of indie rock ballads, sounding contemplative as everything is kept subdued. The lyrics go from optimistic to slightly dark and sometimes stalkery, not that you'd tell from the music. It's a pretty nice setup that I ended up vibing with.

The eight hundred eighty-fifth song: One Armed Scissor - At the Drive-In

We're starting off with some hardcore punk, with a driving guitar, loud drums and a lot of screaming. The anger in this song is clear, the negative emotions overpowering more excited shouts. It gives you a good feeling of the mood, becoming powerful in its own right with it.

The eight hundred eighty-sixth song: Hate to Say I Told You So - The Hives

Following that, Hate to Say I Told You So starts off as a throwback, a rock song that could have been written in the sixties or seventies. The lyrics are the rebellious kind and aside from a few synthesizer sounds, it doesn't do anything you wouldn't have had back then. It strays from getting too poppy, while still staying memorable.

The eight hundred eighty-seventh song: Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches

We've heard how far electronic music has come with samples, but this feels like it's one step further - the song is almost entirely samples, the 'lyrics' are taken from sketches and feel quite tongue in cheek, and there's this cobbled together feeling that's fascinating, even if it's weird to wrap your mind around as well.

The eight hundred eighty-eighth song: One More Time - Daft Punk

If I have to pick a point where I'm most comfortable with electronic dance music, it is, as I think it is for many others, at Daft Punk. There's a great melody and build up to the songs and there's that great balance between variety and repetition, creating a good song rather than only something to dance to. Add to that that we're still in an era where autotune is new and used to manipulate it well, rather than the crutch that's bothering me in some more modern songs, and you get the strange, but worthwhile effect.

The eight hundred eighty-ninth song: Stan - Eminem featuring Dido

I remember how much of an influence this song was and has become since its release. Before this, Eminem was quite an aggressive comedy rapper, more in it for diss songs than providing something special. On the other hand, this song was dark, there was a lot of depth to what it was saying and it's a comment on fame and fans that has become more notable in the decades after as social media amplified these voices and the connection between fans and performers has grown. It's a standout in its own right, with the video adding to that.

The eight hundred ninetieth song: Oh My Sweet Carolina - Ryan Adams feat. Emmylou Harris

This is a simple country ballad, telling its story without too much accompaniment. It's straightforward but works well with what it does.

The eight hundred ninety-first song: Fuck the Pain Away - Peaches

This bold portrayal of sex and gratification is something that feels like it couldn't have emerged sooner than this. It's honest, loud and in a way quite clear in what it's saying and that is a lot of its strength. The mechanic groove that it falls into as the title gets repeated is in contrast to the more sensual parts of the song, almost like it's separating the seduction and the act. It's bold and impressive.

The eight hundred ninety-second song: Feel Good Hit of the Summer - Queens of the Stone Age

This hit does its job quickly, jumps in with its list of various drugs repeated through the whole song, and finishes that before three minutes have passed. It doesn't need more - it has the sound, it has the lyrics, it gives you the experience and then leaves it alone.

The eight hundred ninety-third song: Ms. Jackson - Outkast

While former companion blog Before I Kick still has comments on its page about how Hey-Ya should be on the list, Ms Jackson works as well. It's an apology song, whose choruses really drive that home, while the rap verses feel raw. They are the sort of comments that don't necessarily belong to a relationship that last, but it hits up an honesty in what it wants to say at the moment. It's that catchy chorus that really drives it home though and feels strongest.

The six hundred and nineteenth album: #619 Happy Mondays - Bummed

From the start, there's an avant garde feeling to this album, although starting with a punk-influenced country song sets some different expectations for this album. For the most part, this is psychedelic rock, the electronics featuring heavily and everything in it feels a bit off, just a bit strange compared to what you'd expect. I don't know if it's something you can fully get or enjoy on a first listen, but there's something enthralling about the repeating happening with this dreamier sound, while never abandoning that rock sound.

The two hundred and twenty-sixth classical recording: #424 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings

There's something gentle and soft about this serenade, going sweeter and kinder rather than going for a frantic mess. Hearing the various string instruments together really gives you that transcendent experience, a sound that reaches you deeply. As much as I enjoy having the variety of instruments, here it's enhanced by just featuring the string section.

The two hundred and twenty-third TV show: #843 The Only Way is Essex

We could only stomach three episodes of this - more to see a few different samples from different seasons than because I ever wanted to really watch more. The mix between realism and pre-written shows why actors and improvisers have decent training, as here you don't get any of that. The situations and drama are predetermined, with the lines improvised within what they want to say - not unlike, say, Curb Your Enthusiasm - but they're done by "normal" people whose money-filled glamorous life is meant to be accessible enough that people want to aspire to it. On an intellectual level, I get that people might be looking for a soap here that feels more real with actual people in it, but soon enough it feels like badly-acted soap operas that don't mean anything, with people I just can't like.