The five hundred and second album: #502 Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)

New Gold Dream is a simple album in a way. It's an electro pop album, drifting from track to track, and it feels like the vocals are secondary to anything else that's going on as you listen to it. There's nothing complex to it, just something nice to listen to.


The one hundred and fourty-ninth book: #88 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

For a large chunk of the time I spent reading Oliver Twist, I was wondering where I would go with it. I knew the story best from the musical, which I had a bit part in in a school production about 27 years ago, and while there are some beats that are the same, the book does so much more. Charles Dickens isn't known for his brevity and focusing mostly on the first third or so of the novel made sense to create a coherent story. The second half does well exploring the characters further, but it feels the interesting satire is more present at the start, while it trails off a bit to the end, and a number of important characters get introduced so late that it feels like it's a bit too much on the fly. Even so, the deep dive works well and the book stays interesting and really readable throughout.


The five hundred and first album: #501 Dexys Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay

Too-Rye-Ay's fusion of soul and folk rock is different from Dexys Midnight Runners' earlier album, still having some ska influence but generally feeling like a calmer set of songs. The addition of the string section, combined with the soul-like choruses add a different feel to it, which at the same time creates a more jovial vibe to the music - hearing Come On Eileen as the first single makes a lot of sense with the direction, even if it's probably still the most celebratory song on the album. It's still an album of good vibes throughout, which makes it pretty nice to listen to.


The one hundred and eighty-first classical recording: #598 Gustav Mahler - Symphony no. 10

Mahler's tenth symphony runs longer than I'm used to - the slow, sad first movement running as long as some other full works we've covered. Reading about the history, it feels like the ups and downs of the works reflect the emotional turmoil he felt - the slow adagio followed by a manic scherzo. It's a moving piece, not the fanciest, but it still feels like it's a lot more raw in places, ending on a contemplative note.


The five hundredth album: #500 The Cure - Pornography

Let's be honest, you know what you're getting when you listen to an album by The Cure. It is a dark, moody album, slow and draining. It's not a slog to get through, but it feels like something in there slows you down on such a basic level that it can't help but get to you. It's a well made album, the music is good, it's just exhausting to listen to.


The four hundred and ninety-ninth album: #499 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom

Elvis Costello hits similar beats as before in Imperial Bedroom - quite smart, thought out new wave music featuring some good, memorable tracks and a lot of interesting variety. They're not samey - his range is large enough to bring a real mix to the album - but it feels like it continues on the same, strong track, without any of it wearing thin. Again, it's his songwriting that all of that is build on, and this whole album shows it off really well.


The one hundred and ninety-fifth TV show: #872 New Girl

It's been a while before I could back to this, having put this on hold around when we started this list. It's been good to come back to, though. The series sticks to its loose premise - quirky girl Jess (Zooey Deschanel) moves into an apartment that has three guys living there. There are some relationship back and forth, but mostly it has wacky, exaggerated adventures in a way that a lot of comedies of the 2010s have been, done so well. It feels like a lot are, as you get, expansions on their existing characters, leaning into the goofier side, but it has enough leeway to not push it too far. It's great comfortable, but fun viewing, even five seasons in.


The one hundred and eightieth classical recording: #833 Benjamin Britten - Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings

There's something unsettling about this serenade. Pears' voice, who did was written for, isn't quite as steady, which adds some emotion and instability to the piece but also stays a bit off putting. The strings are taunting and harrowing and the horn's low, deep sounds add to that. The work is sad and distant in a way that's hard to fully come to grips with. It's beautiful, but so haunting at the same time.


The one hundred and ninety-fourth TV show: #75 Z-Cars

I mean, Z-Cars was never a show I was going to watch for long, but it really didn't connect on any viewing. I understand that this show would have been more real at the time - the police characters are flawed, the stories don't always go right, there's no lesson to be learnt - but it doesn't quite hit the modern pacing even as it is edited to be quick for its time. Instead, the characters are unlikeable and the action unconvincing, to the point where it's off putting rather than engaging. While you may feel it gives an example of TV as it's developing, there's little to recommend it as a show to actually watch.


The four hundred and ninety-eighth album: #498 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message

When listening to The Message, there's something slightly off about it. There's a mix of R&B and funk in there with its harmonies, but it also has some early rap tracks that don't feel like they fit quite the same pattern. In the current times, it feels like it doesn't quite commit, but with Prince and Michael Jackson being contemporaries, they actually make a lot of sense in context as the music styles overlap. I guess I'll see it evolve in the coming albums, but just as rock grew out of earlier genres, we've got a new hip hop style emerging here.